[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 9 (Nine No-Hit Innings From Scott Kazmir)

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and what they will do, and why. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the ninth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, NINE no-hit innings from Scott Kazmir…

Most of these “presents” have been items that would help the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays win more games. Today’s gift is a bit more selfish. More times than we can count, we have watched live games with a pitcher battling for a no-hitter. In almost every instance, we rooted for pitcher X to get the final out for the chance to witness a little history and also so we can watch grown men jump around and celebrate like they won the pennant during an otherwise meaningless game.

Once, just once, we would like that pitcher to be wearing a Rays uniform. By our count, there are three pitchers in the rotation that have the ability to go out and no-hit a team on any given night, including Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Edwin Jackson. If we had our choice, we would choose Kazmir if only because it would irk Mets fans to no end. The trade is the bane of their existence and an no-hitter would be just another level of agony on top of a trade they will never let down.

Plus there is the added bonus that the New York Mets have never thrown a no-hitter, but several former Mets have thrown no-hitters. That list includes Tom Seaver, David Cone, Doc Gooden and of course the seven no-no’s tossed by Nolan Ryan.

While Kaz never pitched a regular season game for the Mets, in the minds of most Mets fans he is their prodigal son. No player ruffles the feathers of Mets fans more than Scott Kazmir and if Kid K could toss a no-hitter for the Rays, it would be just another fitting chapter in the story, that can only end when Kazmir signs with the Mets as a free agent at the age of 38 and throws out his arm in his first start.

On the ninth day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is NINE no-hit innings from Scott Kazmir, and…
EIGHT ejections for Joe Maddon [Day 8]
SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli [Day 7]
SIX months with at least 14 wins [Day 6]
FIVE players with at least 25 home runs [Day 5]
FOUR winning records against AL East foes [Day 4]
THREE AL All-Stars [Day 3]
TWO new pitchers in the rotation by the all-star break [Day 2]
ONE Evan Longoria in the opening day lineup [Day 1]

[THE HANGOVER] Three. Numbers. Is. Toooo. Much.

Tampa Bay Rays (42 days until pitchers and catchers report)
It is a slow time in baseball right now and a lot of baseball team blogs are struggling to find things to write about. To fill the time, most of these sites are (over)analyzing 2007 and picking apart the numbers and delving deeper in the endless foray of the new age statistics. Other sites are assigning rankings to dozens of minor league prospects that they have never seen play and probably couldn’t pick out of a police lineup. Of course, if they decide to take a week or two off during the holidays, the natives get restless. We can’t risk that, so we will now bring back “The Hangover” and analyze the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays by the numbers…Ready? OK, here goes…66-96. Done. Let’s move on.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• For those that have asked. No. Mrs. Professor did not give me a dog named Herpes for Christmas (although she wanted to). [What I absolutely love]
• There is yet another new Tampa Bay Rays blog written by somebody that is not a fan of the team. Nothing wrong with that…Just sayin’…In the latest post, they discuss the Rays’ bullpen and how to improve it (Apparently steroids is no longer an option). The post is fine and dandy until we read “Bill Chastain, an eminent MLB.Com reporter…” Eminent? I do not think that word means what you think it means. We read everything by Chastain. A lot of it is very good. A lot. is. crap. Also, we are confused by the name of the new blog. Where does “Dough” come into this? Is that Dough as is in bread? Or Dough as in money? Is it a metaphor? And does the title mean the blog will only be around for one year? And does the blogger know that 2008 is a leap-year? Will he take one day off this year? Does he already know which day? [365 Days of Dough, Rays, and Me]
• A little old, but Baseball Prospectus gives us the Rays’ Top 11 prospects, and the list includes five 5-star prospects. We are glad to see that some still consider Reid Brignac an elite prospect. And having seen both Wade Davis and Jake McGee pitch, we have our money on Davis being the better major leaguer. McGee’s only advantage over Davis at this point is being left-handed. [Baseball Prospectus]

Five-Star Prospects
1. Evan Longoria, 3B
2. David Price, LHP
3. Wade Davis, RHP
4. Desmond Jennings, CF
5. Reid Brignac, SS
Four-Star Prospects
6. Jacob McGee, LHP
Three-Star Prospects
7. Eduardo Morlan, RHP
8. Jeff Niemann, RHP
9. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP
10. Fernando Perez, CF
11. Ryan Royster, OF

• In addition, hidden behind the Baseball Prospectus member wall is the list of the Rays top players under the age of 25, which they call “a borderline obnoxious collection of excellent young talent”. We love that Dioner Navarro is ranked so high. As you know, we are still big believers in Lil’ Pudge. [Baseball Prospectus]

1. Scott Kazmir, LHP
2. Evan Longoria, 3B
3. David Price, LHP
4. B.J. Upton, CF
5. Matt Garza, RHP
6. Wade Davis, RHP
7. Desmond Jennings, CF
8. Reid Brignac, SS
9. Dioner Navarro, C
10. Jacob McGee, LHP

• DRaysBay interviews Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus about their list of the top prospects in the Rays organization. If you only marginally know the Rays farm system, this is a must-read. [DRays Bay]
• Bill Chastain interviews Jacob McGee. [DevilRays.com]
  
• Jayson Stark looks at how the Tampa Bay Rays plan to keep up with the heavyweights in the American League and speculates that they will be able to win 90 games in 2009. [ESPN]

Maybe nobody on the outside takes this team seriously. But within the sport, the Rays are already a source of rapidly loudening buzzing. Offensively, they just outhomered the Red Sox, outscored the Blue Jays and outstole all but two teams in the league. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, their stockpile of young pitching is up there with anyone’s. So this is a team with a chance to win 90 games by 2009. Whether it can ever spend $90 million to keep that group intact is another story. But for now, the Rays are locked inside that tunnel vision. They’re all about development and more development.

• The Sporting News features Evan Longoria as one of “Baseball’s next wave of stars”. [The Sporting News]
• Fox Sports lists Scott Kazmir and James Shields as one of the top 10 pitching duos in baseball. [Fox Sports]

You don’t find many 23-year-old lefties who are capable of leading the league in strikeouts, but Kazmir is just that. He’s always had tremendous gifts on the mound, and now the numbers are following suit. If he stays healthy, then Kazmir’s going to win multiple Cy Youngs in his career. The trade that sent him from the Mets in exchange for Victor Zambrano is going to turn out to be one of the steals of the decade. As for Shields, he’s a four-pitch, command guy who turned in an exceptional first half. Matt Garza’s eventually going to replace him as the No. 2 man in the Tampa rotation, but right now Shields is a nifty complement to Kazmir.

• The Rays have set up a website for the proposed stadium along the St. Pete waterfront. [
  MajorLeagueDOWNTOWN.com]
• Small world. Ben Zobrist and I were both in Iowa City, Iowa on Christmas Eve, although we were gone by the time Zobrist spoke at a Christmas Eve service where his wife Julianna sang. [Iowa City Press-Citizen]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 8 (Eight Ejections For Joe Maddon)

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and what they will do, and why. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the eighth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, EIGHT ejections for Joe Maddon…

In 2006, Joe Maddon’s first as a major league manager, he was ejected three times. In 2007, Papa Joe matched that total with three more ejections. Of those six ejections, three have come in 17 games against Maddon’s former team, the Los Angeles Angels, or once every 5.7 games. Against the rest of the league, Maddon has been ejected once every 107.3 games.

One of the most difficult things to do as a major league baseball player is to maintain a high level of intensity over the course of six months and 162 games. It is one thing for a manager to ask a player to care about every single game, but sometimes, the players need to see that every single game is also important to the manager. For young players especially, it can be a strong motivating tool if the manager can show that he is also able to maintain a high level of intensity and dedication over the course of an entire season.

We are not asking Joe Maddon and his rose-tinted glasses to all of the sudden turn into Lou Piniella or Bobby Cox. But he has also shown that is not part of the group of managers that are not comfortable arguing with umpires or do not feel it is an important aspect of the game. Maddon has clearly demonstrated that he increases his own intensity level against the Angels and is willing to go toe-to-toe with umpires in those series. We are only asking that he show us and his team the same level of intensity against the rest of the league in general and the AL East in particular.

Against teams not named the Los Angeles Angels, Joe Maddon has been ejected once every 107.3 games. Eight ejections in 2008 would be an ejection once every 20.3 games or once every three weeks. If it makes Papa Joe feel better, he can save a couple of those for the Angels.

If the Rays are serious about winning more games in 2008, not only do the players need to take their performance to the next level, but the manager does also. If he does not, somebody else will be given the task in 2009, and we are willing to bet the next skipper will get eight ejections each year.

On the eighth day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is EIGHT ejections for Joe Maddon, and…
SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli [Day 7]
SIX months with at least 14 wins [Day 6]
FIVE players with at least 25 home runs [Day 5]
FOUR winning records against AL East foes [Day 4]
THREE AL All-Stars [Day 3]
TWO new pitchers in the rotation by the all-star break [Day 2]
ONE Evan Longoria in the opening day lineup [Day 1]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 7 (Seven Relatively Healthy Months Of Rocco Baldelli)

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and what they will do, and why. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the seventh day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, SEVEN healthy months of Rocco Baldelli…

Seven months. That includes the regular season and spring training. Is it too much to ask for 20 games every month from Rocco?

Pretty please?

OK. give us a break. It’s New Years Day. We are hung over…and this is the best we could come up with. We know Rocco is allergic to himself. To be honest we just get excited when we hear Rocco is attempting a comeback every once and a while. Every six months it’s nice to hear from him, because we keep forgetting he is still in baseball.

We will come up with something more realistic tomorrow.

Happy New Years!

On the seventh day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli, and…
SIX months with at least 14 wins [Day 6]
FIVE players with at least 25 home runs [Day 5]
FOUR winning records against AL East foes [Day 4]
THREE AL All-Stars [Day 3]
TWO new pitchers in the rotation by the all-star break [Day 2]
ONE Evan Longoria in the opening day lineup [Day 1]