[BRAVES BLOGTOPIA] What They Are Saying In The Blogosphere About The Will Aybar Trade

On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Willy Aybar and Chase Fontaine for Jeff Ridgway. We decided to take a look around and see what Braves fans had to say about the move. The feelings on the move are mixed, but most look at Ridgway as a way to add left-handed relief pitching depth to the Braves organization and believe that Ridgway can be Atlanta’s left-handed specialist in 2008. This last sentiment is a head-scratcher as the Rays have made it known that they have been in the market to acquire a left-handed relief specialist of their own, long before this trade was made. That is a clear indication that they do not believe Ridgway is capable of filling that role at the major league level.

TALKING CHOP

(The trades just keep coming) And they continue to be head-scratchers. The Braves acquired left-handed reliever Jeff Ridgway from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for utility infielder Willy Aybar and minor league shortstop Chase Fontaine. Really!

I’m I missing the point of the Braves off-season strategy again? Is this the same thing as the Kotsay trade; will I eventually come around to it? For now, I’m a bit lost as to why we made this trade and why we included so much.

Ridgway is a 27-year old lefty who has thrown exactly one-third of an inning of major league baseball. In return we gave up a valuable (albeit formerly drugged-out) Aybar and a young infield hitter in Fontaine who it’s been said has a high upside, for a 27-year old lefty! Don’t we already have two and a half lefties in our bullpen? [Talking Chop]

BRAVES BLAST

Now I know you’re thinking “I’ve never heard of Ridgway before, this won’t help us.” – but he shows some promise. Since moving to the bullpen a couple years ago, he’s had some success and just last year posted a 3.06 ERA in 54 appearances at the AAA level. His fastball is clocked near 94 mph. We’ll probably see him in Spring Training working to make the big league team. Whether or not he ends up there is another question, but either way we will have more left-handed depth in the relief position throughout the organization. [Braves Blast]

CHOP-N-CHANGE

I see a lot of similarities to Royce Ring and I think given a full year, Ridgway could be a useful LOOGY.

Aybar is out of options and was considered a dark horse to make the opening day roster so getting some value from him makes sense. He may start at third for Tampa Bay if the Rays feel that top prospect Evan Longoria could use some more seasoning in the minors or he could add depth at the position if Longoria opens the year as the Rays’ third baseman.

Fontaine would have to improve both aspects of his game, especially on the defensive side, to have a good shot at starting in the future. This trade seems pretty good for the Braves. Ridgway has decent upside and Frank Wren didn’t give up all that much. You can never have too much pitching. [Chop-n-Change]

The Hangover: Devil Rays Avoid 100…In Search Of 70

Devil Rays 9, Mariners 2.
Just the links today as we are still in Austin with Mrs. Professor.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Devil Rays are now 63-87 with 12 games remaining. They trail the Orioles by 2 games in the AL East and the White Sox by 1.5 games for the worst record in baseball. Yesterday’s victory guarantees that the Devil Rays will not lose 100 games. This is the first season since 2000 that will not feature a 100-loss team. [Awful Announcing]
• The Devil Rays need to finish 7-5 to match the franchise record for wins, and 8-4 to break the record.
• A 10-2 finish and the Rays will avoid 90 losses.
• Andy Sonnanstine has now won 5 of his last 7 starts and should at least have the upper-hand for one of the spots in the rotation entering 2008. [USA Today]

“He’s close, he absolutely is close,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s really making a great impression for next season, we can say that.”

• Carlos Pena became the first member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to hit 40 home runs in a season and the 110th player in the history of major league baseball. [tampabay.com]
• Rocco Baldelli has rejoined the team as a cheerleader and nothing more. He and the team are still awaiting the results of some test to try and determine why Rocco has been so susceptible to leg problems. [TBO]
• We will see the regular lineup for the next 9 games, as all those games are against playoff contenders, Angels, Red Sox and Yankees. Joe Maddon may then switch things up for the Blue Jays series. [TBO]
• Well, except for maybe Carl Crawford, as he suffered a groin strain and is listed as day-to-day. [TBO]
• JP Howell and lefty relief pitcher Jeff Ridgway were promoted from Durham after the Bulls’ season was concluded on Sunday. [tampabay.com]
• The Devil Rays now have the largest improvement in team batting average from 2006 to 2007, jumping from .255 to .271. [Devil Rays]
• Delmon Young seemed a longshot earlier this season, but he is quietly posting Rookie-of-the-Year caliber numbers. [TBO]

Young entered Friday leading all big-league rookies in hits (171), doubles (34) and multi-hit games (51) while topping all AL rookies in RBIs (81) and total bases (241). Throw in a .293 batting average, 12 homers and 16 outfield assists

• HardBall thinks that Delmon Young is the Rookie of the Year. [Hard Ball]

Expect a lot of yelping if Delmon Young isn’t named the AL’s rookie of the year. He’s had the best wire-to-wire season among AL rookies but is easily overlooked.

• Statistically Speaking believes that both Carlos Pena and BJ Upton deserve votes in the MVP voting. MVP ballots include 10 names from each writer. [Statistically Speaking]
• We are happy that Marc Lancaster wrote a nice feel-good piece about Brendan Harris who has started 130 of the last 138 games, and how he is “making the most of his chances”. But if Harris starts more than 25 games in 2008 for the Devil Rays, that will not be a good sign. And to say that Harris can “field competently” is being nice. [TBO]
• Marc Lancaster believes there is too much entertainment at a typical Devil Rays game at the Trop, feeling the team is offering too many distractions. We understand the argument to an extent. While this may be a new phenomenon in major league baseball, this is not new to professional sports. Just attend any NBA basketball game and you think you accidentally walked into a circus. As for games at the Trop…I have never felt “overwhelmed” by the amount of distractions. I have always felt that there was a good amount for those that find baseball boring, and not enough to distract those of us who enjoy every single pitch. In the end the Devil Rays want every person that attends a game at the Trop to feel as though they had fun. Not just the diehard baseball fans. It is a fine-line they have to walk, but so far I feel as though they have done a decent job. [TBO]
• Here is a YouTube video tribute entitled “A Tribute to Scott Kazmir“. At first we thought “a tribute to a pitcher?” That sound boring. Every highlight will look exactly the same. Turns out the video is actually a Mets fan crying about Jim Duquette and Victor Zambrano. We laugh cuz it’s funny, we laugh because it’s true. [YouTube]

The Hangover: Break Up The Devil Rays!

• 16 runs and 29 hits in two days after the Rays 9-2 victory over the ‘Stros, and all of the sudden the Rays have won 4 of 6. James Shields struck out 6 in 5.1 innings but struggled with his control, walking 4. Seth McClung looked better, giving up only 1 hit to the five batters he faced. Chad Orvella pitched yet another scoreless inning. At the plate, Carl Crawford, Ty Wigginton, Delmon Young, B. J. Upton and Elijah Dukes all had multiple hits. Don’t look now but Dukes is all of the sudden hitting .314 and with Rocco Baldelli’s tender hamstring, he is just about a lock to break camp with the Rays.
• Rocco Baldelli is day-to-day at this point. Does that mean that his hamstring is not serious and we will see him soon? Not necessarily. Here is a telling tidbit from the piece:

Since Baldelli’s had so many different issues with his legs over the last couple of years, he has a hard time analyzing the extent of his leg problems. So when Baldelli was asked whether he feared missing a significant amount of time time, he shrugged his shoulders

• Interesting news here…Papa Joe announced that Akinori Iwamura will probably only start against right handed pitchers basically dropping him into a platoon situation, B. J. Upton and Ty Wigginton getting the starts versus left-handed starters.
• Unless the Rays make a trade in next 10 days, the Rays will open the season without a lefty in the bullpe. The Rays optioned Jeff Ridgway to Durham, the only legitimate left handed candidate to make the roster. And, no, we do not consider Jon Switzer a legitimate candidate.
• In 2006 the Rays lost 61 games in which they held a lead. To quote Jim Leyland…If you want to win, have a good bullpen. If you want to lose, have a (bad) bullpen.
• Jayson Stark in his latest “Rumblings and Grumblings” lists James Shields as one of 12 players that scouts have mentioned as a player that is “ready to explode to a whole new level.” Stop teasing us Mr. Stark.

The Hangover: The Devil Rays Only Love It When It Rains

• Another loss. Want a good reason to hate the Trop? Based on the Spring results so far (1 win came during rain-shortened game) and the inept bullpen, the Rays will go 162-0 if every game were to be shortened due to rain. Maybe they can force a leak in the roof?
• Of all the bad signs so far, this one may be the most disturbing. Akinori Iwamura asked to be removed from the game yesterday after his first at bat because he was too tired from playing five straight games.
• The proverbial axe has fallen on the first set of healthy players (Injured pitchers Shinji Mori and Doug Waechter were reassigned last week). In all 10 players were reassigned with the most prominent names being Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot who were optioned to Durham and Evan Longoria, Reid Brignac and Andy Sonnanstine who were assigned to minor league camp. No surprises here as none of this players have seen any playing time above AA.
• We cringe whenever we see a story about the Rays in one of the New York City tabloids. They tend to be full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Today, the New York Daily News lives up to the rep with a rather scathing article about the Rays which comes off as a very uninformed piece by a writer that does not know what he is talking about. For example, the writer suggests that Rays should have invested in a starting pitcher such as Steve Trachsel or John Thomson. Trachsel is 36 and has lost more than 15 games in a season as many times (1) as he has won more than 15 games in a season. Thomson won two games has won a combined 6 games the past two seasons. Those are not upgrades. Those are free agent signings for the sake of signing free agents.
• Joe Maddon doesn’t feel the pressure to have a left hander in the ‘pen. Sorry Jeff Ridgway your stock just took a big hit.
• Raise your hand if you want a Seth McClung bobblehead doll. Aren’t you listening. I SAID A SETH MCCLUNG BOBBLEHEAD! Don’t be shy…you know you want one. Well, if you do, head on over to Princeton, West Virginia on July 23, for the Princeton Rays Seth McClung bobblehead night.