[THE HANGOVER] Justin Ruggiano Powers Team USA To Top Seed

Team USA 10, Chinese Taipei 7.
Justin Ruggiano and Evan Longoria helped Team USA clinch the top seed in the quarterfinals by leading the team to a win over Taipei in the final game of group play. Ruggiano went 3-5, hitting 2 home runs and driving in 5. He had an RBI single in the 4th that gave Team USA a 3-1 lead. In the 7th, Ruggiano broke a 6-6 tie with an opposite-field 3-run home run and added one more with a solo shot in the 9th inning. Longoria finished 3-5, with a double an RBI and 2 runs scored. Team USA will face Korea on Friday in the quarterfinals.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Florida Governor Charlie Crist is supporting the Rays plans to build a new ballpark on the current site of Al Lang Field on the St. Pete waterfront. While he supports the idea, he has yet to back the idea of a tax break on the construction of the new stadium, which may be key to getting the deal done. [tampabay.com]

“I think the opportunity to create an ambiance right on the waterfront in St. Petersburg is brilliant, I really do,” Crist told reporters in the state Capitol…”It provides jobs, jobs, jobs for a lot of people,” said Crist, whose rental condo in downtown St. Petersburg would be blocks from the new park.

• In a move that surprised nobody, the Rays picked up the $2.3 million option on Al Reyes and declined the $1 million option on Greg Norton. Reyes’ option was originally for $1 million but was upped once he hit certain incentive marks in 2007. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Sports Grumblings has analyzed the Rays farm system and has listed the top 10 prospects. Not much to argue with as the top tier of talent in the system seems pretty clear cut. We would probably still place Mitch Talbot in the top 10 despite a disappointing 2007 and we are not as sold on Jeremy Hellickson and Chris Mason as much as others are. Hellickson is a small right hander and those rarely succeed in the majors. Mason wins but he is a big right hander that does not throw hard, so there are still questions as to whether or not that will translate to the same level of success above AA. [Sports Grumblings]

Down On The Farm: Montgomery Makes It Three Affiliates In Championship Series

Montgomery 12, Mississippi 5 (Montgomery wins series 3-1). John Jaso got the Biscuits off to a good start with a 3-run home run in the first inning, and Montgomery broke things open with a 7-run sixth inning, to advance to the Southern League championship series for the second straight season. Mike Prochaska was hittable, allowing 9 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 innings, but only allowed 3 runs. Erold Andrus had a 3-run home run in the 6th inning and went 3-5. Reid Brignac was 3-3 with 2 walks and he drove in 3.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• The Durham Bulls will use he same rotation for the finals that they used in the the first round of the playoffs. JP Howell will go in game 1 on Tuesday, followed by Jeff Niemann and Jae Seo. [Our Sports Central]
• Heath Rollins will start in game 1 tonight for the Columbus Catfish. Will Kline will go in game 2, followed by Jeremy Hellickson. [Ledger-Enquirer]
  

Down On The Farm: Wade Davis Promoted; Rocco Baldelli Homers In Return

Durham 7, Indy 3. Rocco Baldelli didn’t waste anytime getting his bat warmed up. In just the second at bat of his first live action in over a month, Baldelli hit a solo home run. He finished the game 1-3 with a walk as the Bulls’ DH. Justin Ruggiano went 3-4 and is now hitting .296. He also stole his 11th base. Ben Zobrist was 0-4 and committed his 9th error…On the mound, some guy name Jae Seo made his second minor league start giving up 3 runs in 5 innings.

Jacksonville 5, Montgomery 4. James Houser returned from a strained quad and gave up 3 runs before being pulled with 2 outs in the 5th. Reid Brignac was 1-4 and Evan Longoria was 1-2 with an RBI. John Jaso hit his 6th home run.

Greenville 12, Columbus 7. Heath Rollins was pounded for the 3rd straight start. This time he allowed 9 runs (8 earned) in 3 innings on 8 hits and 2 walks. Desmond Jennings was 4-4 with 3 doubles to raise his average to .297.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Wade Davis has been promoted do AA Montgomery. Davis was 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in 13 starts with Vero Beach. He struck out 88 in 78.1 innings.
• Doug Waechter will join the short-season Hudson Valley Renegades for a rehab assignment.
• Juan Salas will join AA Montgomery in order to prepare for his return from his 50-game suspension.
• An interview with Ben Zobrist on his demotion to Durham.
• Evan Longoria hit his 15th home run on Saturday.
• Jeremy Hellickson gave up 5 runs in 6 innings on Saturday.

2007 Devil Rays Trade Value Index

Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus and SI.com recently released his list of the 50 Most Valuable Players in baseball. We took Mr. Silver to task for not including Carl Crawford. Let’s just say we aren’t buying Nate a beer anytime soon.

In light of this glaring omission, we thought it would be a good time to update our Tampa Bay Devil Rays Trade Value Index (TVI).

TRADE VALUE INDEX
The TVI ranks every player on the current 40-man roster and the top prospects in the organization. Our goal is to determine which players in the organization are the most valuable to the team. Ultimately, when looking at the rankings, the question should be, if the Rays could only keep one of two players from the organization, which player would the front office choose to keep.

The rankings consider a number factors in addition to talent and good looks, such as potential, age, contract and depth of position in organization. This last factor comes into effect if one player is stuck behind another player with more ability. For example, Fernando Perez would be a little higher due to his exceptional speed and strong OBP, but loses a little value because he has bad hair, and some more value because the team has Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Elijah Duke and Delmon Young firmly entrenched on the major league roster and either do, or are capable of playing the outfield. Another factor is team needs. A pitcher may be ranked ahead of a more “talented” fielder because the team has a stronger need for pitching at the major league level. (Please see the original TVI post for further explanation).

Feel free to tell us where we screwed up in the comments.

[Rankings follow the notes]

A couple of notes on the rankings…

• The biggest addition to the list is obviously David Price. Even though he has yet to sign a contract, we don’t foresee that being a problem. When trying to determine where to include Price in the rankings we asked ourselves, “If the Rays did not have the top pick and were allowed to deal draft picks, would the Rays have traded Player X, for the top pick in the draft and a chance to select Price?” The answer was ‘NO’ for BJ Upton, but was a ‘YES’ for Evan Longoria, although we definitely debated the second one. You could probably exchange Longoria and Price and you wouldn’t get much of an argument from us. There is never a sure-thing in the minors, but Longoria is as close as it comes.
• Speaking of BJ Upton…He jumps up into the top 5 for the first time. We tried to temper our excitement for his hot start, knowing that he was not going to finish the season hitting .350. His strike out totals indicated that he would fall back…a lot. However, despite the recent drop in batting average, he has actually cut down on his strikeouts, recently going 12 straight games without a K. And despite his size, he generates tremendous bat speed. Everything he hits just explodes off his bat, which will equate to more hits. Upton is the real-deal. We just need to prepare ourselves for the re-birth of “BJ Upton, major league shortstop”, because it is coming. Akinori Iwamura is going to need a new home as early as next season when Evan Longoria busts down the door that is holding him back.
• Jeff Niemann’s ho-hum start to his season at AAA, as well as the emergence of James Shields and the selection of David Price drops his value from #5 to #8. If he doesn’t start to turn it on soon, he will drop out of the top 10.
• Looking back we were surprised that we had James Shields as highly valued as his #11 spring training ranking. Just goes to show you how scary the pitching situation was before the season began. He had a good start to his major league career, winning his first four starts, but there was no indication that he was going to be as good as he has been this year. The only thing keeping him from overtaking Scott Kazmir for the #1 spot is that Kid K is a lefty and he is two years younger than Shields.
• Rocco Baldelli takes a big hit, dropping from #4 to #9. If this was the Devil Rays Most Fragile Index, he would be the unanimous #1. Until he can show that he can stay healthy for an extended period of time, he won’t be moving up this chart.
• Much has been made about the Rays drafting a big power-lefty in the form of David Price. Of course the Rays already have a power-lefty in the majors (Scott Kazmir). Well the Rays have another big power-lefty in the system. Jacob McGee makes his first appearance in the top 10. When he finally receives a (well-deserved) promotion and if he has a strong start at AA, he could jump into the top 5.
• You would think that Jacob McGee and Wade Davis have been best friends since potty-training. They are always together and mentioned together even more often. Davis obviously does not have quite the same value as McGee as right-hander. Still, #20 is a strong ranking for a single-A right-handed pitcher and a testament to what scouts think about Davis. He might drop a few spots initially, but a switch to “closer-in-training” could bump his value in the long run.
• Edwin Jackson is holding on to his #12 spot…barely…on talent alone.
• Elijah Dukes drops from #10 to #15. It would have been farther, but some teams around the league have expressed some interest in Dukes, so he is sti
  ll considered a valuable commodity.
• Reid Brignac takes one of the biggest falls, dropping from #9 to #16. His batting average is down in the .250s and he is not hitting home runs. On top of that, after a solid defensive showing in 2006, he is back to his best BJ Upton impersonation at shortstop this season. Remember, Brignac’s strong numbers last year came in the very hitter-friendly California League. Yet another reason to brace ourselves for BJ Upton the shortstop.
• Chris Mason has made the biggest leap in 2007, from #48 to #24. It is very difficult to gauge players at single-A. We start to get a sense of talent-levels once they hit AA. Mason has dominated at AA this season and looks to be on the fast-track.
• Josh Butler (#28), Lewis Rollins (#48) and Jeremy Hellickson (#29) are good examples at low-A Columbus. We just don’t know what they are yet. They are dominating low-A, but it is too early to tell how that will translate to higher levels. Rollins is having the best season of the three, but was the lowest draft pick. That indicates to us that the other two have more natural ability. If Rollins can keep it up in Vero Beach and beyond, he will move up the chart quickly.

Down On The Farm: Jeremy Hellickson Trumps Jacob McGee And James Houser

Pawtucket 15, Durham 6. Mitch Talbot is now 0-5 in his last 7 starts after giving up 7 hits, 4 walks and 5 runs (2 earned) in 3 innings. His ERA is now 8.47 on the season, and any hopes of seeing Talbot in the big leagues this season are fading fast. Wes Bankston homered for the Bulls and Jeremy Owens connected on 2 round-trippers. Ben Zobrist was 0-5 and is now 2-14 since his demotion. He might have been hitting better for the Rays.

Montgomery 4, West Tenn 0. Big night for James Houser in his return from the DL. He gave up only 2 hits and 1 walk in 6.1 scoreless innings. He struck out 7. Chris Nowak was 2-3 and drove in 3 runs, while John Jaso was 3-3 to raise his average to .337. Unfortunately Evan Longoria was hit in the elbow in his second at bat and needed to be removed from the game after it began to swell. Longoria has now reached base in 33 consecutive games.

Vero Beach 2, Daytona 0. Not to be outdone by Houser, Jacob McGee pitched 7 scoreless innings with 5 hits and no walks. He struck out 6 to lower his ERA to 1.51.

Rome 4, Columbus 3. Oh, but the Catfish sees your McGee and raises you a Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson struck out 10 in 5 scoreless innings. He allowed only 1 hit and 2 walks. He struck out 7 of the first 9 batters he faced and did not allow a hit until the 5th inning.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• The Hardball Times has a story on “Ten Pitching Prospects Worth Knowing About.” Both Chris Mason of AA Montgomery and Andy Sonnanstine of AAA Durham make the list.

On Chris Mason: Mason’s strong start in 2006 was overshadowed when his strikeout rate dipped, his control faltered, and he started leaving the ball up in the zone and surrendering too many fly balls during the final two months of his first full professional season. He appears well-rested and has bounced back with another great start this year

On Andy Sonnanstine: The durable innings-eater continues to get batters to swing and miss by changing arm angles and effectively locating his secondary pitches and underwhelming fastball.

• Baseball America’s weekly “Hot Sheet” has Evan Longoria as the hottest prospect in baseball. In doing so, they take a little shot at the player blocking Longoria from playing third base at AAA.

Just about every night, we take a walk down the street to see the Durham Bulls. And every night as we walk back to the parking deck located next to our offices, we wonder why we didn’t just see Evan Longoria playing third base in Triple-A.

Longoria is wreaking havoc in the Southern League, batting .366 with four bombs and 11 RBIs last week alone. In all, the third overall pick last year is hitting .333/.451/.621 with 18 extra-base hits and nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (27).

Enough of Joel Guzman’s tired act already. Guzman looks lethargic; like he’s just not having fun. Guess a .240 on-base will do that to a guy. One thing’s for sure, you know Longoria will bring the same energy to the park every day.

Down On The Farm: All Andy Sonnanstine Does Is Win

Jacksonville 9, Montgomery 6. Mike Prochaska continues his early season struggles. This start was 5 runs in 5 innings on 7 hits. His ERA is now 6.46. Evan Longoria was 1-4 with his 5th home run, a 2-run shot. Reid Brignac was 1-5.

Brevard County 13, Vero Beach 6. The other Mike with a hard to pronounce last name also struggled last night. This time it was Mike Wlodarczyk. He also gave up 5 runs in 5 innings. 5 Rays had 2 hits apiece, including Patrick Cottrell who hit his 3rd home run and is now hitting .354 on the young season.

Columbus 5, Rome 3. Jeremy Hellickson was slightly more human in his second start of the season. After giving up only 1 hit in 6 shutout innings his last time out, this time he gave up 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings. He struck out 3. Ryan Royster was 2-4 with his 3rd home run and is now hitting .338.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Andy Sonnanstine was named player-of-the-week in the International League. In two starts Sonnanstine worked 14 innings and allowed only 8 hits and 2 runs. He struck out 18 and now leads the IL with 37.

Down On The Farm: Jeremy Hellickson Strong In 2007 Debut

Columbus 12, Durham 6. Mitch Talbot got knocked around yesterday, giving up 8 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks in 4 innings. It was his third straight shaky outing since pitching 6 hitless innings on April 9. Wes Bankston, Shawn Riggans and Justin Ruggiano had 2 hits apiece. Catcher Josh Johnson pitched a scoreless 9th. Best we can tell, it was his first appearance as a pitcher since 2002 when he gave up 4 runs in one-third of an inning, in the Twins organization.

Montgomery 13, Huntsville 6. Fernando Perez was 2-2 with his first home run, his 7th stolen base and 3 walks. Jason Pridie was 2-5 with his first home run. Reid Brignac was 0-5 and Evan Longoria was 1-4 with 2 runs scored. Longoria is hitting .303. Chris Mason continues to dominate the Southern League. In 6 innings, he gave up only 1 unearned run and struck out 7 with no walks. The first 18 pitches he threw were strikes and he struck out the side in the 2nd inning on 9 pitches. On the season he has a 1.54 ERA and a 20:3 strike out to walk ratio.

Brevard County 4, Vero Beach 3. Wade Davis was overpowering, striking out 8 in 7 innings with no walks. He gave up 3 hits and no runs. Greg Dupas gave up a game-tying home run in the 9th and the Rays lost in 11 after taking a 3-2 lead in the top half of the inning.

Columbus 6, Rome 2. Jeremy Hellickson made his 2007 debut and it was a good one. In 6 innings he gave up only 1 hit and 1 unearned run. He struck out 6 and walked 2.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Short stop Neil Walton of the Vero Beach Devil Rays was named Florida State League offensive player of the week. Walton batted .474 (9-19) with 7 RBI and 1 stolen base, hitting safely in all 6 games.