The Hangover: Gettin’ A Delmon

• A lot has been made about the Rays farm system and most agree that it is the best in baseball right now. Well, apparently the Rays rank first in overrated prospects also. D. A. Humber: Baseball Central decided to rank the most overrated prospects in baseball. At the top of the list as the most overrated of the overrated? Our very own B.J. “Don’t call me Melvin” Upton. They point to how high he was drafted and his struggles in the field and his lack of production at the plate. They do concede that he is young enough and athletic enough to still develop into a solid major leaguer, but they are skeptical. In addition to Upton, Joel Guzman comes in at #4. There biggest point (and a valid one) is that despite his size (6’6″, 252 lbs.) he does not hit for a lot of power. We have never seen Guzman play, but we have been around baseball long enough to know that when a kid that big can’t hit for power it is usually because they have zero bat speed.
• D. A. Humber then countered with another post defending B.J. Upton and why he is not overrated. The main argument is that he is young and he was the second pick in a weak draft.
• Nate Silver at Baseball Prospectus wonders if B. J. Upton could be a Gary Sheffield in the making. Nate, stop teasing us. They test for steroids now. At this point we are still hoping for Jose Reyes but will settle for Mike Cameron.
• Josh Hamilton’s progress so far has been labeled “OK” by Reds manager Jerry Narron. Still, the Cincinnati Enquirer speculates that he will make the 25-man roster for the Reds, but worry his development may be stumped much the same way former Red Wily Mo Pena was. The Reds may also try to work out a trade with the Rays so they can send Hamilton to the minors.
• When the season starts, the Rays have a good shot at being the youngest team in the majors, but the two oldest players, Dan Miceli (36) and Greg Norton (34) let it be known that the youngins need grow up or things aren’t going to be any better in 2007.
• This has been out there for a while, but we had forgotten about it. If Delmon Young has any success this season, we need to prepare ourselves for more “bat tossing” jokes or as The Dugout likes to call it…Gettin’ A Delmon.
• DRays Bay has landed a couple of solid interviews in the past month and want you to know it by patting themselves on the back Ricky Henderson-style, over and over. Pretty soon they will start referring to themselves in the third person.
• Yet another write up on the Rays top 10 prospects.
• Do you remember the Turn Ahead The Clock promotion that Major League Baseball ran back in 1999. We remember, but strangely had forgotten that the Rays had participated, which is probably for the better. Well, for only $14.99 you can relive that night by owning your very own Rays Turn Ahead The Clock jersey!
• What would it take to make someone blog about the Rays all year?
  

Guzman And Longoria Not Likely To Be Called Up To The Devil Rays This Season

As we get closer to September, speculation has started on how the Devil Rays’ front office will handle the September call-ups. In the past, the front office has been reluctant to bring up some of the better minor league prospects. The new front office has shown that they are not afraid to pull the trigger, having already called up B. J. Upton and Ben Zobrist who are both starting everyday on the left side of the infield. The question now is, who else will be called up, especially when rosters expand on September 1st. The most likely candidates are Delmon Young, Chad Orvella, Kevin Witt and Darnell McDonald. Another possibility is Juan Salas who has continued his dominant ways since being promoted to AAA.

There are two new prospects in the system that many fans would like to see playing in The Pit, but they may have to wait until next year for one of them and 2008 for the second. Joel Guzman, who was recently acquired form the Dodgers for Julio Lugo has homered in three straight games and already has some major league experience earlier this season with the Los Angeles. On the surface, he would seem an obvious choice for a September call-up. Guzman was converted to an outfielder by the Dodgers after coming up as a shortstop. With the future of the team’s outfield apparently set with Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford and Delmon Young (and Elijah Dukes still barely in the picture), Guzman’s future appears to be as a corner infielder. Now that B. J. Upton is the team’s third baseman, it looks like the only position available for Guzman is at first base. However, with Wes Bankston recently promoted to Durham and switched back to first base after a failed experiment at third base, Guzman has been playing everyday in left field. It is unlikely that the Devil Rays would want Guzman learning a new position in the major leagues. So when will Guzman begin working at first base? It is possible he is working there already before games, but he needs to get some games under his belt before he can bring his big bat to the bigs. Therefore it is unlikely that we will see Guzman in a Devil Rays uniform this season. He will most likely be given a shot at first base in Spring Training and then the team will have to decide if either he or Wes Bankston will be the Rays’ first baseman of 2007. If one is, the other will be back in Durham. If neither are, then the team will have an even tougher decision…Who goes and who stays?

The other new prospect is Evan Longoria. Longoria is clearly on the fast track to the major leagues, however, that track will not end at The Pit this season. Despite hitting 14 home runs in 43 games with a .343 batting average as a pro since being drafted number 3 overall in June, Gerry Hunsicker, Rays senior vice president of baseball operations, says that a September call-up is a “long shot”. In fact Hunsicker goes on to say that Longoria will probably start the 2007 season at AA Montgomery. However, if he continues to hit at the same pace he is hitting in AA now, he won’t be there long.

Top Pick Longoria Working Way Up. [Tampa Tribune]