The Hangover: The Rays Being The Rays

Jae Seo was awful last night. Yes, the defense was atrocious with 3 errors in the Rays 12-9 loss to the Rangers, their 4th straight. Still, Seo gave up 8 hits, 3 walks, 1 hit batter, 1 wild pitch and 10 runs (5 earned) in 3 innings. The Rangers have now scored more runs in their two games against the Rays (20) than they did in their first six games combined (19). And the “Shake your head” stat of the night…Carl Crawford was caught stealing twice last night by the Rangers Gerald Laird. We think that qualifies as an anomaly.

• Elijah Dukes is now the most-days DH. In the spring we predicted that Jonny Gomes would only receive 300 at bats in 2007. Now it looks like he will struggle to get 200.
• Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman aren’t ready to shake up the roster, but they will look at different pitchers in more crucial bullpen roles late in games.
• Andrew Friedman made it clear that the team is not happy with the performance of the bullpen and they will continue to talk trades with other teams in search of relief relief.
• Another look at the Rays bullpen struggles, via The Rays Review.
• The Rays could be interested in the Astros’ former All-Star closer Brad Lidge. Lidge hasn’t been the same pitcher since he surrendered a game-winning home run to Albert Pujols in the 2005 NLCS. Whether it is confidence or mechanics or health, we don’t know. But in the past year, he hasn’t looked much better than Shawn Camp.
• Baseball Analysts take an in depth look at Elijah Dukes minor league career and the first 5 games of his major league career. Two aspects stick out. First is that Dukes has actually improved at every level. The second is his patience at the plate, which is very uncharacteristic for such a young player. A point that hopefully will rub off on some of his teammates.
• Jorge Cantu will see time at third base and first base with Durham.Whether he will see time at those positions in Tampa or it is just an audition for other teams is left to be seen.
• After last night, the Rays have been outscored 22-9 in the 8th and 9th innings.
• The most wins ever by a pitcher drafted by the Devil Rays is 8. In 2002, Joe Kennedy went 8-11 for the Rays.
• Who’s got Aki-Fever!?!

The Hangover: Devil Rays Earn Split With Yankees

• The Rays earned a sweep against the Yankees with a 7-6 win on a snowy night in the Bronx. One of the Yankee announcers last night mentioned that the Rays were beating the Yankees at their own game. We think it was the other way around. New York committed 3 errors, had 3 wild pitches, 1 passed ball and blew an early lead. The Yankees lost to the Rays at their own game. Elijah Dukes hit a home run that might have killed somebody in the left field seats. It might have been the single hardest hit home run we have ever seen. Jae Seo gave up 11 hits but only walked 1 and did a good job of working into the 7th inning despite not having his best stuff. And we saw a rare site last night. The Rays had a 1-run lead in the 9th and a pitcher (Al Reyes) came on for a 1-2-3 inning to close it out. We are contacting Cooperstown now. They will want his glove. Joe Maddon argued a call for the second straight game, matching his entire 2006 total.
• The cold weather kept Rocco Baldelli and Dioner Navarro out of the lineup. Jonny Gomes made his first appearance of the season at DH and Josh Paul was behind the plate.
• Today is the home opener and the Trop will debut its signature hot dog, the “Sting ‘Em Dog”. Umm…ok?
• In more important news, the home opener is a sell out.
• Stuart Sternberg is still hoping that today will be the first of 50 home wins this season. Does he realize that only four teams accomplished that feat last season? In the same piece we learn that Carl Crawford will be the Ray to wear #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson on April 15.

Your 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Roster

The Rays made it official today as Jorge Cantu was demoted to Durham, making BJ Upton the Rays starting second baseman. It was probably the last we have seen of Cantu in a Rays uniform, as he has asked to be traded, stating that he “is not a minor league player.”

Also, Jonny Gomes has made the team and will be the most-days DH, although Rocco Baldelli is likely to be the opening day DH as he continues to nurse his sore hamstring. Elijah Dukes is likely to be the opening day center fielder. It also turns out that Carlos Pena could be on the opening day roster after all, as Greg Norton may be placed on the DL, with a knee injury.

So here is your 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays opening day roster (unless Norton is placed on the DL)….

The Hangover: B. J. Upton Could Be Starting Second Baseman

• The Phillies beat the Rays 9-2 in Scott Kazmir’s final appearance before opening day. Damn, we hate losing to Philadelphia team in anything. So then we just go back and watch our tape of THIS game and we feel soooo much better.
• It appears as though we will need to adjust our roster projections after all as Dan Micelli appears to be on the verge of being released. The thought is that Micelli would be released to make room for Gary Glover on the 40-man roster. It also appears that Cantu could be sent to the minors in favor of Brendan Harris who is out of options. That move would allow Harris to be the backup infielder and make B. J. Upton the most days second baseman.
• Both Rocco Baldelli, Josh Paul and Dioner Navarro played in minor league games yesterday. Baldelli was a DH.
• After the three cuts yesterday, the Rays are now down to 34 players on the roster. Several of the cuts have already been decided but won’t occur until Rocco Baldelli, Dioner Navarro and Josh Paul return from their injuries.
• Jonny Gomes and Jorge Cantu seem to be feeling the pressure.
• Season ticket sales are up 10% and sponsorship deals are up 20%. Good news indeed, but keep in mind that 10% of very little is very little.

The Hangover: A Tale Of Two Devil Rays Springs

• How bad were the Rays first 15 spring games? After the Rays 12-4 win over Pittsburgh yesterday, their 7th in 10 games, they still have the worst record in baseball. Delmon Young picked up three more hits to raise his spring average to .345 and Jonny Gomes smacked his 4th spring home run. Jae Seo was stretched by Joe Maddon going 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Seth McClung is doing his best to assure a return to Durham giving up2 more runs in 1 inning.
• Al Reyes will pitch today and tomorrow. Joe Maddon wants to see how his arm responds to pitching on back-to-back days. A strong outing on Tuesday could secure Reyes the closer’s job.
• However, Joe Maddon suggests that he may start the season with a closer-by-committee.
• Supposedly Jonny Gomes is competing for a spot on the roster. We find that hard to believe. Gomes represents the Rays only real power threat in a lineup that will not hit a lot of home runs.
• The new turf at the Trop may change the way the Rays approach games this season. We may see the Rays bunting more frequently in 2007 due to the slower speed of balls in the infield.
• On opening day the Yankees may send out Carl Pavano to face the Rays. Pavano hasn’t pitched in the majors since June 2005.

Rays Roster And Lineup Projections Update

We are a few weeks, two intra-squad games and four official games into Spring Training. Now is a good time to take a look at our 2007 25-man roster projections. Over the course of the next month we will update these projections twice a week.

A couple of notes on these projections…

• We understand that a few of the players listed as “secure” are not guaranteed to be the opening day starter at their respective positions. For example, there is an outside shot that Akinori Iwamura could still be the opening day second baseman. Still, at this point there is no indication that a move will happen. The “secure” positions are based on what we believe would happen if Papa Joe Maddon had to name his opening day lineup and roster today.
• Several people have made the argument that our previous prediction of an 11-man pitching staff was unlikely. Their arguments must have been strong because we now tend to agree that Papa Joe is more likely to keep seven arms in the bullpen and only four bats on the bench.
• With those numbers in mind, it now looks as if there are four roster spots up for grabs, with two on the bench and two in the bullpen. We almost listed B. J. Upton as secure, but we still think there is a remote chance that the team will send him back to Durham for more work. Even though Al Reyes is not on the 40-man roster we give him the edge in the final two bullpen slots. As long as he is healthy (and every indication so far is that he is) it is his position to lose. The final bullpen spot is really just a guess at this point.
• We have long thought that the final spot in the rotation would go to J. P. Howell based on his performance towards the end of 2006. However, of the prospective pitchers vying for the final spot, Jae-Kuk Ryu is the only one that has been given a start so far and he pitched a solid two innings.
• Greg Norton has been the DH with the regulars, but we still think when the season starts Papa Joe will go with Jonny Gomes on a regular basis, if not every day.

The Hangover: Yet Another Rays-Marlins Trade Rumor…*Yawn*

We are a little late today, but sometimes, “The Hangover” feature really is a hangover.

• It took Scott Kazmir 41 pitches to record four outs in the Rays 6-5 victory over the Jays yesterday. Kaz is still young but throwing too many pitches is the only thing that is standing between him and greatness. Ok, that and a consistent offense and a major league bullpen. Until he learns to be more democratic and throw more groundballs, there will be too many starts in which Kid K is removed after five dominating innings and leaving the fate of the game on an overtaxed and ill-equipped bullpen.
• In more promising news, everybody’s favorite Mr. Kotter look-alike, Jonny Gomes, homered in his first two at bats. It looks like Papa Joe Maddon entered Spring Training with the thought of having Greg Norton as his regular DH. Mr. Gomes is going to make Maddon think twice about that.
• Buried at the bottom of this article is a comment from Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who was critical of the infield at Progress Energy Ballpark. He suggested that the condition would lead to a lot of bad habits by the Rays young infielders.
• Plenty of options available for the bullpen indeed. Notice the name of the article is not “Plenty of good options available for the bullpen.”
• Jayson Stark is trying to revive old trade rumors between the Rays and Marlins with Florida apparently focused on B. J. Upton or Elijah Dukes. While the pursuit of Rocco Baldelli was a more prominent headline, this is not the first time that rumors have suggested that the Marlins were interested in Upton or Dukes.
• Hey! At least the Rays are thought of more highly than the Royals and the Nationals. USA Today has released their first power rankings of 2007 and the Rays debut at #28.
• Josh Hamilton had two more doubles and is now 6-12 with a home run.

The Hangover: Josh Hamilton Is Now About 500′ Farther From The Rays

• Josh Hamilton is not the only former Rays first round pick that is trying to stick with another major league club this spring. One time opening day starter, Dewon Brazelton is in camp with the Kansas City Royals as a non-roster invitee. Don’t the Royals employ scouts? Then again, it couldn’t possibly turn out as bad as his stint in San Diego last year…could it?
• Josh Hamilton hit his first home run in a game since 2002. Seriously, 2002. And it was prodigious.
• Papa Joe Maddon wishes that nobody had to compete for a job in Spring Training. Can’t we all just get along?
• Greg Norton will DH again today in the first Spring Training game. Maybe our prediction of 300 ABs for Jonny Gomes was actually too high.
• The fifth spot in the rotation may come down to who can throw strikes the most consistently.
• Andrew Friedman promises not to rush Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Andy Sonnanstine. All three are likely to start at AAA and when they are ready, Friedman promises to find a spot on the Rays for each of them.
• Several spots are still up for grabs, but it is going to take more than just gaudy numbers this Spring to win those spots. Papa Joe and Andrew Friedman will also be looking at intangibles. That leads us to believe that they probably already have a sense of what the roster is going to look like and the other players will have to force them to change their minds.
• Hey! It’s another Delmon Is Soooo Mature story. On top of that, for those of you that are familiar with the website Fire Joe Morgan they would have a field-day with this story. There are about 20 single-sentence paragraphs.
• We made an oopsy last week. This will actually be Don Zimmers 59th season in the major leagues (not 58th as we had previously reported) and hence he will be wearing #59 on his uniform this season. A truly impressive feat.
• A pleasant interview with Stuart Sternberg just don’t expect him to say anything.

Jonny Gomes, Meet Kevin Maas

Word has come down that Joe Maddon is no longer considering Jonny Gomes for playing time at first base. Gomes has arrived to Spring Training healthy and strong and Maddon says that makes him an outfielder. Of course somebody should tell Mr. Gomes that, as he apparently didn’t even bring a glove to Spring Training. He had been borrowing Rocco Baldelli’s first baseman’s glove (wait?!? Rocco has a first baseman’s glove?). So the question now becomes, how often will we see Gomes in the lineup? Well, that depends on Mr. Elijah Dukes. If Dukes makes the team as the fourth outfielder, Gomes will almost never see time in the outfield (when not giggling at the picture above, it is clear that Gomes not playing the outfield could be a good thing). Dukes will also command at bats at DH when he is not subbing for one of the Rays uber-stud outfielders. Complicating matters further is the plight of B. J. Upton. Upton is set to play on a regular basis at a number of different positions. On those days, the regular at his position may be worked into the DH spot. We can see Upton getting plenty of starts at second and a few in center, and on many of those days Jorge Cantu and Rocco Baldelli will fill in at DH.

Jonny Gomes is 1-dimensional. He is a power hitter. Given 500 at bats he could easily hit 40 home runs. But he is not a good hitter. This was evident by his performance last year. Yes he was hurt. He had lost his power. A good hitter would have compensated and adjusted his swing. Gomes couldn’t do that. In the end, don’t be surprised if Gomes only gets 250-300 at bats again this year. This is a team that has talent. And this is a team that is deep. There are too many players and not enough at bats. Sorry Mr. Gomes.

Jonny Gomes’ Season May Be Over

Joe Maddon announced that Jonny Gomes will have his shoulder examined during the team’s off day on Monday. Gomes has been playing most of this season with a strained rotator cuff, that has limited him to DH duties. The injury will likely require arthroscopic surgery and there is a good possibility that he may need to have the surgery sooner rather than later. If that is the case, Gomes’ season will be over and Kevin Witt, who was called up after the Russell Branyan trade last night, would fill in at DH the remainder of the season.

Rays trade Branyan for class A pitcher. [St. Pete Times]