[THE HANGOVER] Winter Meetings Are Underway In Nashville

Tampa Bay Rays (66-96)
Correction: On Friday we mentioned that Saturday was the deadline for offering arbitration to all players that are arbitration eligible. In fact, the deadline was only for teams to offer arbitration to their free agents. Players with at least three years, but less than six years of major league experience, are also eligible for arbitration, but there is a separate deadline for teams to offer those players arbitration. That would be the non-tender deadline of December 12…Trying to understand baseball’s contract rules is often like trying to understand the tax code or Joe Maddon’s starting lineups.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• We have yet another new Tampa Bay Rays website in the blogosphere, The Rays Way. The new blogger is younger, but he is a diehard Rays fan, which is not always the case with some of these sites. We are not saying a site cannot be good if it is not run by fans, but there is something that is added to the mix when the writer(s) have an emotional attachment to the team they are covering. So if you have a moment, stop by and welcome The Rays Way to the neighborhood. [The Rays Way]
• We think Marc Topkin is in Nashville for the winter meetings. We say “think” because there is no by-line on the blog post. We also assume it is Topkin (and not Eduardo Encina) because the writer announces that he will not report on every rumor because “so many of them are made up”. And we already know that Topkin is the one person that always just knows what rumors are true, and which are not. [tampabay.com]
• Marc Lancaster thinks the Rays will not be very active at the winter meetings (despite still needing a left bat, a lefty reliever, a backup catcher and a right fielder, not to mention possibly adding a veteran starting pitcher). [TBO]

But when the Tampa Bay contingent rolls into the Opryland Hotel this morning for four days of non-stop talk, if not necessarily much action, the group can take comfort in knowing most of its frontline needs already have been addressed.

• On the other hand, Roger Mooney believes the Rays may actually open up their wallet. This seems to be a bit far in the other direction. Based on the moves already made and speculating on arbitration values, the Rays 2008 Payroll is in the neighborhood of $38 million already, which is already a couple of million over their projected payroll increase of 20%. More likely the additions will come via trade [Bradenton Herald]
• The St. Pete Times has a story that shows the Rays have a lot of hoops to jump through before they get approval to build a new stadium. IF they can successfully maneuver the gauntlet, they will break ground in less than 500 days. [St. Pete Times]
• The Rule 5 Draft is on Thursday and the Rays have the first pick, should they decide to use it. MLB Trade Rumors has a source that the Rays may select outfielder Brian Barton, and outfielder in AA for the Indians. He is a speedster that has posted strong OPS numbers throughout the minors, but some worry that the numbers may be skewed because he has always been older than most of his competition and may not be a major league talent. It would cost the Rays $50,000 to select Barton and would have to keep him on the 25-man roster all season long or offer him back to the Indians for $25,000. In addition there are several Rays players that may be selected by other teams, including Dale Thayer and Nick DeBarr. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• A statistical look at Brian Barton and the other top prospects that are available in the Rule 5 draft. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• The Rays have already had one of their busiest off-seasons in team history, but there is still plenty of work to do. All of the sudden there is a glaring hole in right field that may or may not be able to be filled by some combination of Rocco Baldelli, Jonny Gomes and Justin Ruggiano, none of whom screams huge 2008 numbers. The team also needs a left-handed bat, a veteran catcher to back up Dioner Navarro, and a lefty in the bullpen. [Devil Rays]
• If the goal of the Tampa Bay Rays brass was to get more people to pay attention to the Rays, it looks like it is working. The Tampa Bay Bucs are now 8-4, following a game that I am fairly certain took a couple of days off of my life, and are playing their best ball since the Super Bowl season…yet Best Bucs Blog took time to write a post about the Tampa Bay Rays and all the changes that have occurred or have been proposed, entitled “Cautiously Optimistic”. The title is an apt one. There is still a lot of work to do. [Best Bucs Blog]
• Before last season we called for people to jump on board the Devil Rays Bandwagon, so as to enjoy the ride to the top. With all the recent changes others are starting to take notice and are ready to jump on board. [New University]
• It was no surprise, but on Friday, Joe Maddon named Troy Percival the team’s 2008 closer. While Al Reyes is the most directly affected, Juan Salas will also have a considerably different role in 2008. If Reyes were to be the closer in 2008, the Rays would have likely given Salas occasional save opportunities with the purpose of auditioning as well as training Salas to be the closer for 2009 and beyond. With Percy on board for the next two seasons, Salas, who has options remaining, may now begin the season in Durham as the Bulls’ closer. [TBO]
• We have no doubt that Troy Percival is great in the clubhouse, and he may be a great presence for the other relievers, but lets ease up on all the talk of the “leadership” effect from a player that spends at least 8 innings of every game sitting in the bullpen. [TBO]
• Dennis Maffezzoli thinks that the Rays added a couple of big pieces in Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, in addition he believes trading Delmon Young might have been addition-by-subtraction. [Herald-Tribune]
• With the loss of Delmon Young, the price for Carl Crawford just went up. We wouldn’t go so far as to say he is “untouchable” as the Chicago Tribune suggests, but the bounty would be great. [Chicago Tribune]
• Oh, It’s THOSE Girls wrote an open letter to new Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett. Apparently they are going to miss his baseball skills and his cuteness, and have named him an “honorary boyfriend”. [Oh, It’s THOSE Girls]

Down On The Farm: Seven Rays To Appear In Arizona Fall League

Indianapolis 9, Durham 1. JP Howell was roughed up for 9 runs (7 earned) in only 4 innings. Calvin Medlock pitched 3 shutout innings, with no hits, but did walk 2 and struck out none. Evan Longoria hit his third home run since being promoted to AAA to account for the Bulls only run. He also committed his second error.

Montgomery 3, Jacksonville 2 (11 innings). Chris Nowak walked with the bases loaded in the 11 inning to give the Biscuits the victory. The win pulls Montgomery within 1 game of the South division leader Jacksonville (anybody else find it strange that the Southern League has North and South divisions? No? Just us. Ok.). Nowak finished 3-4 and hit his 5th home run.

Vero Beach 8, Palm Beach 6. Mike Wlodarczyk gave up 5 runs in 6 innings, but got enough run support to improve to 8-5 on the year. He struck out 2 and walked 1 while giving up 7 hits. Patrick Cottrell was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.

Columbus 5, Asheville 3. Woods Fines pitched 5 shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits. He struck out 2. Ryan Royster was 0-3.

Brooklyn 7, Hudson Valley 1. Maiko Loyola and Stephen Vogt each collected 2 hits, the only hits for the ‘Gades on the evening. Vogt hit his 4th home run.

Burlington 6, Princeton 3 (game 1). Tyree Hayes gave up 5 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings to drop to 3-6. He struck out 4. Dustin Biell, the 5th round selection in this year’s draft, was 2-2 with an RBI.

Burlington 6, Princeton 3 (game 2). Matt Moore, the Rays 8th round pick, struck out 6 and allowed only 2 hits and a run in 2.2 innings, but walked 4. Dustin Biell, went 2-2 and was 4-4 in the double-header.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Seven of the Devil Rays’ minor leaguers will participate in the Arizona Fall League, including Reid Brignac, John Jaso, Evan Longoria, Jon Barratt, Nick DeBarr, James Houser and Evan Meek. [Stacy Long’s Riverwalk Talk]
  
• Reid Brignac has improved his defense considerably. Despite 20 errors in 2007, Brignac has played error-free in 14 August games. [Montgomery Advertiser]
  

Entering Thursday, Brignac led Southern League shortstops in total chances, assists and errors.

“He’s really established himself as a quality shortstop,” manager Billy Gardner said. “He’s really, to me, improved a great deal at shortstop.”

The Hangover: Rays First Cuts Expected Today

• Apparently the Rays have regressed to the point that a pitcher allowing two hits and a walk in one inning of work is “solid“. And the hits losses just keep on comin’.
• Those fiesty Tiggers…they just don’t know when it is just an exhibition. For the second time in two days, Detroit was involved in an exchange of gunfire beanballs.
• WE GOT OUR RULE 5 PICK BACK! WE GOT OUR RULE 5 PICK BACK!! What? Who the hell is Nick DeBarr? What about Josh Hamilton? Damn It. OK, we do know who Nick DeBarr is. DeBarr had some success as a reliever in Visalia last season after missing all of 2005 to have Tommy John surgery. The Red Sox took a flier on him in the Rule 5 draft and decided yesterday that he wasn’t going to make the squad so they returned him to the Rays. DeBarr appeared in only one game for the Sox this Spring, pitching one shutout inning, allowing one hit.
• Papa Joe Maddon says that he is looking for a first baseman that will produce runs and is less concerned about his defensive abilities. So then why did Travis Lee receive so much playing time last season? Dick Vitale could have produced more offense that Lee.
  
• Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman are expected to make their first cuts today.
  
• Dioner Navarro and his sore hamstring are likely to return to the lineup by the end of the week. Personally we hate hamstrings. For an athlete they are the worst muscle. The feel great and then they pop again at the most unexpected moments. The legs are obviously an important component for a catcher, but they also tend to be very flexible creatures (even when they are built like Lil’ Pudge). Still, we hope and trust that they are not rushing Navarro back as we have this scary thought in the back of our head that this could be a nagging problem as season.
• Yet another feel-good story about Shawn Riggans. When should we expect the Sunday night movie: The Shawn Riggans Story? Luckily we are running out of local newspapers that can regurgitate the same piece we have already read five times.