[THE HANGOVER] All Evan Longoria Needs Is A Chance, And Now He’s Got It

Tampa Bay Rays (1 day until pitchers and catchers report)

It is what he wanted.

It is what we wanted.

It is not necessarily what the front office wanted.

But now it looks like Evan Longoria will get the opportunity to prove in Spring Training that he belongs in the majors.

And a chance is all the Dirtbag needs. It won’t take much to convince Joe Maddon. And we have a feeling that if Papa Joe can be convinced, it won’t take much to convince Andrew Friedman.

Longoria will not have to hit .400 in Spring Training and he will not have to hit 10 home runs. In fact, we have a feeling that as long as he does not fall flat on his face, he will be named the Rays opening day starter at third base. As much as Papa Joe likes to crunch numbers on his computer, he still loves himself a good ole fashioned baseball player. Evan Longoria is a baseball player. And Maddon will envision that rubbing off on the other players

Maddon is destined to fall in love with the 22 year old. He will see enough in his swing and his glove to know that he is not going to be over-matched at the major league level.

Longoria may struggle at first. But he is too good a hitter to fail. And Papa Joe will see that.

Longoria will get chance to earn spot [Rays Report]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• ESPN.com takes a closer look at the “revitalized” Carl Crawford. C.C. speaks about having more energy after learning that he was allergic to dairy and wheat products and the subsequent change in his diet. He has also upped his workout regimen and has dropped his body fat from 12% to 8% since December. He also doesn’t hold back in his portrayal of just how miserable 2007 was for the Rays. [ESPN]

“It’s just going to be about playing baseball again, that’s what I’m really excited about this season,” Crawford said at his offseason home. “With all the B.S. that was going on last year, I think we lost focus on the task at hand.” Crawford refers to the ongoing soap opera that featured Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young. Both of the enormously talented players couldn’t stay out of trouble; Dukes with his off-field issues, and Young with his me-first attitude that resulted in him at first walking out on manager Joe Maddon on the second-to-last day of the 2007 regular season. Crawford calls last season a year “he never wants to remember,” and the distractions, at times, were almost unbearable…”That move, for Garza, spoke volumes,” Crawford said. “For the first time I felt like this organization was serious about winning. That’s the reason why I think everybody is excited because everybody sees that.”

• Joe Maddon confirmed something that we had expected, that is five of the seven bullpen spots are already spoken for, all but guaranteeing that Gary Glover will be on the opening day roster. That leaves one spot that will go to a “loser” in the battle for the starting rotation and the final spot will be between Juan Salas, Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour. [The Heater]
• Shawn Riggans enters Spring Training healthy and understands this may be his last shot at winning a job with the Rays now that John Jaso has been added to the 40-man roster. Marc Topkin refers to Riggans as the “apparent leading candidate for the backup catcher’s job.” This might be a stretch after the recent additions of one veteran catcher in Mike DiFelice and the return of Josh Paul who is familiar with the Rays pitching staff. It is our feeling that if the season started today Paul’s experience and familiarity with the pitching staff will be a better partner to the young Dioner Navarro. [St. Pete Times]
• Marc Topkin reviews all the changes the Rays have made this off-season. [St. Pete Times]
• The Columbus Catfish have been sold and plan to relocate to Bolling Green, Kentucky for the 2009 season. [Ledger-Enquirer]
• Baseball Analysts continues their breakdown of the best baseball players by age. In the age 23 group, BJ Upton comes in at #6, while both Evan Longoria and David Price come in at #5 and #12 respectively. [Baseball Analysts]
• The Ledger ranks the DHs. The Rays’ three-headed monster of Rocco Baldelli, Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes is ranked 7th. [The Ledger]
• My Baseball Bias previews the Rays’ Spring Training. [My Baseball Bias]
• Devil Rays Locker gives the Rays front office a B+ for this off-season’s moves. [Devil Rays Locker]

[THE HANGOVER] The Rays Add Trever Miller And Eric Hinske To The Mix

Tampa Bay Rays (7 days until pitchers and catchers report)
The Rays signed a pair of players yesterday. Relief pitcher Trever Miller was signed to a one year contract that will pay him $1.6 million this season with a $2 million team option in 2009. Miller previously pitched for the Rays in 2004 and 2005. As a left-handed relief pitcher, Miller fills the last remaining hole in the Rays 2008 opening day roster. With five of the seven bullpen spots now spoken for (Troy Percival, Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler, Gary Glover and Miller) that leaves two jobs up for grabs. One of those spots (long reliever) will be filled by one of the starting pitchers that does not make the rotation (likely Jason Hammel). The final spot is likely to be a spring training battle between Juan Salas, Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour.

The Rays also brought in former rookie of the year, Eric Hinske on a minor league contract. He will make $800,000 if he makes the team. Hinske was signed despite news that domestic violence charges against Willy Aybar have been dropped in the Dominican Republic. Hinske is being brought in as insurance in case Aybar is not fit to be either the starting third baseman or part of a platoon with Joel Guzman. Hinske appeared in 84 games for the Red Sox last year playing first base, left field and right field, hitting .204-6-21. Hinske could also conceivably become part of the right field rotation, as the team has made it clear that they prefer Cliff Floyd be the team’s DH and Rocco Baldelli may be limited to start the season.

While he have heard rumblings that the Hinske deal is similar to the situation in which the Rays brought in Carlos Pena last year, everybody needs to temper their excitement. The Rays also brought in Hee Seop Choi last year and now he is out of baseball. Hinske has not hit more than 15 home runs in a season since his rookie year of 2002. That includes four seasons in which he has appeared in more than 100 games. Pena had shown that he could at least hit for power when he was given regular playing time, with 27 dingers in 2004 and 18 home runs in half a season in 2005. In short, we would guess that he and Joel Guzman have an equal shot at the last roster spot.

Finally, it is not too much of a stretch to assume that the trade for Aybar and the signing of Hinske suggest that the Rays have decided to keep Evan Longoria in the minor leagues to start the 2008 season.

Miller’s contract brings the Rays payroll above $43 million.

Miller reunited with Rays [DevilRays.com]
Rays Sign Hinske [MLB Trade Rumors]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• We are not sure if the title “The Eric Hinske Era Ends” is a reflection of his time in Boston ending or his time with the Rays beginning…or both. [Surviving Grady]
• The Rays apparently tried to sign Dallas McPherson, prior to trading for Willy Aybar. [Sun-Sentinel]
• How many other teams have a GM that is so dedicated that he will appear on a blog radio show that has about 20 listeners? Andrew Friedman will be a guest on “Baseball Talk” on BlogTalkRadio this Sunday at 11:00 AM. [BlogTalkRadio]
• The domestic violence charges against Willy Aybar have been dropped. [TampaBay.com]
• Bill Chastain continues his “Around the Horn” series in which he examines each of the Rays’ “positions”. This week it is the bullpen. [DevilRays.com]
• Sox1Fan takes a look at the Rays top 10 prospects. [Sox1Fan]
• Opponents of the Rays proposed stadium are expected to make an appearance at this morning’s St. Pete city council meeting. The protesters want to see the site of Al Lang Field turned into a park. [TBO]
• The Bleacher Report says there is a lot to be optimistic about with the Rays this year. [Bleacher Report]
• Mets fans can take solace in the fact they finally got back the pitcher they gave up for Victor Zambrano. Wait? You mean it wasn’t Jose Diaz you wanted back? [Mets Fever]

[THE HANGOVER] Babe Ruth Would Be A $400 Million Player Today

Tampa Bay Rays (8 days until pitchers and catchers report)

Happy Birthday Babe Ruth! He would be 113 today if only he had not taken so many performance enhancing beers, hot dogs and whores…Which gets us to thinking. If The Bambino were playing today and had just completed his 6th season and was set to become a free agent how much would he be worth on the open market.

Under today’s CBA, Ruth would have become a free agent after the 1920 season. In 1920 Ruth hit .376-54-137, posted an OBP of .533(!) and an OPS+ of 256. And while he only made one start as a pitcher in 1920, his resume already included seasons of 18-8, 2.44…23-12, 1.75…24-13, 2.01…and 13-7, 2.22. And those are just the stats. Keep in mind that he was a left-handed pitcher, the most famous person in the country and was only entering his age 26 season.

Consider a bidding war between the Yankees and Red Sox…In today’s day and age you can bet your ass that both teams would envision Ruth as RF/DH/RP, with his pitching role most likely mimicking a left-handed Joba Chamberlain.

How much would a player like Ruth be worth? $30 million per year for 10 years ($300 million)? Actually we would guess that it would be closer to $35 million per year for 12 years ($420 million), with the final years of the deal north of $40 million.

Would the Yankees or the Red Sox go to $400 million for one player, if that one player was a 26 year old Babe Ruth? Consider how the Yankees just gave $275 million to Alex Rodriguez, who will be 32 on opening day, is not a pitcher and only posted 2007 OBP of .422 and an OPS+ of 177. Seem to us that $400 million for a player that could potentially win the Triple Crown and the Cy Young in the same season, would be a bargain.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Matt Bishoff interviews BJ Upton. [DRays Bay]
• One blogger believes that more than half of the teams in baseball have zero chance of winning the World Series, even before spring training begins. For the most part agree, but most would have included the Rockies on the list of teams with “Zero chance” in 2007, and most would include the Rays on the same list in 2008. Yet, a look at our own recent poll of normally disgruntled and apocalyptic fans shows that more than half of Rays fans think the Rays have a shot at the playoffs this year if things break right. [MVN Outsider]
• Rays of Light profiles the Rays 11th round pick from this past year, DJ Jones. We have said it repeatedly, a prospect has to be pretty darn special (ie. David Price) to get our attention before they have done anything at the AA-level. RoL is pretty high on Jones. They may be right. But we will reserve judgment on the high schooler until at least 2010. [Rays of Light]
• The Zips projections for the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays have been released. Zips is one of three or four highly respected statistical projections. [Baseball Think Factory]
• The Stat Pack talks to a pitching mechanics expert about recent concerns that have been brought up about James Shields mechanics. The verdict is that his changing mechanics is just a reflection of coaches trying to get Shields to learn a dominant breaking ball. [The Stat Pack]
• The Sporting Newslooks at six players that could be potential comeback candidates and considers Rocco Baldelli one that won’t. [The Sporting News]
• Stacy Long got a hold of The Baseball America Prospect Handbook and their projections for where each of the Rays’ top 30 prospects will start the season. [Riverwalk Talk]
• Yankees Chick has here 2008 Tampa Bay Rays projections up. [Yankees Chick]
• For those that care about fantasy values, MLB.com has the values for all the Rays. [MLB]
• Raymond is brining the sexy back and he is excited about the upcoming season. [The Big Blue Blog]
• The Tampa Tribune profiles Chris Lahey, the person responsible for promoting the sales of Rays tickets. [TBO]

[THE HANGOVER]

Tampa Bay Rays (9 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Today is Hank Aaron’s birthday. Major League Baseball tried to honor Aaron by naming an award after him, when in fact the award does nothing to honor his legacy. We have made our feelings known about the Hank Aaron Award in the past, but in short it is a glorified advertising opportunity for MLB to make money off of Hank Aaron’s name, and the award needs to be overhauled or it will never have any legitimacy.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• If you have not had a chance to vote in our “Tampa Bay Rays Confidence” polls, please do so. This will become a weekly feature and the resulting graph will makes it debut tomorrow. [Rays Index]
• Willy Aybar has been jailed in the Dominican Republic on charges of domestic violence. He has been held without bail since last week. We will have more on this topic later on this morning. [ESPN]
• Rays of Light reports that Rocco Baldelli stated in a radio interview that he has been working out at first base in the off-season. Do the Rays think this will actually help? We are talking about a guy who once needed Tommy John surgery after injuring his knee. Rocco could pull a hamstring just thinking about running. [Rays of Light]
• Tom Singer believes the Rays are one team that could surprise in 2008, comparing them to the 1969 Mets. [MLB]

The rest of the AL East is concerned. In fact, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has frankly branded the Rays a team “no one will want to face.”…But why stop at .500 — the Rays haven’t been closer than 11 games to that — as a major surprise? We keep looking at Tampa Bay’s new uniforms and seeing “Mets” scrawled across the chest…The Amazin’s averaged 56 wins in their first seven seasons, then broke loose for a World Series title in the eighth. And they did so without any major roster additions; a young team simply grew into it.

• The Rays have planned a series of appearances in neighboring counties with players and staff, in their effort to expand the team’s fan base. [TampaBay.com]
  
• Edwin Jackson is one of several major leaguers working to bring baseball back to young African-Americans. We wish we had not read that. Last thing in the world we need is a soft-spot for Nuke. [MLB]

“In the black schools, football and basketball are getting more attention than baseball,” Jackson said. “We need to expose it within the community, talk about it more. It starts in the household, where most parents are talking about basketball and football to their young black children.”

• One website names the best and worst moves of the off-season for each team. Signing Troy Percival to a two-year contract is rated as the Rays worst move. [SWB Yankees Blog]
• One fantasy baseball site compares BJ Upton to Alex Rios. [The Fantasy Man]
• The Rays will be offering free skin cancer screenings throughout March at various spring training facilities. We will avoid the obvious joke of a team that plays in a dome offering skin cancer screening. [DevilRays.com]
• The Gaston Gazette profiles Chris Mason. [Gaston Gazette]
• One protester is creating a Manatee named “Pete” made of duct tape to help bring awareness to the plight of the Manatees and to dredge up support for the opposition of the Rays new stadium…seriously [Tampa Bays 10]

[THE HANGOVER] Don’t Expect A Let Down, BJ Upton Is That Good

Tampa Bay Rays (22 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Rays Anatomy is up with their next installment of “The Great Debates”. This time it is BJ Upton versus Robinson Cano. Before we get to Upton, let us say that we would take either on our team. In fact, for those of you that have not watched many Yankees games the past three years or have been blinded by the lineup filled with $15-25 million dollar players, Cano is one of the best hitters in baseball. Not one of the best young hitters. One of the best hitters. Period. If he laid the bat a little bit flatter in his stance, we would swear Rod Carew came out of retirement.

However, today we want to rant about BJ Upton and all the nay-sayers that think Upton is in for a big let-down in 2008. We are going to pick on EJ Fagan from “The Great Debates” series, but rest-assured, we have seen this exact same argument in a dozen different places.

For people that have not seen Upton play on a regular basis and try to evaluate his 2007 season, they must rely on new-age stats to try and poke holes in his breakout performance. This is fine with most players, but may not necessarily work for a player like BJ Upton. These stats often look at factors like, where the ball landed, fly ball vs. ground ball, lined drive percentage, etc. Fagan uses three of the most common stat lines (BABIP, HR/FB, LineDrive%) when evaluating Upton. In all three cases, Upton’s numbers in 2007 were higher than normal/expected and on paper indicate that Upton was the beneficiary of good luck.

The problem with these stats is that they cannot account for one factor that could explain Upton’s numbers. That factor is speed. As in bat speed and foot speed.

First bat speed: Upton hits the ball hard, more consistently than almost any other player we have ever seen. Upton is able to generate an enormous amount of bat speed and as a result, when he does make contact the ball explodes off of his bat. This can very easily lead to inflated states that make it appear as if Upton is “lucky”. Take a hard ground ball, five feet to the left of the short stop. Upton hits the ball hard enough that a ball in that spot has a good chance of going through for a base hit. If a player like Dioner Navarro hits a ball in the exact same spot, it is probably an out. In other words, Upton can hit the ball to more parts of the field than average player in which the swing results in a base hit. He has more room for error. That is not “luck”. It is talent.

Now consider foot speed: Upton is fast. One of the faster players in baseball. Now take the same ground ball in the previous paragraph and let’s assume the short stop fields the ball. He is moving to his right, towards the hole and away from first base. There are not many shortstops in baseball, if any, that will throw out Upton. Now again, let’s consider Navarro. In his case, the shortstop has a chance to set his feet and make a strong throw. Navarro will probably be out.

Those two factors have a direct bearing on stats such as BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play). In 2007 Upton posted a .393 BABIP, which is very high. His expected BABIP was .316. As we have shown Upton’s BABIP should be higher than an average player, and should be higher than would be expected based on where the ball was hit. In addition, Upton’s bat speed can explain his high rate of home runs and line drives. Plain and simple, the guy hits the ball hard. More fly balls will end up as home runs and more balls will be rated as line drives.

It is natural to be skeptical of breakout performance such as Upton’s. But in this case, the regular stat line does not lie. Upton is that good. He will continue to strikeout a lot, but it will not keep him from becoming the first 30-30 player in Rays history in 2008.

The “Great Debates” – BJ Upton vs. Robsinson Cano [Rays Anatomy]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Heater is reporting that the Rays will announce a long-term contract for James Shields. A 2 p.m. press conference has been scheduled. The deal is believed to be for four years and $12 million, with three option years that would bring the total package up to $38 million with another $2 million in incentives. As was noted in the comments of yesterday’s post the deal is not likely to have a significant impact on the Rays’ payroll in 2008 or 2009. Shields was set to make close to the league minimum the next two years, and the new contract may give him a slight boost, but it will not be for more than $0.5-0.7 million each year. [TampaBay.com]
• Rocco Baldelli was in Scotland last week and took in a Celtic football match. The Daily Record interviewed the Rays center fielder DH. We love how they refer to Baldelli as “a man who has made his name and his fortune from agility, pace and handling skills.” Sometimes it is hard to remember that Rocco is a pretty good baseball player. [DailyRecord.com via TBO]
• The Sporting News ranks the Rays outfield as the 7th best in the AL. [The Sporting News]

Crawford and Upton have a rare combination of speed and power. Upton could grow into a 30-homer , 30-steal performer. Gomes, like many Rays, strikes out way too much.

• BJ Upton, Justin Upton and Michael Cuddyer are set to build an indoor sports training facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia. [PilotOnline.com]

[THE HANGOVER] The Tampa Bay Rays Are Promising As Much As $300 Million For Local Schools With New Stadium

Tampa Bay Rays (31 days until pitchers and catchers report)
The Tampa Bay Rays claim that as much as $800 million in new local taxes will be generated for St. Petersburg over the next 35 years due to the redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site. As part of the proposal for a new stadium along the St. Pete waterfront and the redevelopment of the land on which Tropicana Field sits, the Rays want 52% of those new taxes for building the new stadium. The other 48% would be distributed among local St. Pete agencies, with the biggest chunk (37%) going to the Pinellas and state school system. The remaining 11% would be split among other local entities.

The Tampa Bay Rays say the successful redevelopment of Tropicana Field and its parking lots could generate $5-million a year in new property tax revenues for state and Pinellas schools. If the redevelopment includes retail, millions of dollars more could flow into the city and county coffers each year through sales tax payments.

That money, which would not help build a new Rays stadium for the Rays, could be used to build new schools or new parks or pay teachers or police officers more, the Rays say.

If the $800 million turns out to be $400 million, the Rays would still get their stadium and the Pinellas and state school systems would get nothing. Therefore, the Rays hopes for a new stadium may be dependent on proving that the redevelopment of Tropicana Field can indeed generate the $800 million they are projecting.

Rays say schools gain in redevelopment [TampaBay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Stacy Long revealed his list of the Top 30 Tampa Bay Rays prospects. We have updated our Meta-Analysis of Rays Prospects to include Long’s list. Long’s list is of special value as he covers the AA Montgomery Biscuits and has seen most of these players first-hand. We are also now including a link to the meta-analysis in the side-panel. [Stacy Long’s Riverwalk Talk]
• Depending on the final numbers for the Rays final four remaining arbitration-eligible players, the Rays will most likely have an opening day payroll greater than $40 million. Based on our own projections, we place the final number just north of $41 million. This will be greater than the Rays promise of a 20% increase over their 2007 opening day payroll. Marc Topkin also includes his projected 25-man payroll and opening day lineup. The projection is very similar to our own, including Juan Salas not being on the roser. The only exception is giving the final roster spot to Justin Ruggiano and having Joel Guzman as the opening day third baseman in place of Evan Longoria. This is an idea that we are starting to warm up to. [TampaBay.com]
• Joe Maddon wants to emphasize fundamentals in Spring Training. [TBO]

“I’m going to apply a lot of pressure to the coaches and myself this spring training to make sure we get these fundamentals down appropriately,” Maddon said. “We’ve talked about them for two years; I believe this group is ready to put them into play. I believe this group is ready to take what we’re talking about and execute them. I believe this group will accept constructive criticism well and be accountable for their actions.

• Voros McCracken thinks the Rays still have a lot of work to do before they are ready to start competing. One of his biggest cautionary notes is that “Young pitchers (the strength of the Devil Rays system) will break your heart in a thousand different ways”. Everybody knows this, but the strength of the system is not just young pitching. It is the depth of young pitching. The Rays don’t need all their young pitching prospects to succeed. Just some of them. [Voros McCracken]
• The Rays have made official their plans to play a three-games series against the Blue Jays at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex. The move is contingent on the approval of the St. Pete city counsel. [Bradenton Herald]
• John Sickels reviews his Top 50 pitching prospects from 2007 and how they performed last season. Matt Garza was Sickels’ #2 pitching prospect with four other Rays that were on the list. [Minor League Ball]
• He says there have been no problems, but it seems a bit worrisome that we are only a month from Spring Training and Rocco Baldelli is only running three days a week. [Rotoworld]
• We are not sure why we are posting a link to this because it is really not news-worthy, but it does make as chuckle a little bit. Turns out, two downtown St. Pete condo associations are opposed to the proposed stadium. Why? Because the new stadium will block their view of the water. Don’t get us wrong, we understand that will have an effect on the property value, but with the numbers that are being tossed around (ie. $800 million in new tax revenue) there is ZERO chance that the fate of the new stadium will rest on whether a few condo-owners can see Tampa Bay. [Tampa Bay Parent]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 7 (Seven Relatively Healthy Months Of Rocco Baldelli)

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and what they will do, and why. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the seventh day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, SEVEN healthy months of Rocco Baldelli…

Seven months. That includes the regular season and spring training. Is it too much to ask for 20 games every month from Rocco?

Pretty please?

OK. give us a break. It’s New Years Day. We are hung over…and this is the best we could come up with. We know Rocco is allergic to himself. To be honest we just get excited when we hear Rocco is attempting a comeback every once and a while. Every six months it’s nice to hear from him, because we keep forgetting he is still in baseball.

We will come up with something more realistic tomorrow.

Happy New Years!

On the seventh day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli, and…
SIX months with at least 14 wins [Day 6]
FIVE players with at least 25 home runs [Day 5]
FOUR winning records against AL East foes [Day 4]
THREE AL All-Stars [Day 3]
TWO new pitchers in the rotation by the all-star break [Day 2]
ONE Evan Longoria in the opening day lineup [Day 1]

[THE HANGOVER] Tampa Bay Rays Have Already Improved By 12 Games Over 2007

Tampa Bay Rays (66-96)

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Here is an interesting mathematical projection of the Rays 2008 season. Just based on the upgrade in the rotation with the addition of Matt Garza and the upgrade in defense with the addition of Jason Bartlett, the Rays will give up 121 fewer runs in 2008. That translates to 12 more wins (78-84). [Yahoo! Sports]
• Today is the Rule 5 draft, and it looks like the Rays will sell their #1 pick to the Padres. [Baseball America]
• It comes as no surprise…Scott Boras does not see Carlos Pena signing a long-term deal this off-season. Most likely the two sides will submit arbitration numbers, and settle on a 1-year deal somewhere in between. In our 40-man roster and payroll projections, we predict that number to be close to $5 million. [TBO]
• The New York Daily News is reporting that the Rays are looking at Cliff Floyd to be the part-time right fielder and left handed bat that they are seeking. [New York Daily News]
• The Rays were named “Topps Organization of the Year”. The award is based on a point system in which the organization earns points anytime a minor leaguer or rookie receives an a Topps Award during the season (ie. Named to the Topps Rookie team, Player of the Month, etc.) [The Biz of Baseball]

The Rays’ individual winners were: John Jaso (August Player of the Month / Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.); Desmond Jennings (June POM – South Atlantic Lg.); Evan Longoria (May POM / Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.); Maiko Loyola (Class A Rookie All Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Chris Mason (Class AA All Star – Southern Lg.); Mike McCormick (Class A Rookie All-Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Fernando Perez (Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.); Jason Ragan (Class A Rookie All-Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Justin Ruggiano (August POM / Class AAA All-Star – International Lg.); Emeel Salem (Class A Rookie All-Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Jae Seo (July POM – International Lg.); Dale Thayer (Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.) and Delmon Young (Rookie All-Star – MLB).

• Jorge Cantu has been released by the Cincinnati Reds. [Hot Foot]
• Scott Kazmir and Rocco Baldelli traded to the Mets? Fear not, this website is a fake. [FAKE MLB]
• The Tampa Bay Rays and Montgomery Biscuits will begin discussions to extend their relationship past the 2008 season. [Talk Alabama]

[THE HANGOVER] James Houser Added To 40-Man Roster Despite Ongoing Suspension

Devil Rays
Since the we embarked on our Thanksgiving shenanigans, the Rays made several changes to the 40-man roster.

Dropped from the 40-man roster

• Chris Snelling (traded to Phillies)
• Jon Switzer (DFA’d)
• Brian Stokes (DFA’d)

Added to 40-man roster

• John Jaso, C
• Jason Pridie, OF
• Fernando Perez, OF
• James Houser, SP

The only real surprise of the group is James Houser. Certainly any team would take all necessary precautions to protect a big left hander that is a major league prospect. This is especially true when a left handed pitcher is a common selection in the rule 5 draft because it is easy to hide a young inexperienced pitcher in the bullpen. However, James Houser is not any left hander.

On August 17 of this past season, Houser tested positive for a performance enhancing drug and was suspended for 50 games. Houser missed the final 17 games of the regular season for the Montgomery Biscuits. As a result, he will be forced to sit out for the first 33 games of the 2008 season.

One could argue that Houser would have been more attractive in the Rule 5 Draft since he would not take a roster spot for the first month of the season. However, once the suspension was lifted, his new team would have to make a roster spot for a young pitcher that had been out of action for nearly 9 months and with no experience above AA.

In the end Rays management decided the risk of losing a young left handed starter was too great and decided to protect Houser on the 40-man roster at the risk of losing another player that may be more likely to be taken. At the top of that list are two of Houser’s Montgomery teammates, Nick DeBarr and Dale Thayer. DeBarr was a Rule 5 selection of the Red Sox in 2007, but was returned to the Rays at the end of Spring Training. Thayer, the Biscuits closer, holds the Southern League record for saves in a season. Both players fit the ideal Rule 5 selection…A mid-level pitching prospect that has yet to live up to their potential, that a team can take a flyer on and hope for the best. If the player works out, their new team has an extra arm in the bullpen and only had to give up the drafting fee of $50,000.

Rays tweak roster to hang onto prospects [tampabay.com]
Down On The Farm: James Houser Suspended 50 Games [Rays Index]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• With the changes that have been made to the 40-man roster, our 40-man roster and 25-man roster projections have been updated in the sidebar. One change we have not made yet is the 5th spot in the rotation. A very strong argument can be made for the team giving the spot to Jeff Niemann without any further time at AAA and moving Jason Hammel to the bullpen to be the long reliever and spot starter.
• A report came down that Carlos Pena turned down a 3 year/$30 million offer from the Rays. Pena’s response when asked was that the report was that the report was “a straight lie”. He also laughed when breaking the news to his wife, which suggests that Pena would not have turned down such an offer. In our 40-man roster projections, we have Pena listed with a 2008 salary of $5 million. This is assuming that Pena and the Rays settle on a 1-year deal to avoid arbitration. Our feeling is that the Rays would not offer more than $8 million per year on a multi-year deal. [tampabay.com]
• Rays of Light is up to #8 of their list of off-season ideas. This one is a no-brainer…”Sign Scott Kazmir to a longterm contract”. However, we disagree with the contention that the Rays should be tossing around numbers such as 6-years and more than $70 million. While $12-13 million per season might be the price for Kid K in free agency, there is no need to give him that money in his arbitration years, nor is there any reason to give him that type of money for his free agency years, three years before he reaches them. The best comparison could be Jeff Francis of the Rockies, another left hander, who signed an extension in 2007 (prior to his third season), that covered all three of his arbitration years and his first free agency season. His arbitration years were bought out at an average of $4.25 million and his first free agency year will cost the Rockies $7 million. Add a year of inflation plus consider the talent level of Kazmir and a comparable contract would fall in the range of a $6 million average for his arbitration years and $10 million for his first free agency season or a total of $28 million over 4 years. [Rays of Light]
• Another trade rumor that refuses to die: Delmon Young to the Twins for Matt Garza. For those that are not familiar, Garza was the Twinkies first round pick in 2005 (25th overall). He is a 24 year old, big (6-4, 205) righty that split time between AAA and Minneapolis in 2007 going 5-7 with a 3.69 ERA and a 67:32 strikeout to walk ratio in 83 innings. In the minors, he was consistently around 10 K’s per 9 and less than 2.5 walks per 9 innings. [TwinCities.com]
• Like every other team that needs an outfielder, the Rangers have inquired about Rocco Baldelli and his legs. [MLB]
• John Herbert has written a column critical of the Rays plan to invest $150 million in a new stadium along the St. Pete waterfront. His two biggest gripes are 1) The Rays are willing to invest $150 million in a stadium but will not invest in the product that will play in the stadium, and 2) he believes that there will not be any parking available in the new location and all fans attending the game will be subject to parking tickets from meter maids running around in modified golf carts. [Hernando Today]
• DRays Bay warns that JK Ryu’s performance with the Korean national team may cost him a spot on the Rays’ 40-man roster. We are not sure how much weight the performance will have, but we have Ryu on the roster bubble, so it can’t help. [DRays Bay]

[THE HANGOVER] There Are No Carl Crawford Rumors To Deny

Team USA 4, South Africa 2.
Evan Longoria went 1-4 with a triple and Justin Ruggiano went 0-4 as Team USA moved to 5-1 and clinched a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. They have one final game in the preliminary round versus Taipei with the quarterfinals set to played on Friday with the opponent yet to be determined. Longoria was the team’s DH while Andy LaRoche played third base.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Baseball Musings took a look at the “Probabilistic Model of Range” for centerfielders in 2007 and the Devil Rays centerfielders finished next to last, ahead of only the Brewers. The number must be taken with a grain of salt. When we look at Range Factor, BJ Upton was above the league average of 2.71 with a 2.91. On the other hand, Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young, who had the next two most innings played in center field were both well below the league average with a 2.30, which likely brought the Rays overall Range value down. Rocco Baldelli only played 20 games in center, but came in with a 3.61 range factor. [Baseball Musings]
• Four of the 12 players named to the Topps Double-A All-Star team are Devil Rays farmhands. The list includes Evan Longoria, John Jaso, Chris Mason and Dale Thayer. [The Raw Feed]
• More hardware for Carlos Pena. This time it is the fictional 2007 Andre Dawson Award, presented to the best player on a last place team. No word on what exactly the trophy looks like, but we are guessing it is a hawk with bad knees. Pena is the second Devil Ray to win the award. Fred McGriff won the award in 1999. [Home Run Derby]
• The Cubs are trying to put together a package to land Carl Crawford. No word on whether or not discussions have already occurred. [Herald-News]
• According to team officials, there are no deals being worked on that involve Carl Crawford. The denial is interesting and possibly unnecessary as we haven’t actually heard any rumors involving CC. All we have seen and read is that other teams are targeting CC. But who wouldn’t want CC on their team? [Bradenton Herald]
• Al Reyes and Greg Norton both filed for free agency. The Rays still have until tomorrow to pick up options on both players. Reyes’ option will be picked up. Norton is likely to be granted free agency. [TBO]
• The Rays are one of 10 teams interested in signing Troy Percival. While Marc Lancaster sites Percival’s close relationship with Joe Maddon as a reason the Rays may have an edge, it didn’t seem to help last year when he ultimately signed with the Cardinals, so we are not sure why it would help this time around, except to add another team to the bidding process and ultimately raise the price. [TBO]
• In the end, we were a little high with the target dollar amount, but as we predicted, the Yankees went to four years on their contract offer to Jorge Posada and the catcher decided to not even test the free agent waters. The Yankees re-signed Posada for 4 years and $52.4 million. The Yankees will have to pay the devil on the back end of the deal, but that is the advantage they have. They will be able to swallow that cost when Posada is a 40-year old part-time DH. The Rays are in no financial position to assume such a cost. [TBO]
• Redeveloping Tropicana Field and the land on which it rests is key to the Rays moving to the St. Pete Waterfront in 2012. According to Aaron Sharockman this will not be a problem as land developers are already drooling over the prospect of building a residential and office space development on the 70 acre lot that is close to the interstate. [St. Pete Times]

Transforming the Tropicana site is “the kind of thing you dream about,” said Craig Sher, the chief executive of the Sembler Co., which developed BayWalk in St. Petersburg and Centro Ybor in Tampa.

“There’s a real potential to build a really neat mixed-use project, residential and office,” Sher said. “There’s just not a lot of land left in St. Pete. Any time you get a critical mass of land, you can get something spectacular. Hopefully, we’d be on somebody’s list of people to call.”

• Now that the Devil Rays have changed their name to “Rays”, has the team automatically eliminated itself as a potential destination for a small segment of players? Would Ray Durham have ever signed with the Tampa Bay Rays? Not likely. [Home Run Derby]