[THE HANGOVER] New Deals For Shields And Pena May Keep Both From Being Traded During Arbitration Years

Tampa Bay Rays (18 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Just the links today as we mourn the 15th anniversary of the passing of one of our childhood faves, Andre the Giant, and wish a happy birthday to another one of our childhood faves, Keith Olbermann. What better way to celebrate then to bake a chocolate cake on National Chocolate Cake Day!

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• In Marc Topkin’s latest piece, he speculates on what James Shields’ deal means for Scott Kazmir. Kazmir says that the deal has little bearing on his contract status as they are in difference situations (Kazmir is in his arbitration years). Later on in the piece Topkin raises a good point we had not considered before in regards to the recent deals for Shields and Carlos Pena. He states that even though the deals only take away a minimal number of free agent years, the contracts will also keep the Rays from being forced to trade one or the other at any time during their arbitration years. So while the players were locked up for X number of years prior to the deals (five years in Shields case) the deals do make it easier for the team to keep the players during those locked-up years. [St. Pete Times]

Shields’ deal technically would only keep him around for two extra free-agent seasons, but another benefit of these type of deals is cost certainly during arbitration years, which could prevent the Rays from having to trade him, as the Marlins did when arbitration-eligible Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis became too expensive.

• The Bradenton Herald says that the moves made this off-season are not a ploy by the team to earn support for a new stadium, and the timing is just a coincidence. [Bradenton Herald]
• Jim Hickey expects the bullpen to be much better in 2008 (Couldn’t be any worse). But what is interesting in the piece, when Hickey speaks of Troy Percival, Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler and Gary Glover. “When I end up talking about bullpen guys, you always talk about if you’re comfortable sending a guy out there, and right there are four guys I’m comfortable sending out there in pretty much any situation at all.” It is pretty clear from that quote, that Glover will be on the opening day roster. In our most recent 25-man roster projection (in the sidebar), we did not have Glover’s position listed as “secure”. We will have to change that in our next evaluation. That leaves three spots in the ‘pen. Long Reliever is likely to be one of the starting pitchers that does not win a spot in the rotation. Lefty-Specialist is a player-to-be-signed later. The final spot is up for grabs with Juan Salas and Scott Dohmann being the leading candidates (Salas has a minor league option remaining). [TBO]
• DRays Bay takes a look at every player invited to Spring Training and what each player’s chances are of making the team. [DRays Bay]
• Fox Sports lists Andy Sonnanstine as one of ten players that could break out in 2008. [Fox Sports]

With guys like Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza in the Tampa Bay rotation, it’s easy to forget about Sonnanstine. However, he’s impressive in his own right. Sonnanstine boasts a low arm angle, an array of pitches, and an ability to change speeds. None of his offerings wow scouts, but in four minor-league seasons he logged a 2.56 ERA and a stellar strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.2 to 1. Last season in Tampa, Sonnanstine struggled in terms of keeping runs off the board, but he did strike out more than three times as many batters as he walked. Given his command skills, Sonnanstine is one to watch in 2008.

• Evan Longoria will wear #3 in Spring Training. He wears #6 in the minors.
• The Rays have signed relief pitcher Scott Munter to a minor league contract. Munter was a 47th round selection of the Giants in 2000 and somehow has managed to earn three different stints with the Giants despite a career minor league record that includes almost as many walks (134) as strikeouts (175 in 334.1 innings). [Baseball America]
• RotoAuthority has their projection for James Shields numbers in 2008. Interestingly, the projection calls for a year not quite as a good as last year, with 13 wins and a 4.06 ERA. [RotoAuthority]

The Hangover: Edwin Jackson? Seriously?

Devil Rays 3, Rangers 0.
Don’t do this to us Edwin. Don’t you dare do this to us. There have been too many pitchers with “promising” careers that would go out and throw one great start and we would think “maybe, just maybe.” We don’t have the stomach for it anymore. We want you to look all of our friends and family in the eyes and tell them you are serious. Tell them that you are for real, because they are the ones that have to deal with our moody selves and pick up the pieces after every game when you have given up 6 runs in 3 innings and we scream your name in pain. If last night was an aberration then do us a favor and just get knocked out of your next start in the first inning so that we won’t get our hopes up. The Rays need a third starter. Jeff Niemann has yet to dominate AAA and David Price, Wade Davis and Jake McGee are all still more than a year away. Mitch Talbot and Jason Hammel? We have no idea yet. But we do know that none of them have your “stuff”. You are the one if you can make it work.

That is why we call him “Nuke”. The kid has a million dollar arm and that was never more evident than last night. Has there ever been a more improbable 4-hit shutout? Edwin Jackson entered last night’s game with a 2-11 record and a 6.06 ERA. And that does not even consider that Jackson had not pitched past 1 out in the 7th inning in his previous 23 starts this season. Jackson had never finished the 8th inning in his major league career and he had never pitched a 9-inning complete game, much less a shutout, in his entire professional career.

But on this evening, Nuke Jackson struck out 8 and walked only 1. On this night Nuke was touching 99 on the gun in the 9th inning. IN THE 9TH INNING!

Either make the step forward Nuke, or get out of the way. But whatever you do. DO NOT TEASE US.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• It has long been suspected that the Devil Rays would change their name to just “Rays” after this season. The acquisition of a new domain for the team’s website appears to confirm this move. [TBO]
• Scott Dohmann has not been scored upon in his last 8 appearances. Those games cover 8 innings, in which he has given up 2 hits and 5 walks. [Devil Rays]

The Hangover: Andy Sonnantine Solidifies His Spot In The Rotation

Angels 3, Devil Rays 0.
Despite being “small” for a right-hander and despite not being blessed with a plus-fastball, Andy Sonnanstine breezed through the minors with amazing numbers. His status grew to almost legendary proportions among Devil Rays fans who had never even seen him pitch. For a team that always seems to be about 10 pitchers short of a major league pitching staff, Sonny was seen as savior to many.

We always understood the fascination with Andy Sonnanstine. We saw the numbers and we were in awe. His control was impeccable and despite not having a plus-fastball he had impressive strikeout totals. We always understood the fascination with Andy Sonnanstine but we were skeptical. A pitcher can fool minor league hitters, but that is much more difficult to do in the majors. We worried aloud that Sonnanstine would be very hittable once he was called up and that he would need to be nearly perfect just to give the Rays a chance to win.

Now that Sonny has 9 big league starts under his belt, we feel we were both right and wrong. He is never going to be a dominant major league pitcher but he will be good. In fact he is an ideal back-of-the-rotation guy. He will eat innings every time out and on most nights he will give the team a chance to win. Despite dropping to 1-5 after last night’s loss to the Angels, Sonny worked 7 strong innings and has now pitched into the 7th inning in 7 of his 9 starts.

He also will not walk many batters. Nothing kills a team more than walks. Take away his June 16th start in Colorado in which he walked 2 in 5 innings, and Sonny has walked only 5 in 58.2 innings or 0.76 walks per 9 innings. And while Sonny will always be prone to giving up home runs (11 in 9 starts) most managers will tell you that it is not the home run that kills you, it is the walk just before the home run.

Sonnanstine is 1-5 with 5.37 ERA in 9 career starts but he has proven that is capable of being a big league pitcher and is likely to be a mainstay in the Devil Rays rotation for the foreseeable future.

1. Scott Kazmir
2. James Shields
3. ?
4. ?
5. Andy Sonnanstine

The beauty of this is that there are now only two question marks in the rotation down the road. Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot are knocking on the door and David Price, Wade Davis and Chris Mason are close behind. The Rays now only need two or three of those five pitchers to become dominant. In the past the Rays had no room for error with their pitching prospects. When Seth McClung, Doug Waechter and Dewon Brazleton failed, the team failed. Now if Jeff Niemann or Mitch Talbot fail, there will be another option ready to fill the hole.

Now if we can just find some help for the bullpen monstrosity.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• JK Ryu and Scott Dohmann have been called up from Durham. Either Ryu or Jason Hammel will start the first game of the double-header tomorrow in New York. Dustin Mohr was designated for assignment and Jorge Cantu was demoted to Durham. [MLB]
• No surprise here, but Jorge Cantu is not happy and we have most likely seen him for the last time as a Devil Ray. [Sports Talk]
• As the trade deadline nears, the Devil Rays have no “untouchables” on their roster. That means people will ask about Carl Crawford. It would be interesting to know what the Rays would seek in return for C.C.. Kinda like walking through the car lot and looking at the price tag on a car you know you cannot afford but you are still curious how much they are asking. [New York Post]
• The Devil Rays will begin a roadtrip tonight. Is it possible that we have seen one or two members of the Devil Rays for the last time in the green and grey? [TBO]
• Of the three major sports teams in the Tampa Bay area, the Devil Rays actually have the best all-time winning percentage. Sad. Just sad. [Sticks of Fire]
• A recent Sports Illustrated poll of major league baseball players ranked Stuart Sternberg as the third worst owner in baseball with 18% of the votes. This is likely a reflection of many baseball players being unaware that there is a new owner in the last year and a half, as it is still a little early to pass that type of judgment on a new owner. [Sun-Sentinel]
• Who knows the who plays second base for the Devil Rays? Anybody? [The D-Rays Blog]
• The Devil Rays are in discussions with the Big East about the possibility of bringing a bowl game to the Trop. We are unable to confirm that the bowl would feature the 5th place team in the Big East each season. [TBO]
• We asked to be corrected and our loyal readers came through. The Devil Rays have indeed been present in Tampa since the Westshore Plaza shop closed. The kids play area in the International Plaza is co-sponsored by the Devil Rays (Thanks Matt). [DevilRays.com]

Time To Get The Durham Shuttle Warmed Up

Let’s face it, Shawn Camp and Ruddy Lugo are not major league pitchers right now. In spring training Joe Maddon made it clear that there were no more free lunches. No more “scholarships”. This is why we were puzzled when Papa Joe appeared to guarantee Camp and Lugo spots in the bullpen at the beginning of the spring, despite being two members of the worst bullpen in baseball in 2006. Camp said during the spring that he was working on being more consistent. Mission accomplished. He has been consistently bad in 2007. In four appearances, he has recorded only 7 outs, yet he has surrendered 6 hits, a walk, and a hit batter, to go with 4 runs.

Last night Camp relieved Edwin Jackson with 2 outs in the 6th with runners at first and third and the score tied. Two batters later the Rangers were leading 4-2. Papa Joe had seen enough. Now it was Lugo’s turn to stop the bleeding. Four batters and zero outs later, the game was 8-2 and out of reach. Lugo has actually been worse than Camp so far in 2007. He has recorded 6 outs, and he has given up 7 hits and 4 walks which have led to 5 runs. That equates to an era of 22.50 and a 5.500 whip. That’s not an easy thing to do.

So now we will see if Maddon and Andrew Friedman are true to their word. Are Camp and Lugo on “scholarship”? If not, they need to be in Durham. We have no idea what the problem is, but it is clear that neither is capable of getting major league hitters out at this point. If this continues, it will be damaging to this young team. This team started the season with a lot of confidence. To compete with the monsters of the AL East, this team needs confidence and there is no way they can be confident in the bullpen right now. The idea of Camp or Lugo even warming up in the bullpen during a game in which the lead is less 10 gives us the hibidy-jibidies.

We don’t know who should be in their place, but right now a Fungo could get more hitters out. At Durham, Steve Andrade has 7 strike outs in 4.1 innings, but gave up 2 runs in his first appearance. Tim Corcoran and Scott Dohmann both have major league experience and have been solid so far. Chad Orvella has struggled a bit early on, but was strong this spring with the Rays. Hell, we would rather have Seth McCl…ummm, nevermind. We aren’t that desperate yet.

Is it any coincidence that these are the two pitchers that were used during the now famous “Cat in the Hat” reading? Durham parents are checking the transaction page daily. Soon they will have to lock their children in the basement.

The good and, well, just the ugly [St. Pete Times]