[NEWSPAPER BLOGS] Strange Things Are Afoot At The Heater

The Heater, a Rays blog hosted by the St. Pete Times has a post today referring to an ESPN.com chat hosted by Sean McAdam. The focus of the chat is which team will be better in 2010, The Tampa Bay Rays or the Florida Marlins.

The focus of the chat is not what caught our attention. Rather it was Marc Topkin’s use of an external link directing the reader to ESPN.com. [Ed. note: we feel as though this is not the first time, but we were unable to find other examples. At the very least this is a very rare practice]

Last week we attempted to lay out the differences between our blog, the mainstream media and other more professional blogs such as DRays Bay. Several people took the time to write in and ask why we did not address newspaper blogs.

Newspaper blogs such as The Heater and The Rays Report offer the newspapers a way to report the news in real-time for a society where most news is old news by the time the paper comes out in the morning. However, they are still subjected to many of the same limitations as the journalists that write for the newspaper, such as style and language. In the cases of The Heater and The Rays Report they really are just snippets of what is going on in and around the team as it happens. There is never any analysis of the news item and the commentary is kept to a minimum. Rather it is as they say, “Just the facts”.

Another factor that differentiates traditional blogs (sounds like an oxymoron) from newspaper blogs is the use of external links. Newspapers are a business and like any business they are afraid to send their customers to another location, even if that other location is not a direct competitor. We have long felt that this is the single biggest factor that is holding newspaper blogs back from being something more than just a source of news that comes directly from the team.

Without the freedom to use external links, a journalist is limited in the breadth of news they can report. It appears as though The St. Pete Times may be learning this lesson. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a regular habit for the writers at The Heater and whether or not the Tampa Tribune follows the St. Pete Times’ lead.

Rays or Marlins [TampaBay.com]
Please Do Not Accuse Of Trying To Be Journalists [Rays Index]

[BLOGGING IS NOT JOURNALISM] Please Do Not Accuse Us Of Trying To Be Journalists

Yesterday Big Daddy Drew at Deadspin addressed the subject of Blogging as Journalism. It is an excellent read and I highly recommend for anybody that spends time reading blogs, to take five minutes and read it. It is my feeling that this debate is at the core of much of the criticism that has been leveled at this site, both in the comments and in emails.

Some feel that at times I can be overly critical of newspaper columnists and websites that cover the Rays. What people need to realize is that Rays Index is just a chronicle of what is going on in the Raysiverse mixed with my occasional editorialization. Some of those thoughts have been molded by talking with others before I write, but make no mistake, the words on this page are mine and mine alone. One person’s opinion. If you disagree with me, I must ask why you hate freedom. Or maybe I am wrong. That is what the comments section is for, and I promise those comments are never censored.

I am not a journalist, nor am I trying to be a journalist or pretending to be a journalist. It should be obvious that there is a clear distinction between the writings at this site and the work that is done at The Tampa Tribune or The St. Pete Times. And while it may not be as obvious, many of the same distinctions are what separates this site from another Rays “blog”, DRays Bay.

Many of the criticisms directed at this site are for the way I have treated writers at DRays Bay. Sports blogs come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. Unlike most blogs, including this one, Drays Bay is trying to be a journalistic entity and some of the writers at Drays Bay aspire to be professional sports writers. One has even written a book on the Rays. They try to give you breaking news. They do interviews. They present everything to you in real time, whether it be important or not. They have 284 different writers and 10,000 different things you can click on their front page. They are the Yahoo! of Rays websites.

At RI, I don’t often write until I have had a chance to discuss the topic, think the topic through, feel out multiple sides to the topic. It gives me a chance to offer a well-thought out evaluation of what has happened, what has been said, and what has been written…and maybe insert a poop joke or two. And quite frankly a lot of the topics don’t need much discussion, so they go in the “Devil Rays Webtopia” the next morning. But if something is written that is idiotic, silly or just plain wrong, I will voice my opinion and make sure that Rays fans are made aware as to why I feel the other piece is crap. It does not matter whether the original piece was presented by the Tribune, the Times, DRays Bay or Martha’s Beanie Baby Blog.

From Big Daddy Drew’s post on Deadspin…

The problem is that many journalists, and in turn many readers, have a deeply held belief that the printed word (on paper or electronically) holds more weight than the spoken word. That it is somehow sacrosanct. But that’s not true on blogs, or on message boards, or on text messages. In these new forms of media, the written word is just as disposable and frivolous as a conversation between me and you (and talking with me is like taking a dip in an empty kiddie pool). And it’s foolish to assume otherwise. Most sports blogs are run by fans, and serve mainly as an online extension of the friendly banter we all engage in about sports on a daily basis. It’s not journalism. It’s a blog. It’s its own thing, and the two needn’t be confused.

I have no aspirations to be a journalist, so I am not worried about offending anybody. I don’t care if the team gets upset with something I write, because I am not seeking interviews. I don’t care if I insult Marc Lancaster or Marc Topkin, because I am not trying to get a job with the Tribune or the Times. That allows me to truly speak to you as one fan would speak to another. You may not agree with my evaluation, but it is mine…uncensored.

I would like to think that this gives RI a level of objectivity that you will not find elsewhere. Unlike journalists, or those that aspire to be journalists, we are not beholden to the hands that feed us. We feed ourselves.

As for Rays of Light? They are a blog like us…minus the asshole and the 8th grade humor…Wait…Never mind.

The Super Bowl Bye Week Jamboroo, In Which Drew Pauses To Make A Serious Point About Blogging As Journalism, Then Makes Chili [Deadspin]

The Hangover: Marc Topkin Apparently Fell Asleep During Warm-Ups

Angels 2, Devil Rays 1.
This is what drives us absolutely nuts about the local coverage of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We stayed up late last night and caught every pitch of the Rays 89th loss of the season. We went to bed frustrated with the offense, but content that Jason Hammel had pitch well and has shown improvement in his last four starts.

Then we wake up this morning to THIS headline in the St. Pete Times…

“Banged-up Rays waste Hammel’s latest gem”

Now..instead of feeling good about Hammel’s performance we now feel compelled to explain to Marc Topkin and the editors of the Times why Hammel’s performance was far from being a “gem”. Instead of feeling good about his start, we now have to point out the faults.

• It took Jason Hammel 98 pitches to get through 6 innings. Therefore, for the 12th time in 12 starts, Hammel was unable to pitch into the 7th inning.
• 6 innings and 2 runs is not a “gem”. That is an ERA of 3.00. Good. Not great. 9 innings and 2 runs might be a gem, but even then we would need to see 8-10 strikeouts and only 1-2 walks.
• Hammel allowed 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings. That is a WHIP of 1.50! That is NOT a gem.
• He struck out 3 batters. a strikeout to walk ratio of 3:2 is NOT a gem. A ratio of 8:1 might be a gem…if he also pitched 8 innings and gave up only 1 run.
• In 3 of his 6 innings, Hammel allowed the leadoff batter to reach base. Two of those runners scored. That is definitely NOT a gem.
• Chone Figgins scored the first run on a wild pitch. That is right. A wild pitch with a runner on third base. Apparently that is “gem”-worthy.
• Hammel had exactly ONE 1-2-3 inning. Hammel allowed base runners in 5 of the 6 innings. That is NOT a gem.
• Did we mention…SIX INNINGS IS NOT A FRIGGIN’ GEM.
• Eight innings. M-INIMUM are needed before we even think about calling a game a gem, and really we would prefer 9. And is it too much to ask that a few of those innings be 1-2-3?
• If a starting pitcher for the Yankees or the Red Sox gave up 2 runs in 6 innings and LOST, would ANYBODY call it a gem? NOT A CHANCE IN HELL. They would wonder why he labored and couldn’t get the ball directly to the set-up man in the 8th inning.
• His “Latest gem”? IS ANYBODY AT THE TIMES AWAKE OVER THERE?!? Hammel is yet to pitch into the 7th inning. In his last start, he allowed 5 hits and only 1 run in 6 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out 6, against an overrated Seattle Mariners club. That was a very good start. But even that was NOT a gem.

Is this what we have been reduced to as fans of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays? Has the pitching been so bad that when somebody other than Scott Kazmir or James Shields allows 2 runs over 6 innings, we are supposed to be giddy?

We hope that Jason Hammel does not read the St. Pete Times. If he does, he might actually be content with his performance last night, and not see that there is still plenty of room for improvement. We understand that a lot of times, wins and losses are out of the control of the starting pitcher, but when it comes down to it, there is one stat that counts from last night’s start…L. As in Hammel lost. The Devil Rays lost.

If a team is going to only score 1 run, then the pitcher needs to find a way to keep the other team off the board. If he can’t? Let’s just say we are not about to start calling him Tom Seaver. Now there is a guy that threw some gems.

Banged-up Rays waste Hammel’s latest gem [tampabay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• MLB Trade Rumors did an excellent job of breaking down exactly how ridiculous Scott Boras’ comments on Carlos Pena were. They challenge both the assertion that Pena is the best player to ever wear a Rays’ uniform and the boast that Pena is one of the top 5 players of 2007. They then go on to show that any claim that Pena is a $15 million player in his 4th full season is ludicrous. They even speculate that because Pena is not a free agent until after the 2009 season, the Rays best move may be to go to arbitration for the next two seasons and then trade Pena during the 2009 season. [MLB Trade Rumors]

Boras says the DRays basically got a $15MM season for the cost of $1.2MM and also takes some digs at the franchise. But it’s disingenuous to imply that a fourth-year player should be earning free agent prices. That ain’t the way it works. Albert Pujols earned $7MM in his fourth year, which seems like some kind of record. Jason Bay is earning $3.25MM in his fourth year. Matt Holliday is at $4.4MM. I could make a laundry list of young players who are huge bargains because of baseball’s pay scale. Hanley Ramirez is making $402,000 this year…Pena reaches free agency after the 2009 season, and Marc Topkin says the Rays have already begun discussions on a three or four-year deal. If the Rays are to buy out a year or two of free agency, those might cost $12-15MM each. More likely, the team just goes to arbitration with him twice and trades him in a summer of ’09 blockbuster (assuming he remains a 40 HR threat).

• The Devil Rays are 63-89 with 10 games remaining and are 2 games behind (1 in the win column) the Orioles in the AL East and for the worst record in baseball.
• The Devil Rays have decided to shut down James Shields for the remainder of the season. The move is simply an effort to limit the number of pitches thrown by the emerging ace. JP Howell will fill Shields’ spot in the rotation. [tampabay.com]
• Brendan Harris was injured during batting practice and was scratched from the lineup. [tampabay.com]
• Jim Alexander has a conversation with Joe Maddon about his return to Anaheim to face the franchise he was a part of for 31 years. [Many Opinions, No Waiting…]
• Joe Madden believes that Carl Crawford will be ready to go on Friday, but the team is still likely to call up an extra outfielder from Durham, with Jason Pridie being the most likely candidate. Pridie will need to be added to the 40-man roster this winter anyway or risk being lost in the Rule 5 Draft. [Devil Rays]
• Gerry Hunsicker will appear on the Baseball Digest Daily radio show this Sunday. [Baseball Digest Radio]
• Carlos Pena has 18 home runs in the past month, the most in the majors over that span. [USA Today]

Devil Rays Select David Price And Years Of Cheesy Headlines

Marc Tompkin, of the St. Pete Times is reporting that the Rays have decided to select Vanderbilt pitcher David Price with the first pick of the draft.

Funny. I wonder how it came to be that the St. Pete Times was the first to report this story? Great journalism? Good hustle on the part of Mr. Tomkin? Luck? Hmmm? What could it be. Oh yeah! We remember. The Times is the personally hand-puppet for the Devil Rays.

Please notice the very original headline (see below) that Mr. Tompkin came up with for his article. See what he did there? A little play on David Price’s name. Mix in a news story that is quite topical right now (Bob Barker retiring is topical right?). Probably went through 67 revisions and lost sleep over the past week trying to get the headline just right. Or maybe he just took the title from 6,000 news stories that ran in the past 2 weeks.

Man, somebody must have pissed in our Wheaties this morning.

[Update: The Devil Rays made it official. David Price was the first overall pick and Don Zimmer should never leave a baseball field]

Price is right for Rays [St. Pete Times]

St. Pete Times Reports The News, But They Don’t Want You To Read It

We know this is a little stale, but it irritates us to no end…

Last Wednesday night, issues of the St. Pete Times, which are normally found in and around Tropicana Field, were noticeably absent. What was so special about this particular issue? It was the issue that featured a cover story reporting that Devil Rays center fielder Elijah Dukes had threatened to kill his wife and kids and sent her a picture message of a handgun.

One fan contacted the Times to inquire as to why the issues were missing from the Trop. The response was not a surprising one.

Aaron – thanks for the heads up. We made the choice not to distribute at Tropicana Field yesterday. Naturally there is a fine line we have to walk at times and that seemed like the best choice. Things are back to normal today.

Well at least they were honest about it. But wait! The Times immediately retracted this statement and changed their story to indicate that withholding the papers was not intentional. Supposedly they only meant to make fewer papers to be available at the Trop. Even if this later excuse is to be believed (though it smells like a diaper filled with Indian food) neither decision should have been implemented. The Times has a duty to their readers to report the news in an unbiased fashion nor can they make decisions to report some of the news or to report the news only in some places.

We wish we could say that this move surprises us, but it doesn’t. In fact we warned you about scenarios much like this earlier in the season when we discussed our distaste for the sponsorship deal between the St. Pete Times and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We understand that running a newspaper is a business and like other businesses the point is to make money, but a newspaper is not a business like any other business. There is a fine line between making decisions that are good for the business and making decisions that are ethical for a newspaper. In this case the Times ended up on the wrong side of the line.

Would the Times have withheld the papers if a member of the New York Yankees had pulled the same stunt? Better yet, would New York Newsday, a major sponsor of the Yankees, have withheld their papers if a similar story occurred with the Bronx Bombers? The answer in both instances is ‘no’. The papers were withheld because the story was a black eye for the Times business partner, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

We applaud the Times for having run the story in the first place. Certainly the paper held internal discussions about the pros and cons of damaging their bed mates. In the end they must have thought the national exposure that was due to follow the exclusive piece outweighed the small economic impact on their business relationship with the Rays.

We don’t know who made the decision to go silent at the Trop on Wednesday night. Whether the decision was made by the Times, was requested by the Devil Rays or a mutual decision by both parties doesn’t matter. The decision was made and it was wrong. The decision was made and this is why many people are losing faith in traditional media forms to provide unbiased coverage of the news.

[From the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics] Journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived, remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility, disclose unavoidable conflicts… deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.

It might be time for the editors of the St. Pete Times to go back to journalism school.

times employees get important updates? [Sticks of Fire]
Elijah Dukes covers missing Wednesday at the Trop [Creative Loafing]
Times reports news, but doesn’t deliver it [TampaBay.com]
The St. Pete Times And The Tampa Tribune Would Like Rays Fans To Drink Their Kool-Aid [Rays Index]

More Evidence That The St. Pete Times Is The Rays Unofficial PR Firm

Yesterday we ran a post that questioned the integrity of the St. Pete Times (and to a lesser extent, the Tampa Tribune) when it comes to reporting on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We are concerned about the new relationship with the Times being named “The Official Newspaper” of the Rays and the official presenter of the team’s website. One consequence that we foresaw was that the team would provide the Times with information that is unavailable to other media outlets.

You may have noticed a week or two ago that the St. Pete Times ran a story about the Rays changing their name following the 2007 season. The change is likely to also be accompanied by a change in the team colors. President Matt Silverman stated that the team would have a slight modification of the name, and the “speculation” was that the Devil Rays would just drop the “Devil” portion of the name and officially become the Tampa Bay Rays. We are not really sure why this all of the sudden garnered a lot of attention. Nothing official was presented in the article and proposed change is old news amongst anybody that even remotely follows the team. While the story may have been newsworthy in New York or Boston or nationally, it was a waste of space in the St. Pete Times. For all intents and purposes, the team has been the Tampa Bay Rays for a while. It say “Rays” across the front of the home uniform and despite the name of the team’s website, you will not see the word “Devil” anywhere.

Another move that was made at about the same time as the St. Pete Times article was the recent face-lift given to the team’s official website. The team’s trademark green color now has a minimal presence with two shades of blue becoming the dominant colors of the site. While blue is currently an official accent color of the team, the move was taken by many to mean the team will be switching to blue as the dominant color in 2008. Silverman has stated that the team is still deciding from among several new color schemes and that the changes to the website are not an indication that any official decision has been made.

Did the Times see the sites new colors and decide to run an article speculating on the new team name or was the timing purely coincidental? Considering the new relationship between the Rays and the St. Pete Times, it is hard to believe that the concurrence of the two events was a coincidence. More likely, the article and color changes occurred at the same time as part of a campaign to introduce the 2008 changes without making any official announcements, in case there was a backlash from the fans. The team may not have officially decided on a new name or a new set of colors, but the team will most likely drop “Devil” from the name and the new blue hues are most likely the Rays new colors (we have heard that yellow would be the accent color). The team is using the website much the same way they are using the St. Pete Times, as a way of gauging fan interest.

While these specific events may not have a negative effect on Rays fans, it does hint at behind-the-scenes manipulation of the media by the Rays front office. In the long run this type of relationship will not be good for the fans. We should be able to count on our local media to provide us with the news, whether it is good, bad or indifferent, and without influence or bias.

As for us? We have always liked the team’s (recent) uniforms (we like to pretend that the Rainbow Warriors uniforms never existed). But, the blue looks a lot better on everything else, like t-shirts, websites, tattoos, lingerie, etc. But in the end, it is not our opinion that matters, nor that of the St. Pete Times, or the fans in general. The only opinion that truly matters is that of Paul Lukas.

The St. Pete Times And The Tampa Tribune Would Like Rays Fans To Drink Their Kool-Aid

Late last season the Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed a sponsorship agreement with the St. Pete Times, in which the local newspaper would be designated “The official newspaper of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays”. In addition, the Times became the main sponsor of devilrays.com, the first such agreement between a Major League team and a sponsor .

While this deal is a source of revenue for the team, which ultimately decides the product on the field, in the long run it has direct negative impact on the fans. As a news organization, the St. Pete Times is supposed to be unbiased in their coverage of any news story. But now the success of the St. Pete Times is affected by the success of the Rays. If the Rays do well, more fans go to the games and the team’s website. More fans at the games means more people will be drawn to the St. Pete Times kiosks that will be found throughout the Trop and more fans on the team’s website means more traffic to the St. Pete Times website. In essence, the Times is banking on the hope that associating the newspaper with the Rays will mean more customers and more revenue for the newspaper. The problem is that it is no longer in the Times best interest to be unbiased. In fact, it is more beneficial to their business to only report positively on the Rays. This hurts the average fan that looks to the local newspaper as a source of unbiased information.

This association of the St. Pete Times with the Rays is felt elsewhere also. As a direct competitor, it is no longer in the best interest of the Tampa Tribune to support the Rays. In fact, a look at local coverage of Spring Training and you will see far more coverage of the New York Yankees in the Tribune than you will see in the Times. A rough count shows that the Tribune has run nine stories on the Yankees in the past seven days. This cannot be due solely to the Yankees having their spring training home in Tampa, as the area is considered part of the St. Pete Times market. Of course it may also be due to the sponsorship deal between the New York Yankees and The Tampa Tribune (as seen in this list of Yankees spring training promotions).

In addition to the bias in coverage and writing, there is now likely to be unbalanced access for the local papers. Is it too much to assume that the team will grant more access to the St. Pete Times from whom they have received millions of dollars? It is not unthinkable that the team would also grant special privileges to the Times such as first access to breaking news by leaking stories to the Times prior to other news sources, especially the Tribune. So while other sources may not have biased coverage, they may in fact have no coverage at all.

This is not an issue that is restricted to the Tampa Bay Rays. This has been a long-standing and more serious problem with many other professional sports clubs . Ask any White Sox fan about the Chicago Tribune’s coverage of the local baseball teams. The Tribune owns the Cubs and has a direct interest in the promotion of the team. There is even a website dedicated to this bias, The Chicago Cubune. In New York, there is considerable contention from Yankees fans concerning the lack of coverage of their beloved Bombers in the New York Times especially as compared to the Boston Red Sox. The Times would probably tell you it is because a lot of Bostonians have relocated to the Big Apple and that Yankees fans are always interested in what is happening with their arch rival. Still, many fans complain that there is actually more coverage of the Sox than the Yankees. Silly? Not when you realize that the New York Times is a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox.

This is not an issue restricted to newsprint either. Tune into Sportscenter on ESPN since they acquired the broadcast rights to NASCAR and you would suddenly think you were watching NASCARCenter. In addition, it was four days before ESPN.com ran a story on the PacMan Jones shooting in Las V
egas during the recent NBA All-Star game weekend. An oversight from the “Worldwide Leader”? Or was ESPN hesitant to report on a what would be perceived as a black eye for two leagues that they have a lot of money invested in through broadcast rights?

Is this bias real or just perceived by the fans? Does it matter? From Chicago Cubune website we would like to direct the management of the St. Pete Times and the Tampa Tribune to two quotes:

Journalists must avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety as well as any conflict of interest or the appearance of conflict. — from the American Society of Newspaper Editors Code of Ethics

Journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived, remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility, disclose unavoidable conflicts… deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage. — from the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics

Is the St. Pete Times ordering its writers to only publish positive articles about the Rays or to minimize the negative articles? Is the Tampa Tribune purposefully avoiding coverage of the Rays and directing it towards the Yankees? Is there bias in their writing and their publishing? There is no way to be certain and they would never admit it, but there is a perceived bias at this point. We understand the nature of the beast. It is the natural flow of an economy. As fans we want revenue streams for the team. Ultimately it will mean a better product on the field, but can we ever trust what we read again? Now that the St. Petersburg Times is in bed with the Rays, we will still read the articles and columns, but we will now be forced to seek a balanced opinion elsewhere. This bias will likely push more fans to sites like this one or DRays Bay or Rays of Light, where we attempt to read through the B. S. and present to you a (somewhat) unbiased dissection of the news that is presented in other forums. OK, we are biased, but at least the Rays aren’t controlling our content.

St. Pete Times and Tampa Tribune, this Kool-Aid smells funny. Thanks, but no thanks.

The Hangover: Fans In Walla Walla Spared From Having To Watch Rays

• Deadspin has started their baseball previews and on day 1 they give us our beloved Rays. The first two-thirds of the post is a recap of the 2006 implosion (that sound was us banging our collective heads on the keyboard…over and over and over and over). We recommend skipping to the last five paragraphs, unless of course you are a masochist. Some interesting tidbits…
1. The author speculates that another poor performance this year could lead to Joe Maddon’s dismissal. That is probably a bit premature. The team has publicly stated that this is a second year of “evaluation”. We would be shocked if Maddon was not back with the team in 2008 no matter what the results of 2007. The team has two option years on Maddon’s contract after this season. Most teams make decisions on managers before the final year of a contract. So don’t expect a move either way on Maddon until after 2008.
2. Maddon used 140 different lineups last year. We are amazed that he actually repeated a previous lineup 22 times. Maddon has received a lot of criticism for this and sometimes it is warranted, but Maddon has stated that he would love to have a regular lineup. Again, during this evaluation period, expect more lineup shuffling, although less than 2006, and even less in 2008 as the team and the players settle into their respective roles.
3. We have covered this before, but Andrew Friedman nor anybody else from the organization has EVER said that Carl Crawford was untouchable. This rumor has run rampant since devilrays.com ran a poorly titled article. The article was originally entitled “Baldelli continues to draw interest; Crawford will stay put” despite the fact that Crawford was never mentioned in the article. In fact, the article’s title was later changed (which can still be seen HERE) most likely at the request of the Rays front office. Are you telling us that if the Twins came and offered Johan Santana and Justin Morneau, the Rays would say ‘No’? Friedman has actually stated that nobody is untouchable but that they were not actively shopping C. C…Big difference.
• A couple of days ago we ran a list of 11 questions entering the 2007 Spring Training. The St. Pete Times could only come up with nine. Pathetic.
• An interesting look at the AL pitching staffs from 2006. The Rays starters actually put up some above average numbers. But when they take into account how deep the staff worked in games, they weren’t so good after all.
• Some mathematical projections for Delmon Young in 2007. The four models are fairly consistent. Looks like we can expect about a .300 average with about 15 home runs.
• DRaysBay interviewed potential first pick David Price of Vanderbilt.
• The return of a familiar face. Shinji Mori threw about 20 pitches from a mound for the first time since his surgery.
• FoxSports has ranked all of baseball’s general managers. Andrew Friedman? #22.
• Surprise, surprise, the Rays will not be featured on ESPN’s sunday night baseball in 2007. The last time the Rays played a nationally televised game was in 2000.
• Yep. These are our fellow Rays fans.