[DELMON YOUNG] Delmon Young Does Not Have Makings Of A Winner

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote a piece entitled “Young has makings of winner” in which he offers evidence that Delmon Young is an adequate replacement for Torii Hunter.

Twins followers now have the choice of continuing to lament the departure of the productive, gregarious Hunter, or to be optimistic that the Twins were aggressive in finding a righthanded hitter of outstanding potential to replace him in the batting order, if not in center field.

We have our own reservations with Young’s “outstanding potential” (He is a 5-tool player that has never displayed three of those tools [Speed, Average, Glove] at any level). But our problem with this piece is the assertion that Young will be a “winner”. Young has a history of showing that he is anything but a “winner”.

• Suspended 50 games for hitting an umpire with a bat.
• Returned from suspension and refused to answer questions about bat-tossing incident and snapped at reporters repeatedly.
• Told reporters he had not talked to manger or teammates after the incident because he did not need to “socialize on past events”.
• Complained openly to the press about not being promoted to the majors sooner.
• Complained openly to the press about having to play center field after the suspension of Elijah Dukes and an injury to BJ Upton, leaving Rays with no other options.
• Blasted manager Joe Maddon for the way he was treated after failing to run-out a groundball in the penultimate game of the season, which led to Young being pulled from the lineup. The tirade led to a 1-game benching (later rescinded).

Did we mention that all those incidents occurred in a two-year span?

We are surprised that anybody that follows the Minnesota Twins would refer to a player with this much baggage as somebody with “the makings of a winner”. The Twins of the last 20+ years have been the beacon of respectability in baseball and the ultimate example of the proper way to do things. The Twins have always been the classic example of “team”. Players are taught from the lower-levels on, that the “team” comes first, with strong emphases placed on sacrifices, moving runners over and fundamentals in the field. Delmon Young is a talented baseball player, but he has yet to show any signs of having “the makings of a winner”.

Young has makings of winner [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

[WILL LEITCH] "God Save The Fan" By Will Leitch

This site has been heavily influenced by Will Leitch and his Deadspin website. That is not to say that we model everything here after Deadspin, nor do we pretend to write as well as Will. Rather Will, taught me that I can write in a conversational manner and still be informative. That it is OK to write as if you and I are just two people sitting in a bar talking about the Rays and I am the guy in the corner that drinks too much and rambles on incoherently at times (It does not take too much to realize that Will Leitch has been heavily influenced by Andy Rooney).

When I would openly complain among fans about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays coverage, and I would rant in emails to friends, more than one suggested I turn those emails into my own blog. And when I did, boy is it painfully obvious that I had no idea what I was doing. But later on that first day I wrote a post about a writer that predicted the Devil Rays would win the 2006 World Series. It was only fitting that on that first day Deadspin linked to that post. That would be the first of 22 times in our first two years in which we would experience the “Deadspin Bump”, and gave us the confidence we needed to keep going.

Today is the day we get to say “Thank You” to Will. His book “God Save The Fan”, published by Harper-Collins, is now available for purchase. We have not read the book yet, but we have one on the way, and we promise you it will be worth the price. If you would like to hear from somebody that has read the book, Dan Shanoff has a review on his website. If you are not familiar with Deadspin or the writings of Will Leitch, venture over there and you will be instantly addicted.

We are not so naive to think that the “Rays Index Bump” will come close to having the same impact as Deadspin, but if this post generates just ten sales, I get a free “Will Leitch is my Homeboy” t-shirt*.

*not true

Thanks Will!

[SHAWN BLEEPIN’ CAMP] Rays Get Opportunity To Experiece Joys The Rest Of AL East Have Known Past Two Years

File this one under “too good to be true”…

The Blue Jays continued to add pitching depth on Monday, signing right-hander Shawn Camp to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Pitching depth? You wanna know what else had depth? The Titanic when it sank. Wanna know what doesn’t sink? Shawn Camp’s sinker.

After allowing 642* inherited runners to score the last two seasons, Shawn Camp will have an opportunity to repay the Rays and their fans as the Rays may have an opportunity to experience exactly how much fun it is to face Shawn Camp.

Now somebody just needs to warn the parents of Toronto-area children. If you hear that a couple of Blue Jays will be reading Dr. Seuss books to your kids…let them call in sick. Or risk having THIS happen to them.

*590 of those might have occurred during nightmares we had at night.

Jays continue to add pitching depth [BlueJays.com]

[DAVID BLOOM AWARD] An Opportunity To Voice Your Opinion About Us

I have been nominated for an award and it has nothing to do with that one night in New Orleans back in 2003. It is the “David Bloom Award” over at Drays Bay.

If you have any interest…or if you are just bored…head on over and give us a vote.

Who should win the David Bloom award? [DRays Bay]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 9 (Nine No-Hit Innings From Scott Kazmir)

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 ninth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, NINE no-hit innings from Scott Kazmir…

Most of these “presents” have been items that would help the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays win more games. Today’s gift is a bit more selfish. More times than we can count, we have watched live games with a pitcher battling for a no-hitter. In almost every instance, we rooted for pitcher X to get the final out for the chance to witness a little history and also so we can watch grown men jump around and celebrate like they won the pennant during an otherwise meaningless game.

Once, just once, we would like that pitcher to be wearing a Rays uniform. By our count, there are three pitchers in the rotation that have the ability to go out and no-hit a team on any given night, including Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Edwin Jackson. If we had our choice, we would choose Kazmir if only because it would irk Mets fans to no end. The trade is the bane of their existence and an no-hitter would be just another level of agony on top of a trade they will never let down.

Plus there is the added bonus that the New York Mets have never thrown a no-hitter, but several former Mets have thrown no-hitters. That list includes Tom Seaver, David Cone, Doc Gooden and of course the seven no-no’s tossed by Nolan Ryan.

While Kaz never pitched a regular season game for the Mets, in the minds of most Mets fans he is their prodigal son. No player ruffles the feathers of Mets fans more than Scott Kazmir and if Kid K could toss a no-hitter for the Rays, it would be just another fitting chapter in the story, that can only end when Kazmir signs with the Mets as a free agent at the age of 38 and throws out his arm in his first start.

On the ninth day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is NINE no-hit innings from Scott Kazmir, and…
EIGHT ejections for Joe Maddon [Day 8]
SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli [Day 7]
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]

[2007 TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS] Rays Index 2007 Year In Review

A look back at the year that was 2007 here at Rays Index…

January

• Elijah Dukes was arrested for marijuana possession. How cute. We had no idea at the time but it was like seeing a baby take his first steps. Of course, only if the after the baby learned to walk, he also learned how to threaten to kill his wife and other babies.

February

• Many were excited (not us) at the prospect of having Edwin Jackson in the rotation and Josh Hamilton had his first workout with the Cincinnati Reds.
• Jeff Niemann and Bruce Sutter…separated at birth. Foreshadowing for a future role as the Rays closer?
• Ben Zobrist answers to “Benny Boo Boo” and his wife is an attractive Christian Rock singer.
• The St. Pete Times gets in bed with the Rays violating the newspapers code of ethics and making it difficult for the Tampa Tribune to obey theirs.
• Akinori Iwamura predicts 20 home runs and 40 stolen bases in his first season (he finished with 7 and 12).

March

• In a sign of things to come, the Rays commit a team record six errors during a Spring Training game.
• We found video footage of Shawn Camp and Ruddy Lugo “reading” the “Cat in the Hat” to area school children. And we are using the term “reading” very loosely.
• Rays team president Matt Silverman purchases a blogger on Ebay for $535.
• We actually thought Seth McClung could be the closer in 2007. Kinda makes us giggle and throw up a little.
• The Axis of Evil is set with Edwin Jackson winning the final spot in the rotation joining Casey Fossum and Jae Seo as one of the worst starting trios in baseball history promising to scare children for the next 3-4 months.
• The Rays name their final 25-man roster. Only five members of the everyday lineup and three members of the rotation will be the same at the end of the season.

April

• We call on baseball fans to jump on the Devil Rays bandwagon.
• We address the Devil Rays universe with our first annual “State of the Franchise”.
• Three games into the season and the Rays are in first place. It is the first time we have witnessed this without turning our monitor upside-down.

May

• The Rays were “Dishin’ Out Delmons“ and Chasing “The Charlie Hough Line”.
• We wondered aloud if James Shields was the new Devil Rays Ace.
• Wade Davis pitched a no-hitter.
• Brian Stokes was in a giving mood whenever he pitched the 9th inning.
• Juan Salas was busted for being an idiot.
• Two months into the season and the Rays Axis of Evil made up three of the eight worst pitchers in baseball.
• Elijah Dukes reaffirms his role as the Devil Rays’ mischievous little badger.
• The St. Pete Times pulls issues of paper with Elijah Dukes on the cover from the Trop.

June

• On June 1st, the Rays were tied with the Yankees…for last place.
• We held a mock draft and got the entire first round correct!
• Papa Joe Maddon wouldn’t even notice if a cow was rotting in his back yard.
• The Devil Rays drafted Scott Kazmir’s replacement.
• We grew so frustrated by Shawn Camp, we started wanting to hurt stuffed baby animals.
• We forgot we don’t want to be respected and actually interviewed Chad Orvella.

July

• We thought the Rays had hit their low at the beginning of July. That was before they went 7-20 in that month.
• Seemed like a good time to introduce our “All-Time Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 10 Years Of Sucktitude“.

August

• In a subtle but clear message to Elijah Dukes, the Rays gave his #35 to a journeyman reliever.
• We actually thought for a little while that Rocco Baldelli would return to the lineup in 2007. We can be so naive sometimes.
• The Rays finally cut ties with Casey Fossum.
• We found out Joe Maddon doesn’t know the Rays’ prospects very well.
• We remapped the United States of Baseball.
• We began our countdown of Scott Kazmir’s march towards 300 wins.
• James Houser was suspended for 50 games.
• We again thought Rocco Baldelli was returning to the diamond.
• Many are abuzz as Curt Schilling announced he would be willing to pitch for the Rays in 2008. We were skeptical from the beginning.
• Heath Rollins set an organizational record for wins.

September

• Three of the Rays top four minor league affiliates make the playoffs.
• We weren’t even aware that The Sporting News still existed. Then they interviewed us.
• The Rays picked up Joe Maddon’s two-year option.
• The Columbus Catfish win the South Atlantic League Championship.
• The Montgomery Biscuits win Southern League Championship for second straight year. Durham Bulls come up short.
• We began a campaign urging the Rays to include striped stirrups with the new uniforms.
• The new Rays uniforms are leaked onto the internet.
• Marc Lancaster thought 2+2=3,465.
• The Devil Rays clinch the worst record in baseball, winning “The 2nd Annual David Price Sweepstakes”, and becoming the first team in history to have the top pick in consecutive drafts.

October

• The Rays decide not to renew the contract of the winningest manager in franchise history.
• Curt Schilling releases list of 10 teams he is willing to play for. To Marc Lancaster’s amazement, the Devil Rays are not among them.

November

• The Devil Rays hold a two-day extravaganza to celebrate their 2007 World Championship new uniforms.
• The Rays front office draws attention away from new uniforms (which most fans dislike) with a shiny nugget (new stadium on the waterfront).
• Carlos Pena finished 9th in AL MVP voting.
• Marc Topkin shits on an internet trade rumor (one that had a source) as being not true, without citing any sources.
• The Rays trade Delmon Young to the Twins for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett.
• The Rays sign a real major league relief pitcher. Of course a year ago he was retired, but that’s ok.

December

• The Rays finally trade Elijah Dukes.
• We find what may be the Rays alternate cap in 2009 and speculate on what the uniform may look like.
• Senator Mitchell did not realize there was a major league franchise in Tampa Bay.
• Continuing the unusual trend of acquiring major league talent, the Rays signed Cliff Floyd.
• Raymond raises suspicions of using fur-enhancing drugs, may appear in Jose Canseco’s next book.

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 6 (Six months with at least 14 wins)

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 sixth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, SIX months with at least 14 wins…

The Rays have the talent and the potential to be a playoff-caliber team. But if they are going to make a run at the playoffs that need to play better and they need to do it on a more consistent basis. In 2008 the Rays will have months with 27*, 29, 26, 25, 28 and 26 games. For our wish to come true, the best record the Rays would have to post in any one month would be 14-11 (July). Three games over .500 should be a number the Rays can achieve.

Here is a breakdown of the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays record by month.

April	11	14
May	11	15
June	11	17
July	7	20
August	15	14
September	11	16

The Rays were bad in 2007, of course we already knew that. In fact they were consistently bad, with five losing months and only a single winning month.

Now let’s imagine a scenario in which the Rays won just three more games in April, May, June and September (Let’s pretend July did not happen). That is just three more wins each month. That is three wins over the course of four and half weeks. One extra win every eight or nine games. One game in which the bullpen doesn’t blow a 3-run lead in the 8th and 9th innings. One more game in which the team gets home the tying run from second base with one out in the 8th. One more game in which the starting pitcher does not surrender four runs in the first inning. Just three more wins in each of those months.

If the Rays can win 14 games in each month, that would result in 84 wins over the course of a full season. 84-78 in 2007 would have been good enough for third in the AL East, 12 games behind the Red Sox, and 4th in the wild card race, 10 games behind the Yankees. Granted, 84 wins will not be enough to make the playoffs in 2008. The real key is to avoid a month like July. Good teams don’t have 7-20 months. Good teams have a bunch of 14-12s and one month at 20-7. If the Rays can play well enough and consistently enough to win at least 14 games each month, one hot streak could push the Rays up to the 88-90 win mark and right in the middle of the playoff hunt.

We are not convinced yet that the Rays are ready to be a playoff team, but 84 wins is not out of the realm of possibilities, and an 84-win team will be playing meaningful games in September. That is all a fan can ever ask for from their team…meaningful games in September.

*The Rays have 1 game scheduled in March

On the sixth day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is SIX months with at least 14 wins, and…
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]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 4 (Four Winning Records Against AL East Foes)

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 fourth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, FOUR winning records against AL East foes…

Here at RI, we have been very forgiving of the Rays and their new management over the course of the past two seasons. First team in the history with the first pick in consecutive drafts? No problem! A “major league” pitching staff that included Jae Seo, Casey Fossum and Shawn Bleepin’ Camp? What the hell! But it has now been two years, and overall shittiness aside, improvements have been made and the honeymoon is now officially over. It’s true.

We are about to enter season three of the Stuart Sternberg/Andrew Friedman/Joe Maddon-era, and it is time to take the kid gloves off. It is time to start winning games…a lot of games. A team such as the Rays can have only two goals to start a season: 1) Stockpiling of young talent, teaching the game, and auditioning players for jobs at the major league level; 2) WIN. There are no other options and there is no in between. The Rays have successfully implemented the first goal, treating each of the last two seasons as an extended spring training. In season three, the Rays are now ready to win. And we do not mean 75 wins. The Rays goal for 2008 should be nothing short of the playoffs…Seriously. But in order to make the playoffs, the Rays need to do something they have never been able to do…Consistently beat the other four teams in the AL East.

Since Major League Baseball switched to an unbalanced schedule in 2001, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have posted exactly three winning records against an AL East rivals over the course of an entire season. In 2003, the Rays went 11-8 against both the Orioles and the Blue Jays, and in 2005 Tampa Bay finished 11-8 against the Yankees. In those seven seasons the Rays have never posted a winning record against the Red Sox. In this day and age, baseball teams play nearly half of their games within the division (at least 72 of 162). The Rays will never be a winning franchise until they are able to consistently win games against their own divisional foes.

Many have trumpeted the cause of realignment, stating the Rays will never be able to compete in the AL East against the Big Four and their budgets. While we have long dreamed of more natural rivalries with the Marlins and the Braves as well as double-switches and sacrifice bunts, we have never championed the cause on this website, because it seemed a little too much like taking your ball to another court because the other kids were a little better.

There is no excuse for not having a winning record versus the O’s and Jays, as they just do not have the talent of the Rays. On the other hand, beating the Red Sox or the Yankees on a consistent basis would be a difficult task for any team, but not impossible. For the first time in franchise history, the Rays have the starting pitching to compete in the AL East with the 1-2-3 combination of Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza, and more experienced and formidable bullpen to back them up. Anytime the Rays enter a series with two or three of those starting pitchers scheduled to throw, the Rays should win the series. And in the games not started by the Big 3, the Rays may finally have an offense with the potential to outscore another team.

If you are faced with an angry pit bull, you can either poop your pants or you punch him straight in the nose. It is time for the Rays to take the diapers off and start punching their rivals in the nose. That means winning records…not just against the O’s and Jays, which should be a no-brainer…but also against the Red Sox and Yankees.

On the fourth day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is FOUR winning records against AL East foes, and..
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] BJ Upton Doesn’t Dance

With the holiday season upon us, Rays Index will be taking a semi-vacation. Mrs. Professor and I will be crisscrossing the country and there will not be any “Hangovers” until after the New Year, mainly because we fully expect to have a Hangover on a daily basis. However, we will be back here to report/comment on any news that requires our attention (They finally got internet in the Midwest, just this year…dial-up). We will be back full-time in January ready to bring another 12 months of Hangovers, “Devil Rays Columnists Suck” posts, roster and payroll projections, poop jokes and other poorly edited tomfoolery.

In the meantime we will leave you with this a-mazing video which we were directed to by one of our commenters. While we admire Major League Baseball’s attempt to attract fans under the age of 45, we don’t know if we should be excited or embarrassed by BJ Upton’s appearance in a video that reminds us a little too much of the gym I used to go to in Chelsea. (think Queer Eye for the Baseball Guys).

[Ed. note: The YouTube clip is down, but you can find the video HERE]

[CLIFF FLOYD] The Rays Would Be A Better Offensive Team With Cliff Floyd In Place Of Delmon Young

Earlier today we told you that Jerry Crasnick is reporting the Tampa Bay Rays are close to signing free agent outfielder Cliff Floyd. The Rays have been in the market for a player that is a left-handed bat and could play right field and occasionally DH.

With the signing of Floyd, the Rays lineup on a daily basis would feature some combination of Floyd, Jonny Gomes and Rocco Baldelli. Against right handed pitchers, Floyd will be in the lineup with Gomes or Baldelli filling the other spot. Against left handed pitchers, Floyd will be on the bench with both Gomes and Baldelli in the lineup in right field and at DH.

The ability to play match-up with his lineups depending on the starting pitcher gives manager Joe Maddon a distinct advantage. However, it is unclear how much how difference this will make to the Rays offensive output in 2008.

To answer this question we looked at how many plate appearances Delmon Young received in 2007 (he played all 162 games) and projected that out as if Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes had platooned in right field. To makes these estimations we used the three-year averages of each player (Gomes vs LHP and Floyd vs. RHP), and projected those over the number of plate appearances that Young had against left handed pitchers (172) and right handed pitchers (509) in 2007.

As can be seen from the numbers…while the batting average are comparable, Rays right fielders in 2008 will be on base at a much higher rate and will produce a much higher slugging percentage, which would lead to a 150 point boost in OPS. If we use the most basic formula for Runs Created (RC=R+RBI-HR), the combination of Gomes and Floyd will produce 162 runs in 2008 compared to the 145 runs created by Young in 2007. (Again…these numbers are only for a hypothetical right-field platoon. These numbers only reflect Gomes’ and Floyd’s production as right-fielders. Gomes will receive considerably more than the 172 plate appearances calculated here).

And none of this considers that a season in which Baldelli logs considerable time at DH, will be a marked improvement over the Rays’ DH production seen in 2007. Nor does it consider the clubhouse impact of a player like Floyd, who is well respected among his peers and fans as a player that will do whatever is asked and often takes the field with injuries that would sideline a weaker human being.

Last month when the Rays traded Delmon Young and two scrubs for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, it appeared as if the Rays had improved their pitching and defense at the expense of the offense. While Cliff Floyd will command a higher salary than Delmon Young in 2008, and clearly Floyd will not be around nearly as long as Young would have been, the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays figure to be considerably better on the mound, in the field and at the plate, as a direct result of these two moves.

Source: Rays, Floyd could have deal in place by weekend [ESPN]