Devil Ray Blogtopia

• One Mets fan is in denial. Mets Guy in Michigan wrote an epic blog trying to explain why the Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano trade is the reason WHY the Mets are in first place. Did we read that correctly? Yes. A Mets fan actually believes that the Mets are in first place because they don’t have Kid K and they do have Zambrano on the DL. *we are giggling like a school girl* [Mets Guy in Michigan]
• Story has it that B. J. Upton ripped into Delmon Young after he was suspended for throwing a bat at an umpire. Upton let Young know that not only was he hurting the team and the organization, but was hurting his own chances to get to the big leagues. Good for Upton, who suddenly looks like he could be the clubhouse leader the Rays desperately need. Hopefully Young, takes the advice and gets his act together. [MLB Rumors Clearinghouse]
• Does somebody actually think that Young hitting an umpire with a bat was a good idea? [SportsPhDs.com]
• Julio Lugo who is a free agent at the end of the season is still a potential trade target for the Boston Red Sox. [MLB-Rookies.com]
• A Red Sox gal likes to make fun of the names of Devil Rays players. Our personal fave is “I coughed up a McCLung” [Witch City Sox Girl]
• We wish people would finally drop the idea of contraction in baseball or the idea of moving the Rays. The Devil Rays aren’t going anywhere in the next 20 years. Get over it. [From the News and Sports Desk]
• A former Devil Rays draft pick took his lottery ticket (4 million dollar offer from the Rockies) and wiped his ass with it, along with the other 4 times he was drafted and didn’t sign. Now he is playing in the independent American Association. Good work. [Sports. Music. Blog]
• apparently the Blue Jays did not exist in 2004 and the Rays actually did finish last. [The Fabulous Sports Blog]
• Jorge Cantu is the 100th player to wear a Montgomery Biscuits uniform. He won an order of Biscuits and Gravy and a week or two riding a bus from one game to the next. [Talk Alabama]
• The name “Devil Rays” will cause demonic possession of all children in Florida [Celsius 1414]
• Is Casey Fossum sporting a Bro? [Image]
• Why is Rocco Baldelli on the All-Star ballot? [The Fantasy Sports Doctors]

Devil Ray News And Notes

• The Devil Rays are still losing money and according to Forbes magazine, you could trade 5 Devil Rays franchises for one Yankees franchise. [St. Pete Times]
• The organization will continue to be known as the Devil Rays and will sport the same uniforms for at least one more season. [Tampa Tribune]
• With the emergence of Elijah Dukes at Durham and the general depth of outfielders in the organization, could Carl Crawford be the player to be traded? Personally, we find this highly unlikely, as Crawford is proven commodity and is locked into a very payroll-friendly contract through 2010. On the other hand, no other outfielder could draw as big of an asking price in terms of major league caliber pitching. [Fox Sports]
• Elijah Dukes is trying to put his past behind him and show that he is a top prospect for the Rays. [Baseball America]
• Casey Fossum and the Fossum Flop will be ready to return to the rotation on June 9, and manager Joe Maddon does not want to see Crawford traded (thanks Joe, for stating the obvious). [Tampa Tribune]

The Hangover: Last Night In The AL East

D-Rays 8, Baltimore 6. Scott “Kid K” Kazmir did not have his best stuff for the second straight start. He walked the first batter he faced. He then gave up a run in the first followed by 2 more in the 2nd. With the Rays trailing 3-2 at the end of two innings, a rain shower caused a delay of over an hour. Manager Joe Maddon made the correct decision and decided to not bring Kazmir back after the delay. The decision we have to question is starting Kazmir in the first place. Every forecast seemed to indicate that a rain delay for this game was inevitable and most likely they knew that it would be early in the game. With that in mind, why start your young ace if you know you probably won’t bring him back after a lengthy delay? You want and need your staff ace to work late into ballgames. So why not hold him back a day and start him on Friday? You give his arm an extra day of rest and the team is more likely to get 7+ innings. On the other hand, Maddon is a big believer of staying on exactly 4 days of rest for his top starters. On more than one occasion this season, Maddon has skipped a starter so that Kazmir can stay on his regular 4 days rest. In addition, the team came in to the game riding a 6 game losing streak. The job of ace is the “stopper”. It is Kid K’s duty to stop losing streaks, so maybe Maddon felt a little pressure to get Kazmir in the game last night.

There was a scary moment in the top of the 4th. With the Rays up 5-3, and two runners on, Carl Crawford hit a ball over left fielder Jeff Conine’s head. Conine then had trouble picking the ball up. Julio Lugo and Joey Gathright scored. Crawford tried for an inside-the-park home run, only to be thrown out at the plate. Oriole catcher Ramon Hernandez blocked the plate with his foot. Still, on replays it appeared that Crawford still skipped over the foot after being initially blocked, and touched the plate before Hernandez applied the tag. When he was called out, Crawford slammed his helmet and then jumped up in disgust. When he landed, his foot slid out from under him awkwardly, and he appeared to hyperextend his knee. Luckily, after a few tense commercial break moments, Crawford stayed in the game for one inning, but was pulled in the 5th. He is listed as day-to-day with a strained knee. Crawford finished the game 2-3 raising his average to .300.

Jonny Gomes hit his first home run since May 17th against the White Sox at the Trop, his 15th.

Detroit 7, New York 6. Detroit ended the Spankees 5 game winning streak and avoided getting swept in the process. Down 6-5 entering the 9th, Les Tigres scored two runs off their former closer, Kyle Farnsworth. Mariano Rivera was not available due to back spasms. Joe Torre has made a lot of smart decisions in his day, but pitching Rivera 3 innings on Tuesday night was not one of them. He only threw 25 pitches in those 3 innings, so maybe it is just a coincidence.

The Future: Yesterday On The Farm

Buffalo 15, Durham 0. The wheels have come completely off for Edwin Jackson. For a pitcher that almost made the starting rotation out of spring training, Jackson now looks overmatched in AAA. In his last 6 starts, Jackson is 1-4 with a 9.25 ERA and 2.05 WHIP. In his latest installment last night, Jackson was knocked out in the 4th after giving up 5 hits, 4 walks and 7 runs (6 earned). In the 8th game of his rehab assignment, Rocco Baldelli went 1-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Jacksonville 5, Montgomery 1. 2B Eliot Johnson went 3-4 with a double and is now hitting .311. Jorge Cantu went 0-4 with a strikeout. After 4 games, he is 2-14 (.143).

Inland Empire 7, Visalia 5. C Josh Arhart went 2-3 with his 5th home run and he drove in 3. Shaun Cumberland went 2-4 with an RBI and SS Reid Brignac 1-4 with a double.

SW Michigan 4, Lansing 2. Wade Davis continues to impress. The organization is beginning to let Davis go deeper in games as last night he pitched 7 strong innings, his longest outing of the season. He gave up 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs. He struck out 9 to improve his record to 4-1, and his ERA was raised to 1.18.

Josh Hamilton Back In The Picture

Josh Hamilton, the former first round pick of the Devil Rays is to be reinstated and participate in extended spring training. Hamilton, who has more tattoos and drug suspensions than career home runs hasn’t played professional baseball since 2002 when he played 56 games for single-A Bakersfield. In the land of second, third and fourth chances, we hope that Hamilton, who is 25 now, has finally straightened his life out. We honestly thought his last suspension marked the end of Hamilton’s career with Tampa. However, this is probably just a blip on the radar, as the chances of him ever making to the majors now seems unlikely. Still, we will keep an eye on his progress and hope for a miracle.

Hamilton temporarily reinstated [St. Pete Times]

Will Mets Fans Ever Recover?

We were going to just enter this as a bullet in our regular “Blogtopia” feature, but this is just too good and needs its own post. A couple of weeks ago we wrote a post thanking the Mets for Scott “Kid K” Kazmir and offering our condolences to the Mets fan that haven’t taken the trade very well. Well, the Mets have a 4.5 game lead in the NL East over their hated rivals, the Atlanta Braves. The team has a new manager and a new general manager and made a series of off-season moves that have them heading to the playoffs. They even took two of three from their cross-town rivals, the Yankees…Still, Mets fans just can’t let go of Kid K. The self-loathing has gotten so bad that a couple of Mets fans have actually started a blog completely devoted to Kid K and the trade that brought him to the Rays.

A couple of our favorite posts include, “I want the season to end now” and “Feel his wrath!“.

So we strongly encourage you to go to the blog Why Duquette Why? and give the Mets fans a big hug.

Why Duquette Why?
The Virtual Ghost Of Scott Kazmir [Deadspin]
Hey Mets Fans…Thanks For Taking Us To Pleasure Town! [Rays Index]

With The 3rd Pick Of The 2006 Amateur Draft, Tampa Bay Selects…

The 2006 Major League Baseball draft will be held June 6-7. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have the 3rd pick of the draft and all indications are that the team will use that pick on a college pitcher. Alan Matthews of Baseball America is speculating that the Rays will take Brad Lincoln with the 3rd pick. Lincoln, a junior from the University of Houston, is a right handed pitcher. He is not very big at 6’0″ 200 pounds, but scouting reports say he possesses a fastball that can touch 95 and a hard breaking curveball. Interestingly, the player likely to be taken #1 overall, Andrew Miller, was previously drafted by the Devil Rays with their 3rd round pick in 2003, the year Tampa took Delmon Young with the #1 overall pick.

For all the woes of this franchise, management has done a superb job in the draft the last few few years. Below are the top-5 picks of the Devil Rays from the past four drafts. Of the 20 picks, 8 are solid major league prospects (in italics). Another 4 are borderline and may develop into big leaguers. Three of the draftees went unsigned, one has been traded and two from the 2005 class have yet to play. That leaves two players that have been drafted by the organization in the past 4 seasons that are still with the team and have yet to distinguish themselves (Jonathon Barratt and Matt Spring). That is an excellent track record in the amateur draft. 3 unsigned and 2 non-prospects in 20 picks.

Devil Rays Draft History 2002-2005

2002	1	B. J. Upton	SS	Future face of the organization, but at what position?
	2	Jason Pridie	OF	A tools guy that was taken by Twins in Rule 5 draft this year. After failing to make their Major League roster, sent back to Tampa. Average near .200 at AA Montgomery
	3	Elijah Dukes	OF	Appears to have put his temperamental problems behind him, and is experiencing a breakout season in Durham. May eventually be the reason the team trades one of their better known outfielders (i.e.. Carl Crawford or Delmon Young)
	4	Wes Bankston	3B?	On the DL at AA Montgomery. Has Major League potential with his bat, but the team is seeking a position for him. This season he has been moved to 3B, but has been error-prone, with 11 in 18 games
	5	Mark Romanczuk	P	Unsigned. Drafted in 2005 (4th round) by Arizona
2003	1	Delmon Young	OF	Rated top prospect in minors.
	2	James Houser	LHP	Drafted out of high school, and still young at 21, Houser has been productive and consistent if not overpowering. This season he is 3-4 with a 3.76 ERA at single-A Visalia.
	3	Andrew Miller	LHP	Unsigned. Another high school hurler, Miller is projected as the top pick in this year’s draft.
	4	Travis Schlichting	3B	Undistinguished numbers in 3 years, peaking at Low-A Southwest Michigan. Was traded this past off-season for current Rays backup catcher Josh Paul
	5	Jonathon Barratt	LHP	Another high school pitcher. Barratt has made 5 starts this season at Visalia. He is 2-2 with a 5.13 ERA.
2004	1	Jeff Niemann	RHP	The organization made a switch this season and started looking more at college pitchers after going almost exclusively for high schoolers. Niemann has all the makings of a future mid-rotation major leaguer. He was shut down midway through last season and has yet to see the field in 2006. May be sent to Montgomery later this month.
	2	Reid Brignac	SS	Big time prospect with the bat. This season is hitting .311-8-38, but has committed 17 errors in 51 games.
	3	Wade Davis	RHP	This kid looks like a can’t miss prospect. In 10 starts this season at low-A Southwest Michigan, Davis has pitched 54 innings with 32 hits, 25 walks and 71 strikeouts. His walk totals are a little high, but that is forgivable with a 1.00 ERA. Drafted out of high school, Davis is only 20 years old.
	4	Matt Spring	C	Has yet to distinguish himself with the bat. Catchers are notoriously slow to develop at the plate (see Toby Hall). If Spring is to advance through the system, it will be due to his defense.
	5	Jacob McGee	LHP	Another high school pitcher. McGee is also posting impressive numbers at SW Michigan. In 60.2 innings, he is 4-5 with a 2.82 ERA and a league leading 82 strikeouts.
2005	1	Wade Townsend	RHP	Townsend has yet to pitch for the Devil Rays. Tore a ligament in his arm during the Arizona Fall League. Had Tommy John surgery and will not pitch in 2006
	2	Chris Mason	RHP	Has looked solid in 10 starts for Visalia. He is 4-2, with a 3.45 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in the hitter-friendly league.
	3	Bryan Morris	RHP	Unsigned. The Rays failed to reach an agreement with Morris before Tuesday’s midnight deadline. He will re-enter the draft and is projected as a 1st round pick
	4	Jeremy Hellickson	RHP	4th straight pitcher taken in this draft, showing where the team’s priorities are. Has yet to pitch for the Rays. Likely to pitch for Hudson Valley when their season starts.
	5	Mike McCormick	3B	Likely to play for Hudson Valley when their season starts.

The Hangover: Last Night In The AL East

Baltimore 6, D-Rays 5, 11 innings. The Rays blew a 5-1 lead and lost a heartbreaker to the O’s and spoiling a strong major league debut by James Shields. His stats don’t do show how good the rookie looked. We had heard all week about his “make up” and lack of major league “stuff”. Shields gave up 9 hits, 3 walks and 5 runs in 5 innings. Shields took a 5-1 lead into the 5th inning when the defense fell apart behind him. Although the Rays were not charged with any errors in the game, the team made 3 defensive mistakes in the 5th inning that led directly to the O’s scoring 4 runs and tying up the ballgame. Jeff Conine led of the inning and hit a pop up to shallow center field that Joey Gathright never saw. The ball dropped in front of him and Conine was on second with a double. The next batter, Kevin Millar hit a hard liner to left center that Gathright let get behind and role to the wall, turning a single into a double. Two batters later, Toby Hall was charged with a passed ball. The inning then fell apart for Shields. At the plate, Carl Crawford hit his 5th home run and 4th in the past week. Hall hit his career high 7th home run, a solo shot in the second. The Rays have now lost 6 in a row and have fallen 4 games behind Baltimore in the standings.

Boston 8, Toronto 6. The Sox maintained a tie atop of the AL East by salvaging the final game of their 3-game series with the Blue Jays. Boston scored enough to survive the a shaky major league debut by David Pauley as David Ortiz hit his 15th home run and Manny “ManRam” Ramirez hit his 13th…*Yawn*

New York 6, Detroit 1. The Spankees might be exposing Detroit as “Paper Tigers” (pun intended) by winning their 3rd straight in Detroit. Mike Mussina is staking his claim to being the starting pitcher for the American League All-Star team. Last night he pitched a complete game giving up only a single unearned run in the 9th inning. New York won this game despite missing Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield, Jonny Damon and Hideki Matsui.

The Future: Yesterday On The Farm

Jacksonville 7, Montgomery 2. Jorge Cantu DH’d and went 0-4, one day after going 2-3 with a home run and 5 RBI. 2B Eliot Johnson hit his 9th home run of the season. For all the talk of the depth of outfielders in the organization, we think that people are missing the number of infielders that are potential major leaguers. With Jorge Cantu already making a name for himself in the bigs, and B. J. Upton considered by most a star in waiting, the team also has several other prospects. In addition to Johnson, SS Reid Brignac is putting up strong numbers in Visalia. Even as he struggles in the field, Brignac may be the player that pushes Upton to third base or the outfield. Also, Wes Bankston is believed to have a major league bat, although the team is still looking for a position for him to play. He has spent the mojority of this season at 3B after having previously played the outfield and first base.

Inland Empire 11, Visalia 6. There is a team called “Inland Empire”? Is this a single-A affiliate of the “Evil Empire”? We better look this up…Thanks to the amateur encyclopedites over at Wikipedia we juat learned that “Inland Empire” refers to the region of southern California that includes the counties east of Orange County. The team is the single-A affiliate of the Mariners and appear to be named after Route 66. Too Much Information.

Lansing 5, SW Michigan 0. 2 hits for the Rays…yuck.

D-Rays @ Baltimore Orioles Tidbits

• Tampa is 2-5 against the Orioles this season, having met in 7 of the first 10 games of the season.
• For the 2nd straight week, a Devil Ray was named AL player of the week. Last week it was Scott Kazmir. This week, Carl Crawford was named co-player of the week with Tiger’s pitcher Justin Verlander. This is the 10th time a D-Ray has been so honored. Last week, Crawford hit .484-3-5-8. Only once (1999-3) have the Rays had more than 2 honorees.
• The Rays enter the final leg of their longest roadtrip of the season (10 games). They are 1-6 so far and 9-19 on the road this season.
• Tampa has lost 4 straight on 3 occasions this season. They have yet to lose 5 straight.
• The Rays are 1-7 in Doug Waechter’s 8 starts and he has not won a start on the road since September of 2004. However, he did have his best outing of 2006 at home against Baltimore on April 13. He went 6 innings and gave up only 1 run. He failed to get a decision as the Rays lost 6-5.
• James Shields will make his major league debut tomorrow night. Shields, 25, was the 16th round pick of the Rays in 2000, is a 6’4″ righty. He is not overpowering but has shown remarkable control at Durham, with a 64:6 strikeout to walk ratio in 61.1 innings. He has walked more than one in a start only once (2) and has struck out 10 in two of past three starts.
• Jorge Cantu began his rehab assignment last night for AA Montgomery. He DH’d and went 0-3 with a walk and strikeout. He is scheduled to play 7 innings tonight at 2B.
• SP Daniel Cabrera (2-2, 5.23 ERA) is on the 15-day DL and will miss this series. OF Jay Gibbons, (.268-10-29) is listed as day-to-day with an injured knee. There is a chance he could be in the lineup tonight.
• Tonight’s starter Rodrigo Lopez, was the Orioles’ opening day starter picking up the win against the Devil Rays in Camden Yards. He went 7 innings, giving up 7 hits and 5 runs. In his last start, in Seattle, he had his best start of the year, throwing 7.1 innings of 2-hit shutout ball.
• Bruce Chen worked into the 8th in his only start against Tampa this season at the Trop. He gave up 5 hits and 5 runs, failing to pick up a decision in the O’s 6-5 win. In his last start against the Angels, he received a no-decision as he went 6 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs.
• Eric Bedard has 2 of his 5 wins against the Rays this season, including a start in Tampa in which he pitched 7 shutout innings. He had his worst outing of the season in his last start, failing to get out of the 4th against the Angels. He gave up 10 hits and 6 runs, taking the loss.

Probable Pitchers
Tuesday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays Doug Waechter, RHP (0-3, 6.43)
Baltimore Rodrigo Lopez, RHP (2-7, 7.16)

Wednesday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays James Shields, RHP (0-0, 0.00)
Baltimore Bruce Chen, LHP (0-5, 7.40)

Thursday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (7-3, 2.86)
Baltimore Eric Bedard, LHP (5-4, 5.67)