Playing A Little Pepper… After seeing the Rays stadium proposal earlier today, what are the chances it actually gets built? It’,ed reed jersey;s a nice looking stadium,raiders jerseys,fitzgerald jersey 365djerseys.com E2. The price is about right. But there are still some major issues. The biggest one that immediately jumps out is the parking. They claim there are 14,000 spots already on site. But those are owned by local businesses who will want to be compensated. And even then, they are not giving up access to all 14,manning jersey 365djerseys.com F8,000. And what happens during weekday afternoon games (approx 1 of every 67 home games),cheap titans jerseys? And then there is trying to figure out who will pay for it. But that will be a question with any proposal. Still, this one just doesn’;t feel like anything that is going anywhere…5% Game Graph… [Will be up at game time] Source: Lineup… Song to get you pumped up…

. Jason Cromer pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 4 and lowered his ERA to 2.03…,Ravens Jerseys On Sale;Dale Thayer blew the lead in the bottom of the 9th when he gave a 2run, bases loaded single…;Desmond Jennings and Reid Brignac each went 15…;Matt Joyce did them one better going 05…;Rhyne Hughes continues to hit well in tripleA, going 24 and raising his average to .322. .Rayner Oliveros pitched 5.2 shutout innings,ryan kerrigan jersey 365djerseys.com E9. He gave up just 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3 to improve to 51…;Jose Lobaton went 23 with 2 singles and an RBI. . Charlotte took a 31 into the 9th inning before the dam broke,patrick peterson jersey, allowing 7 in the 9th for the loss. Two relievers combined to give up 4 hits and 4 walks in the final frame…;David Newmann was in line for the win with 5 innings pitched and just 1 unearned run…,wholesale matt schaub jersey 365djerseys.com U3;Chad Bradford pitched a scoreless 6th inning and Fernando Perez went 14 on their rehab stints. Bowling Green. (no games scheduled) . . Notes from Down on the Farm…,cheap ray lewis jersey;

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 try to project what they will do based on what we have learned. Think of RI as “Tampa Bay Rays 101.” However,Cheap Houston Texans Jerseys, 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. , we see that many of our wishes came true. Many did not. If we can get a couple of more this year, the Rays might just win it all. Without further ado…,phoenix suns jerseys 365djerseys.com U3; On the fifth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, A FIVEYEAR EXTENSION FOR DAVID PRICE… Price still has four years remaining until he is a free agent. But thanks to his Super2 status, he’ll get a crack at arbitration in each of those seasons,cheap whitney mercilus jersey. And that means a lot of money for King David. In those four arbitration seasons, (average $12.5 million per season). So if the Rays want to lock up Price and delay his free agency by a year, it will cost them. Let’s say five years for $55 million,Smith Jersey 365djerseys.com D0. That gives Price a sense of security. It gives the Rays a small discount,cheap utah jazz jerseys. And Price would be with the Rays through the age of 30. And the Rays probably wouldn’t want to commit to a starting pitcher past the age of 30. This might be our boldest wish yet. If Price signs an extension that is longer than four years, even we will think he is crazy. But if Andrew Friedman still wants Price pitching for the Rays in 2016, this offseason might be his last shot.

Tampa Bay Rays (9 days until pitchers and catchers report) Today is Hank Aaron’s birthday. Major League Baseball tried to honor Aaron by naming an award after him, when in fact the award does nothing to honor his legacy. We have made ,wholesale patrick peterson jersey 365djerseys.com, but in short it is a glorified advertising opportunity for MLB to make money off of Hank Aaron’s name, and the award needs to be overhauled or it will never have any legitimacy. DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA… The rest of the AL East is concerned. In fact, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has frankly branded the Rays a team “no one will want to face.”…But why stop at .500 — the Rays haven’t been closer than 11 games to that — as a major surprise? We keep looking at Tampa Bay’s new uniforms and seeing “Mets” scrawled across the chest…The Amazin’,Cheap larry fitzgerald jersey;s averaged 56 wins in their first seven seasons, then broke loose for a World Series title in the eighth. And they did so without any major roster additions; a young team simply grew into it. “In the black schools, football and basketball are getting more attention than baseball,los angeles lakers jerseys 365djerseys.com A0,”,cheap raiders nike jerseys; Jackson said,wholesale patrick peterson jersey. “We need to expose it within the community, talk about it more. It starts in the household, where most parents are talking about basketball and football to their young black children.”

When a player is at the plate, there are a number of different possible outcomes. And maybe the worst of those is the swinging strike,Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys 365djerseys.com T5. For the batter, a swinging strike is one pitch closer to an out. But unlike a called strike which may just be a matter of misjudging the strikezone, a swinging strike can be an indication that the batter is overmatched. To get an idea of how well each hitter is swinging the bat early on, let’s take a look at how often each batter swings at a pitch and misses… Typically,atlanta hawks jerseys, the average number of pitches in which a Major League batter swingsandmisses, is about 8,cheap panthers jerseys.5%. For the Rays, 11 of 18 batters are above this mark. We can also see why Brandon Allen,china nfl jerseys 365djerseys.com E0, despite his heroics, is not a very good hitter, and why Jeff Keppinger is so hard to strike out. And while most of the regulars have a swingandmiss rate comparable to 2011, BJ Upton’,reed jersey;s number is considerably higher compared to last season (10.9%). So it is possible that his number will come down as the season progresses. However, his swinging strike rate tends to fluctuate more than most players, as it was 12.0% in 2010 and as low as 7.7% in 2008. So maybe we should all just be grateful that Upton doesn’;t have to swing his glove at flyballs in the outfield. Data via Fangraphs.com

Today is the last day of the regular season, which means the Cubs and Astros will ramp up their search for new general managers. Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman is considered to be at the top of both team’,cheap bears nike jerseys;s wishlists,Kolb Jersey 365djerseys.com N7. But with his strong ties to owner Stuart Sternberg, most feel it is a longshot that Friedman would leave the Rays. However and Friedman may be more likely to leave the Rays now than he was just a month ago… According to?MLB sources,?Andrew Friedman, the brilliant architect of the Rays’; homegrown success, seems more in play in the Cubs’; ongoing search for a general manager than he did a month ago. He and manager,Cheap Wells Jersey?Joe Maddon feel like they’,fitzgerald jersey 365djerseys.com Y9;re hitting their heads against a wall in trying to help owner Stuart Sternberg grow baseball interest in the footballcrazed Tampa Bay area…Would Friedman be willing to talk to Chairman?Tom Ricketts about running the Cubs? Most thought that highly unlikely given his ties to Sternberg but would anyone blame Friedman for wanting to see what it is like to have bigmarket resources? Rogers and his sources are vague, maybe intentionally, and it is unclear exactly what they are reporting. Are they saying Friedman is more interested in talking to other clubs? Or are these sources just guessing that Friedman might be more interested now than he was a month ago? And what has happened in the past month to make a move more likely? Everything we see suggests that Friedman and Sternberg are tied at the hip. And of course, this is what we all want to believe,Buffalo Bills Nike Jerseys. But no matter what anybody says or declares, we don’;t know what Friedman is thinking. So until the Cubs and the Astros hire new GMs, we have to assume that it is at least possible Friedman will leave.

On May 29,49ers Bowman Jersey 365djerseys.com X0, the Rays faced the White Sox and lefty John Danks for the second time. In the first matchup, Danks struck out 9 and gave up just 2 hits in 8 innings. In the rematch, Danks only struck out 2 and the Rays would score 8 times. One difference was that Joe Maddon stacked the lineup with lefthanded batters. Last week we saw a similar scenario in which JoeMa loaded the lineup with righthanded bats against the righthanded Shaun Marcum of the Blue Jays. Why? Joe Maddon is kinda crazy. But also because Danks and Marcum throw changeups that are tough on oppositehanded batters. Joe Maddon does a lot of unorthodox things. Some work. Some don’t. Filling a lineup with a bunch of lefties against a lefthander is certainly one of the more unusual moves. But does it work? Tommy Rancel of DRays Bay dubbed this “The Danks Theory” and … If an opposing starting pitcher has a specific aboveaverage pitch that he throws to a certain type of batter, then let’s put a lineup together that neutralizes that pitch as much as possible, if such a lineup is possible,cheap nfl jerseys from china. The question is: How effective is The Danks Theory? While Maddon is neutralizing the strength of the pitcher, he appears to be doing this at the cost of neutralizing the strengths of his batters. That is,cheap whitney mercilus jersey, typically, a batter is more effective against an opposite handed pitcher (e.g. RHB vs LHP). Rancel admits that testing the theory is nearly impossible based on sample sizes. One way to analyze the theory would be to look at how the Rays performed in games under Maddon’s tenure in which The Danks Theory was employed. But there are problems with this method. While some games may be obvious, others may not. How would we know if Maddon employed The Danks Theory with only one or two batters? And even in the obvious games like May 29, we can’t be absolutely certain how many of the batters were utilized for The Danks Theory. For example, Dioner Navarro batted righthanded against Danks. Do we include his stats or not? Switchhitters present an interesting scenario. Anytime a switchhitter bats righthanded against righty or lefthanded versus a lefty, then we know The Danks Theory (or something similar) is being utilized. Also, consider that a righthanded batter faces righties all the time. But switchhitters are truly doing something unique under The Danks Theory. That is, a switchhitter never bats righthanded against a righty. So one way we can test The Danks Theory is to see how switchhitters do under these circumstances compared to their normal production levels. So let’s take a look at every switchhitter* that has played for Maddon and how they have performed under The Danks Theory… OK, not a lot of data here, so we really can’t draw any conclusions. But we do learn one thing: switchhitters under Maddon have never batted lefthanded against a lefthanded pitcher. So all of the above data is when switchhitters batted righthanded against a righty, as was the case for Navarro against Marcum. So what can we do? Well, we can look at how switchhitters as a group perform under The Danks Theory. Let’s take the total from the above table and compare that to how the group performs under normal conditions… To calculate the career totals, we weighed the contributions of each hitter. For example, Ben Zobrist accounts for 15.8% of The Danks Theory plate appearances, so his career stats contributed to 15.8% of the overall totals. So switchhitters appear to be improving their performance when they bat righthanded against a righty. Again, still not a lot of data. In theory,cheap new jersey nets jerseys, we would like another 100 plate appearances before we can be certain that switchhitters do better under The Danks Theory. But what is really important from this data,superbowl 49ers jerseys 365djerseys.com W8, is that we see the switchhitters are not performing worse under The Danks Theory. And as they say, so far, so good. Then again, maybe all this says is that Navarro needs to stop switchhitting. But hey, we’ve been saying that since 2008. *Four other switchhitters have played for Maddon (Greg Zaun, Elliot Johnson, Greg Norton, Raul Casanova) but never had a plate appearance under The Danks Theory.

This is a few days old, but we have been busy. Sue us. We’ll give you $20. In , John Romano makes an effort to praise Delmon Young for his success this season and tout the 21year old for rookieoftheyear. Unfortunately, Mr. Romano can’t just praise Young and what he has accomplished on the baseball field. He is unable to just gives us the numbers and compare them to other rookies in the American League. No. Mr. Romano must make it clear to all of us, that he and Delmon Young have a tumultuous history. We were unaware of this until Mr. Romano felt the need to point it out to us. When Mr. Romano tried to approach Delmon about doing a story, he was turned away. Mr. Romano tries to imply that he is the bigger man by praising Young, and putting aside his dislike for the young slugger. Instead he comes off as a bitter, whiny 12year old that did not get ice cream after dinner. The plan was to talk to Young about his candidacy Sunday morning, but he is a man of few words,Jonathan Vilma, New Orleans Saints linebacker, takes shot at New York Jets - NYPOST.com. Or, in this case, one word. “No,” he said, wagging a finger and walking away. In Delmon’s defense, he doesn’t like me. If I may speak for him, and I suppose I have to, I’d say he hates me. Which doesn’t make him unique, or even misguided. The problem is his reputation as an individual is still catching up to his prowess as a player. In simpler terms, Young can be a petulant brat. Mr. Romano claims that the “The real issue is Young’s talent. It is undeniable, and it is impressive.” If that is the case, then why does Mr. Romano even need to bring up the battossing incident or the quotes in USA Today last year? If that is the case, then why must Mr,Texans Jerseys. Romano resort to namecalling, by referring to Delmon as “a petulant brat”? We understand the plight of the clubhouse reporter/columnist. They are just trying to do their job and sometimes they need to write things that may be taken as offensive by the players/teams they cover. But if a player chooses not to speak to a certain writer, that writer needs to remain professional and objective,suggs jersey. Mr,minnesota timberwolves jerseys,ngata jersey 365djerseys.com O4. Romano was unable to do this. Nobody needs to know that Delmon Young and Mr. Romano do not get along. Nobody needs to know that Delmon Young won’t answer Mr. Romano’s questions. And nobody needs Mr. Romano to tell us what he thinks of Delmon Young as a person. Rather than remain professional, Mr. Romano took his personal beef with Delmon Young to print. Mr. Romano tried to make sure all of his readers know that Delmon is brat. Instead Mr. Romano let all of his readers know that he is a ****. Grit your teeth and give Young his due []

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. THE GOOD: Long Balls,wholesale robert griffin iii jersey 365djerseys.co. The baseballs were flying out of the Orioles renovated Spring Training home. Still, it was nice to see Manny Ramirez,Ryan Jersey?get his first with the Rays and for BJ Upton to make it backtoback in the 6th inning. It was also nice to see Kelly Shoppach go deep. He is going to be on the opening day roster, so we have to hope he get the bat going. THE BAD: Andy Sonnanstine. Well, that was ugly. Sonnanstine faced 12 batters. Five of them hit home runs, including 2 by Nick Markakis…Rob Delaney. After looking strong against the minor leaguers on Saturday,J.J. Watt Jersey 365djerseys.com B9, and after a 2strikeout 123 3rd inning, Delaney got pounded for 4 runs on 5 straight hits in his second inning of work against the big boys…Matt Bush. After looking good in his first outing, Bush gave up a single, a double and walked 2 batters in one inning. THE TELLING: Johnny Damon?led off and no doubt will see time there during the regular season. But Joe Maddon made it clear that John Jaso most days when he is in the lineup…,Colts Jerseys;Felipe Lopez got the start at second base and Elliot Johnson didn’t play…Casey Kotchman started at first base. It looks like the first base job is up for grabs at this point. Ben Zobrist will start at first today,lewis jersey. THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

[Update] The jersey has already been pulled from the website,Cheap Cleveland Browns Jerseys, which is silly,Cheap fitzgerald jersey. The cat is out of the bag and now all MLB and the Rays are doing is costing themselves money. After the new jersey was linked here, several other sites linked to the MLB Shop. Most of the people that click through to the jersey are Rays fans and all are potential customers. There will be no reason to link back to the shop after today. [1:46pm] We’ve been sitting on this for a while. But now that , we guess it is ok to tell you that the Rays will be introducing a new alternate jersey in 2010 (thanks Josh). Hello powder blue. And like the other three jerseys, this one does not say “Tampa Bay” across the front,dallas mavericks jerseys. In fact, not only does it not say “Tampa Bay,” but the “Rays”,wholesale brian cushing jersey 365djerseys.com A4; logo is now much larger ginormous. Also notice that there is no fish patch on the sleeve. Let’s face it, this ownership group wants nothing to do with the “,schaub jersey 365djerseys.com E8;Devil Rays” past, which leaves us wondering why they didn’t just scrap the “Devil Rays” altogether and start fresh with a new logo.

Joe is back with his postgame thoughts…. Apologies up front to the Joe Maddon apologists,SuperBowl Patrick Willis Jersey, but it was damn foolish to leave Kyle Farnsworth on the hill in the eighth inning — with a two run lead — for anything beyond?the first two,cheap lions nike jerseys 365djerseys.com Y6?walks he allowed. Farnsworth isn’t some young pitcher needing confidence, or a borderline fragile mental patient–type?like J.P. Howell,anquan boldin jersey 365djerseys.com R5. He’s a 36yearold who’s worked in relief for the majority of his career. He knows the hook is coming, and deserved, when it’s clear he’s not sharp in a critical spot. But no, Maddon let Farnsworth struggle his way to four eighthinning walks before giving way to Jake McGee, who couldn’t hold the lead. Inexcusable. This Joe couldn’t bear to listen to the postgame show to hear a bunch of drivel about saving the bullpen, or sticking with Farnsworth. There’s a game against the division leader?in front of you to close out in the eighth. You go get it. You don’t play for another day with a sweep against the Yankees on the line. Poor David Price, who did just about as much as possibly could be expected to get a win,Wholesale J.J. Watt Jersey. Joe is especially peeved to have witnessed this debacle alongside what had to be close to a 5050 split of Yankee fans at the Trop. Definitely the worst ratio Joe could remember in some time. Joe’,memphis grizzlies jerseys;s so mad he could hit someone with a bat. Perhaps he’ll use the one Luke Scott keeps on his shoulder.

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. THE GOOD: Apparently it was “just one game.” THE BAD: Mark Buehrle threw Major League Baseball’s 18th perfect game, against the Tampa Bay Rays. THE TELLING: So that happened. 27 batters went to the plate against Mark Buehrle and 27 were retired. It may have been the most efficient performance in the history of baseball as Buehrle was only on the mound for a . So what did we learn? This incarnation of the Tampa Bay Rays just isn’t very good. They are not going to the playoffs unless something drastic changes and it needs to change now. It was just one game. No. It is more than one game. Good teams don’t lose 3 of 4 to mediocre teams. I can’t find a single power ranking that has the White Sox in the top 10. And it is not just the White Sox. This was the fourth time this season the Rays have lost 3 games in a series. In fact, the Rays have only won 15 of 30 series this season. They are mediocre. End of story. It was just one game. Good teams don’t get nohit. Good teams don’t let another pitcher throw a perfect game. Are we supposed to be comforted by the ’88 Dodgers and ’,cheap vikings jerseys 365djerseys.com H4;04 Braves? Those are the only two teams to be the victim of a perfect game and still make the playoffs. Those two teams also played in crap divisions and did not have to worry about chasing down the two best teams in baseball. It was just one game. How many times this season do we have to hear “it was just one game.” Yeah, it was one game. Sometimes teams miss the playoffs by “just one game.” What are we supposed to say in October when the Red Sox and Yankees are in the playoffs and the Rays finish 4 back,minnesota timberwolves jerseys 365djerseys.com S3. Can we cash in those “one games”? ENOUGH! I am sick of it! Play like you are capable of playing or move aside for somebody that will. STOP THE DAMN POOZLEFOOTING! It was just one game. That might work in the NL East if the Rays are chasing the Mets. But the Rays are not chasing a team that is destined to choke. They are chasing THE NEW YORK YANKEES and THE BOSTON RED SOX. Those teams are not going to roll over and die. And what makes this worse is that the Yankees and the Red Sox have been SERVING UP THE AL EAST ON A SILVER FRIGGIN’ PLATTER. AND ALL THE RAYS CAN DO IS CONTINUE TO PLAY LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN WEARING THROWBACKS ALL YEAR! Mark Buehrle has had five votes for the Cy Young IN HIS ENTIRE 10 YEAR CAREER! And now I have to walk up and down the streets of New york and Boston with those smug fans thinking that everything is back to normal in the world. Their precious playoff birthright is about to be handed back to them. AGAIN! When was the last time the Yankees lost a damn game? June? I’ve had it! It was just one game. Yes. I keep hearing it. All these Rays fans “tipping” their damn caps to Buehrle. I DON’T GIVE A RAT’S YOU KNOW WHAT ABOUT MARK BUEHRLE! I care about the TAMPA BAY RAYS. Oooh. We got to witness history! You know who else witnessed history? EVERY OTHER TEAM THAT LOST A HISTORIC GAME. The Rays weren’t a part of history. They were the punchline of a joke. You think fans of other teams are surprised a pitcher threw a perfect game against the Rays? Hell no. To them they are still the Devil Rays and this game was just proof that the Rays are the next Colorado Rockies. Proof that 2008 was a fluke,raiders jerseys. Proof that the Rays were one hit wonders. Proof that the AL East really is just a twoteam division. And when this team falls 10 back in a couple of weeks, do you think fans are going to the Trop to watch the Rays play the Orioles? They’ll be lucky if there is 12,000 at that Wednesday game. And then the laughing and pointing will start. “,orakpo jersey;Rays only have bandwagon fans…Tampa Bay cannot support a baseball team…Nice stadium.” I’m tired of hearing it. NO MORE! I’m mad as hell. I’m mad at the rotation which has consistently underperformed all year. I’m mad at an offense that has needed to be carried by Ben Zobrist for over a month. BEN ZOBRIST! He started the year on the bench! THIRTYTWO DAMN MINUTES!?!? Way to make him work guys. It was just one game. I have heard it all. “It was just one game…Calm down…Have a beer…Relax…What’s the big deal…Get some sleep…,Colts Jerseys;It was just one game.” SCREW THAT. Why should I calm down after my baseball team just sh!t themselves in front of the entire world? And this is not the first time the Rays played like a little league team this year. This just happens to be the bottom of the proverbial barrel. It was just one game. Yep. It was just one game. Just one of 18 perfect games. Maybe 12 or 13 have video footage. So now, every time they talk about the great moments in baseball history and every time they show Buehrle’s gem, I have to watch Jason Bartlett hitting a ground ball to end it. I have to watch the White Sox dancing on the field with the Rays in their dugout. Yep, it was just one game. Just one symbolic game that will always remind us how the 2009 Tampa Bay Rays underachieved all year. Great. Awesome. Fanfriggintabulous. It was just one game. Yeah. It was just one game. One game that proved this team is going nowhere. One game that proved this team is done. One game that proved this team is roadkill.

We are still not back from our selfimposed exile in the sunshine state, so the regular posts will not return until tomorrow, but in the meantime, we heard some rumors that Andrew Friedman may have made a move or two this weekend to improve the Rays relief corps. We have reviewed the wires and consulted our abacus, and this was the final count… Ty Wigginton traded to Astros for Dan Wheeler [] In the biggest move from the weekend, Ty Wigginton was sent to the Astros for reliever Dan Wheeler, who will begin his second stint with the Rays after being a Rays a draft pick in 1996. Wheeler has struggled this year with a 5.07 ERA, but being reunited with his former pitching coach Jim Hickey may reignite the pitcher that posted strong numbers as a setup man the past two seasons. If the Rays decide to move Al Reyes, Wheeler would conceivably step into the closers role and could fill the same capacity in 2008. The one drawback to the trade is that Wheeler is a free agent after the 2008 season. However, seeing the current value of relief pitchers in the trade deadline market, Andrew Friedman may already be looking at Wheeler as a commodity that would be sought after in July of next year. If Wheeler can rebound in the next 12 months and flourish in either a setup or a closer’s role, he could demand additional pieces that are missing from the Rays puzzle. Seth McClung traded to the Brewers [] Has anybody else noticed the irony the in the Devil Rays acquiring a relief pitcher with the name “Balfour”? Seriously, there is no way this can end well. The enigma enema that is Seth McClung, the big redheaded right hander with a power fastball and an inability to throw it anywhere near the strikezone in crucial situations was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for relief pitcher Grant Balfour. Balfour, an Australian (we thought they only played Australian rules football?), played parts of three seasons with the Minnesota Twins, before getting a cupofcoffee this year with the Brewers. He is mostly a journeyman righthander that may eat innings in middle relief. He posted impressive numbers at AAA this season with 47 strikeouts and only 11 walks and 17 hits in 32 innings. He had a 1.69 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. At 29, we will have to wait and see if the AAA numbers were an anomaly and he is just a AAAA pitcher or if he has turned the corner can can be an effective big league reliever. The Brewers were forced to part with Balfour, who was out of Minor League options, because they needed roster space Friday for reliever Scott Linebrink, whom they acquired in a trade with San Diego on Wednesday…”He was a guy I was thinking about counting on for next year,” said Brewers general manager Doug Melvin. “You look at other teams’ bullpens, and that’s the kind of arm that teams get and,cheap jaguars jerseys, all of a sudden,cheap texans nike jerseys 365djerseys.com Z8, they find it. It clicks.” Jorge Cantu traded to the Reds [] And in a move that only surprised us because a team actually gave up a little value, Jorge Cantu was shipped to the Reds for two pitchers and a playertobenamedlater. Calvin Medlock is a minor league pitcher who dominated at AA but who has struggled in first 13 appearances at AAA. Brian Shackleford has spent parts of each of the last two seasons with the Reds, but . Maybe the Rays picked him up to mentor Elijah Dukes. The Rays also sent minor leaguer Shaun Cumberland to the Reds to complete the trade. Cumberland is an outfielder with speed, who has struggled this season in his first year above Aball. Cantu was not happy being with the Devil Rays any longer, and with limited defensive skills (re: cement feet), and questionable offensive skills (.544 OPS in 2006, .484 OPS in 2007), he no longer had a future with the Rays. The Reds will ship Cantu to AAA and hope they catch lightning in a bottle. In return the Rays received yet another upgrade Shawn Bleepin’ Camp demoted to the minors [] This move was so obvious that we were actually surprised when we heard that Shawn Bleepin’ Camp was sent to Durham,cheap anquan boldin jersey 365djerseys.com F8,Colin Kaepernick Jersey. We do wonder though who Andrew Friedman has been watching the first 3 months of the season. Camp is a guy who’s obviously been struggling some recently. When his sinker’s really working, he can help out a majorleague bullpen by getting groundballs and he’s extremely effective against righthanded hitters. He’s been in a little bit of a rut lately and we’re hoping that by sending him down and giving him a chance to pitch in Durham that he’ll start pitching a little bit more consistently.[] Recently? The guy has a 7.20 ERA. He has allowed 6,324 inherited runners to score. HE HAS STRUGGLED ALL FREACKIN’ SEASON. And he is 31, so he is not going to get much better. Josh Paul activated from DL [] Josh Paul as on the DL since May 20. Paul replaces Raul Casanova who was designated for assignment and removed from the 40man roster. The team has 10 days to trade, release or ask waivers for Casanova. Most likely Casanova will not be traded and he will clear waivers and be optioned back to AAA Durham. Joe Maddon stated that Paul will see increased playing time with starting catcher Dioner Navarro continuing to struggle at the plate. Rays manager Joe Maddon has noted time and again that he thought Paul was playing at a high level when he got injured, and he now plans to play him three to four times a week rather than the normal one or two times a week reserved for most backup catchers. In additional catcher news,wholesale 2013 SuperBowl Jerseys, Shawn Riggans had surgery on his elbow. The surgery is likely to be seasonending.

. Carlos Hernandez pitched 7 scoreless innings,2013 superbowl 49ers jerseys,Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys 365djerseys.com A2, allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 4…,cheap lions jerseys;Matt Joyce was 34 with a double, a walk and 3 RBI…;Justin Ruggiano was 24 with a double and a walk…;Reid Brignac finished 02 with 2 walks and Ray Sadler hit his 5th home run. . Jason Cromer allowed 6 runs in 5 innings…;Another 3hit game for Desmond Jennings who was 34 with a walk to get his average back up to .400. He also has a .457 OBP and a 1.077 OPS. Charlotte vs St. Lucie (gm 1 susp. rain). Charlotte vs St. Lucie (gm 2 ppd. rain). Bowling Green (no game scheduled),cheap packers nike jerseys,cheap colts jerseys 365djerseys.com G8. Notes from Down on the Farm…;

Tampa Bay Rays (21 days until pitchers and catchers report) Yesterday the Tampa Bay Rays announced that they had on a contract that could be for as long as seven years and worth just under $38 million. With incentives the deal could reach as much as $44 million. The last three years of the deal are team options which gives the team a fair amount of insurance in case of an injury or an unexpected drop in performance. This is a great deal for the Rays. They get a young proven pitcher for a belowmarket price and do not have to worry about going to arbitration with him in two years. But,wholesale ray lewis jersey 365djerseys.com R2, despite what many are saying this is not a deal about retaining the young talent. Shields was going to be here for the next five years without a new deal. And projecting Shields and the team ahead to the 2013 and 2014 seasons is a crapshoot at best. What kind of pitcher will he be six years from now? What will the team look like six years from now,cheap colts jerseys? Nobody knows the answers to those questions. No. This is not about retaining the young talent. Marc Lancaster is the only writer, whether it be professional, blogger or message board specialist, we have seen yet that “gets it”. The Rays didn’t have to do this deal, which guarantees Shields at least $11.25 million during the next four seasons and could max out at $44 million with options and incentives. Shields would have been under Tampa Bay’s control through 2012 anyway, and the cost to keep him wasn’t likely to reach outrageous levels even if he continued to improve once he entered his arbitration years. But the Rays saw an opportunity to make a statement after Shields had his agent contact them last fall to gauge their interest in a longterm deal, even though he had just pitched his first full season in the majors. Here was the rare player with enough faith in the organization that he was willing to surrender his first two years of free agency. Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said he liked the message that rewarding Shields with a longterm deal so early in his career would send to Tampa Bay’s young players. The Rays certainly wouldn’t mind if some of the team’s more established players, the rest of baseball and their fan base picked up on it, too. This deal does send a message. Not a message to the fans that the Rays will do whatever it takes to keep the young talent. If that was the case why isn’t Scott Kazmir under a longterm contract yet? He is due to be a free agent before Shields. Or what about Carl Crawford, who is set to become a free agent in three years, two years sooner than Shields would have hit the market,cheap miami heat jerseys 365djerseys.com N1. No. The real message is about rewarding the younger players that perform well. Yesterday in ““, and the day before in , we speculated that the new contract would most likely only give Shields a slight bump in salary in 2008 and 2009, the two seasons prior to when he would be arbitration eligible. Teams do not have to open the wallets in a players first three seasons, no matter how well they perform on the field. The Rays showed they are willing to reward the younger players. A move that will be noticed by other players within the Rays organization and hopefully by players in other organizations. The Rays did not have to give Shields much more than $0.50,Cheap Oakland Raiders Jerseys.7 for the next two seasons. Players that sign longterm deals prior to their arbitration years almost never make more than that in those seasons. Shields, however, will make $2.5 million combined the next two years. To us that is the biggest surprise of the contract. In the grand scheme of things, it does not seem like much to us, but to a player like Shields, who was not a “,NaVorro Bowman Jersey;bonus baby” firstround draft pick, a raise of more than 150% is a big deal. A big deal that the team hopes won’t go unnoticed by the other players. Perform well and we will reward you. Shields’ deal could be worth $44 million. [] Shields deal sends message [] DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

Up until first pitch, use the comments section to predict who you think will be the Sunburst Player of the Game,cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys 365djerseys.com Q0. (be sure to use a valid email address while leaving the comment),raiders jerseys. The commenter that correctly predicts who we will name the Sunburst Player of the Game the most times prior to the allstar game,panthers nike jerseys 365djerseys.com H7, will win two tickets to a secondhalf game. Runnersup get their choice of a tshirt. [] Check for the starting lineups. Players that have been named Sunburst Pimp Daddy PoG and leaderboard after the jump… Evan Longoria15,cheap Jacksonville Jaguars Jersey.5Ben Zobrist12,cheap miami heat jerseys.5Carlos Pena9Carl Crawford8BJ Upton8Willy Aybar6David Price6James Shields5Jeff Niemann5Gabe Kapler4.5Jason Bartlett4Dioner Navarro4Scott Kazmir4Gabe Gross2.5Andy Sonnanstine2Matt Joyce2Pat Burrell2Matt Garza1.5Lance Cormier1.5Gregg Zaun1Aki Iwamura1Grant Balfour1Winston Abreu0.5

The Rays had two picks in the secondround and picked up a college pitcher and a college shortstop. 66. Jacob Thompson,lions jerseys, RHP?(info via ):,chicago bulls jerseys 365djerseys.com M6??Thompson’s college career has been a mixed bag, with bursts of brilliance interspersed with wildness and control problems. Relying heavily on his fastball, Thompson is an aggressive hurler who resembles, in frame and style, former big leaguer Troy Percival,patrick peterson jersey. His 9294 mph fastball peaks at 95, and Thompson adds an excellent changeup which he mixes in sparingly. Thompson’s primary weakness is his curveball, a pitch he shortarms and doesn’t finish off cleanly. Scouts think that Thompson’,cheap colts jerseys 365djerseys.com Y3;s results don’t match his talent because of his unusual arm stroke, which will need to be cleaned up, and a weak delivery finish in which he circles away from the plate. He has the arm and raw stuff to be a midrotation starter, but he will more likely end up in the bullpen. 79. Derek Dietrich, SS (info ): Tech’s shorstop Derek Dietrich has had a monster season with the metal bat and will probably go in the top two rounds as a major college performer who isn’t stuck at first base or DH…He’s very strong with good bat speed and he recognizes pitches very well from righthanders. He struggled against lefties with the wood bat on the Cape last summer, although I think that’s a function of his raw strength and the metal bat allowing him to catch up to a pitch he didn’t recognize early enough…In the field, Dietrich can’t play shortstop in pro ball, and I’m not sure he has the feet to handle second or third; he’s not unathletic but is a belowaverage runner with slow feet,Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys, which would put him in an outfield corner long term, although the team that drafts him has to exhaust those other options first…and he is just 20 years old.

We are not sure why we never ran it (we blame DRG) as it has been sitting on the for quite some time. But somebody put together a video in which they examine the history of the “Fist Bump”. Several members of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays make appearances in the clip, including Stuart Sternberg, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford who claims he wouldn’,wholesale joe flacco jersey,Colts Jerseys On Sale 365djerseys.com E9;t be where he is today without the fist bump. Also, Papa Joe explains to us how it went down the first time somebody tried to fist bump him…,suggs jersey;a story that we are sure most of us can relate to. “Well the first time I was introduced to the fist bump, I didn’;t really know what to do. He stuck his hand out to me and I didn’;t know if he was going to hit me or if I was supposed to grab it or latch on to it,Cheap Houston Texans Jerseys 365djerseys.com P1.”,portland trail blazers jerseys; In Joe’;s defense, they weren’;t even doing the highfive when he was in school. Back then it was the kissoneachcheek.

that Milton Bradley got off a plane in Las Vegas at the Winter Meetings and went straight to lunch with Rays officials. that the Rays may be considering several of the top right field/DH free agents including Milton Bradley,Cheap Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, and Raul Ibanez,49ers Bowman Jersey 365djerseys.com T8. Ibanez is the only member of that group that would cost the Rays a first round draft pick as a Type A free agent. Heyman also mentions that Ken Griffey Jr would “,Cheap Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys;love to play near his Orlando hometown.”,Cheap Ben Tate Jersey; that with the Rays already , Griffey at $34 million might be more realistic than the other names,robert griffin iii jersey 365djerseys.com X2, even if the market pushes their salaries down. Then again, if the Rays can move salary in other areas (Edwin Jackson), that might be enough to justify adding one of the players listed above at $810 million for one season. Rays Take Milton Bradley To Lunch [] Griffey could be good fit for Rays [] Griffey Could Be Good Fit For Rays []

Needless to say, many people are having a laugh at David Price’s expense after he injured his neck by toweling off “too vigorously” (you can see Price talking about the injury HERE. Well, here’s one example from the guys at “Mike and Mike in the Morning”,Cheap NaVorro Bowman Jersey; on ESPN Radio…,cheap titans nike jerseys 365djerseys.com A7; In defense of King David, this is EXACTLY why Joe Maddon is such a great manager,Carolina Panthers seek $125 million from Charlotte for Bank of America Stadium renovation Carolina. Bear with us…;Maddon has created a culture in that locker room that encourages players to be themselves and not to care what people outside the locker room think. He is a parent that has raised an entire locker room of those cool kids that can always do or say anything without fear,cheap sacramento kings jerseys, when the rest of us are too scared to be ourselves,Chicago Bears Jerseys. THIS is Maddon’s greatest trait as a manager.