With the Rule 5 draft just around the corner,Buffalo Bills Jerseys, Rays prospect Aneriy Rodriguez is “the most likely player to be picked.” Rodriguez is a starting pitcher that the Rays received from the Rockies for Jason Hammel prior to the 2009 season,Colin Kaepernick Jersey. Last year he went 65 with a 3.80 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 113 innings. If Rodriguez is selected, he would have to make his new team’s big league roster in 2011 or be offered back to the Rays,cheap eagles nike jerseys 365djerseys.com M4. All players with at least 5 years minor league experience (4 years in some cases) and are not on the 40man roster are eligible for the Rule 5 draft,cheap bengals jerseys. The rule is designed to protect players that may be good enough for the big leagues but for whatever reason haven’,steelers jerseys 365djerseys.com E5;t made it yet for their current organization.

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. Mets 11, RAYS 2 () THE GOOD: Getting On. We’re digging deep for something positive to say about last night’s game. So there is this. The Rays had runners on base in each of the first 7 innings…Alex Cobb,Cheap Ravens Jerseys 365djerseys.com V1. Joe Maddon was his usual upbeat self after the game saying he thought Cobb looked “really good,” so we’ll take his word for it. Obviously the defense didn’t help, and nor did the bullpen. And there were definitely some good moments in the middle. But it still looked like a shaky outing overall. THE BAD: The Mets? Number of times the Mets had scored more than 10 runs this season: ZERO…Ike Davis? Number of home runs Ike Davis had hit in previous 81 at bats: ZERO. Times Ike Davis faced JP Howell in previous 81 at bats: ZERO…At Home? In their last 17 games at the Trop, the Rays are 611…In the Field? Two more errors. Another unearned run,Chicago Bears Jerseys. In 2011, the Rays allowed 37 unearned runs. This year, they have already given up 32, and there are 101 games to go…JP Howell? Enough already. We are tired of defending this guy. He’s done.? He needs an extended DL vacation to figure out what is wrong. But a guy that throws 85 can’t miss his spots by TWO FEET (more later). DONE. Good bye. THE TELLING: Ben Zobrist is still sore from being hit in the hand with a thrown ball, but xrays were negative…BJ Upton (not wearing stirrups last night) is hitting .319 in his last 23 games…The Rays are now 3526, one game behind the Yankees and tied with the Orioles… THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA… DOWN ON THE FARM… . Jim Paduch lasted just 1.2 innings, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits, including 2 home runs…Alex Torres also gave up 2 runs (1 earned) and allowed 7 hits and a walk in just 2.2 innings…,cheap andre johnson jersey 365djerseys.com J2;1B Henry Wrigley went 13 with an RBI…DH Leslie Anderson was 04. MONTGOMERY,indiana pacers jerseys. no game scheduled . 1B Philip Wunderlich had 3 hits and scored 3 times…CF Mikie Mahtook went 15 and stole his 14th base. . Roberto Gomez allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk in 6.2 innings. He struck out 4 and now has a 2.79 ERA…RF Drew Vettleson was 24 with his 5th home run…1B Cameron Seitzer hit his 1st home run of the year and CF Todd Glaesmann added his 9th…DH Josh Sale went 13 and is hitting .313. Here’s Brian Anderson (probably) reading some prepared notes and mispronouncing a key word. Key moment is at 0:22,cheap ravens jerseys. Oops…

,cheap eagles nike jerseys. Surprise: The top four hitters in the Rays lineup went a combined 012, so it was not a surprise the Rays couldn’,sacramento kings jerseys;t score past the 4th inning. Not a surprise: A member of the middle relief struggle mightily. Casey Fossum faced 4 batters and allowed 3 hits and 2 runs blowing the Rays 32 lead,cheap colts jerseys 365djerseys.com O3. Hell Apparently Froze Over Then Again It Didn’;t: Shawn Camp gave up a base hit to the first batter he faced. But something happened after that base hit. Camp faced 9 more hitters and struck out 7 of them,cheap bills jerseys 365djerseys.com H0. seveCAPITAL N…after the game,Cheap tom brady jersey, we imagine Bud Selig showing up and immediately administering a urine test…Entering last night’;s game, Camp only had 17 strike outs in 26.1 innings. Of course Camp gave up the base hit that allowed the goahead run to score. No surprise there. Camp’;s ability with inherited runners is welldocumented. It might have been the single most dominating performance of Shawn Camp’;s career and yet he still managed to let an inherited runner score to give up a Rays lead. The bitter irony. DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

The hometown paper of Drew Vettleson, (#42 overall) for the Rays. Vettleson, an outfielder, gave some insight into how the Rays handle their top draft picks. [Vettleson and Josh Sale] hung out with the Gulf Coast Rookie League team, and returned home for a few days before heading back to Tampa’s spring training base at Port Charlotte, Fla., for the Instructional League. That’s where they were introduced to the Tampa Way…“With the Rays organization, they take everything slow…they slowly eased [guys] into it so as not try to overwhelm guys real quick…They see something they don’t like,cheap memphis grizzlies jerseys,Reedys Bengals report card Cincinnati.com cincinnati.com, they stop you right away…And you don’t make that mistake again,eagles jerseys,Cleveland Browns Jerseys 365djerseys.com L2. That pushes you to do the right thing.” And Vettleson,cheap dolphins jerseys, who was used as a right fielder during instructional league, was not interested in getting caught up in life away from home. The story talks about how Vettleson was up at 6am everyday and didn’t go out like some guys did nearly every night. This piece even offers some insight into the financial situation of minor leaguers… Vettleson says he wants to be in the big leagues by 2014. It sounds like his first few steps have been in the right direction.

Last month we mentioned that former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder (how nice is it to say those words,Cheap Patrick Willis Jersey 365djerseys.com O2?) Elijah Dukes was the “Sportshuman of the Year” (SHOTY) Tournament. For the second consecutive year, Deadspin is featuring 16 of the most entertaining sports personalities of 2007. In an ironic twist,wholesale joe flacco jersey 365djerseys.com Z1, Barbaro was named the . Elijah Dukes garners a #4 seed based on such accomplishments as with a picture of a gun including a foster child, and was accused in court of using drugs and steroids. Dukes to win his firstround matchup with 61.4% of the votes. Now Dukes is on to the secondround where things will be much tougher,san antonio spurs jerseys. His opponent is #5 seed Gilbert Arenas. SHOTY Elite Eight: Elijah Dukes Vs. Gilbert Arenas () Here is the breakdown… No. 4 Seed: Elijah Dukes the possibilities lent to us by cellular technology. a foster child. a sports radio star. . No. 5 Seed Gilbert Arenas off a trampoline. a joke. you with your love life. to (Deadspin). While we may not have been given our wish that the door hit Dukes in the ass on his way out of the Trop, maybe we can give him a consolation prize. Of course, if you don’t go to Deadspin and vote for Dukes…,cheap ryan kerrigan jersey;he may just threaten your life with a text message. You been warned Dawg,Houston Texans Jerseys. Dukes Up For Award For Being A Mischievous Little Badger [] Your SHOTY Winner: Barbaro [] SHOTY First Round: Elijah Dukes Vs. Jeff Reed [] SHOTY Elite Eight: Elijah Dukes Vs. Gilbert Arenas []

. JK Ryu struck out 7 but allowed 4 runs in 5 innings. . Jonathon Barratt gave up 6 runs (5 earned) in 3 innings,Cheap New York Jets Jerseys. Two of the runs came as a result of bases loaded balks in the second inning,cheap ravens jerseys 365djerseys.com J5. Fernando Perez was 35 with 2 doubles and an RBI. He is hitting .285. Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria were both 14 with 2 strikeouts apiece. . Mike Kamrath struck out 8 in 6.1 innings, allowing 2 runs. Shortstop Aaron Sisk was 14 with a solo home run in the second to start the scoring. Sisk now has 6 home runs in the past 6 games and is hitting ,cheap oklahoma city thunder jerseys.292 with 11 home runs on the season. . Heath Rollins moved to 40 in his last 5 starts and 103 on the season. He struck out 7 and only allowed 1 run on three hits and 1 walk. Cesar Suarez was 24 with a 3run home run, his 8th. He had 6 RBI on the night. Desmond Jennings was 13, scored 3 runs and stole his 40th base of the year,Cheap Kolb Jersey. . . NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM… Ryu signed at age 18 and came to the United States straight out of high school in Korea, not speaking a word of English. One of three Koreans on Major League Baseball openingday rosters,washington wizards jerseys 365djerseys.com E2, his experience was far different than that of Japanese players, who benefit from a welldeveloped major league system and often are heavily recruited by American big league clubs.

. Thank you Mr. Friedman. Thank you. It’s not the ’96 Yankees or the ’02 Angels or the ’06 Tigers. Hell, it is still not even the ’06 Pirates. But for the first time in two years,Wholesale J.J. Watt Jersey 365djerseys.com J1, it is not the Long Island Ducks either. So this is what a major league bullpen looks like? We had heard rumors. Apparently there are teams in this league with bullpens that don’t give up 4 runs every night. Apparently other teams have relief pitchers that don’t allow inherited runners to score on a consistent basis. We had heard rumors and now we get to see it with our own eyes,Rex Ryans move to offense promises more empty talk NJ.com. For the first time in recent memory. Hell, for the first time in our longterm memory, the Devil Rays bullpen dominated a series. The Rays won two of three for the Jays in which the bullpen combined to throw 13.1 innings, allowing 8 hits, 5 walks while striking out 11. But the most important stat was 1. As in 1 run in three games,wholesale brian orakpo jersey. In the first 4 months of the season, most Devil Rays pitchers allowed a run just walking in from the bullpen. Thank you Mr. Friedman. There is still work to be done,cheap anquan boldin jersey, but we can see the difference already and it is more than the bullpen. The players look more confident. They look like they are having fun again. Now if we could get a dependable veteran arm in the rotation next season and maybe, just maybe…nah. nevermind. Baby steps. DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA… [On the acquisition of Dan Wheeler] And the Devil Rays make another spectacular acquisition for their bullpen! Andrew Friedman is quickly moving up the ranks as one of the smartest baseball executives around. Wheeler’s 5,cleveland cavaliers jerseys.07 ERA this season is deceiving: His is a solid 3.56, which is in line (actually, a little better) with his xFIPs the previous two seasons.

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.