Boy, the SP has been awesome so far this year...except for Garza.

Can't even say they've really missed Kaz all that much. Hammel has been terrific.

J, you know the ERA for the starters?

The SP has been so good that it's actually a shame they're only 6-6. And I never thought I'd say that.

according to mlb.com, the starters' ERA is 3.80 (19th in MLB)

crazy thing today - we were held hitless for 8 of the 9 innings

everything was done in the 6th

Good thing Pena is hitting these HRs because he isn't hitting much else right now. Upton finally got on the board with his bomb today. Now it is Barlett's turn to starting hitting. He is hitting like a #9 hitter...in the NL

Maybe Bartlett's hammy will start acting up on him and Brignac will get called up. :crossfingers:

what is the ETA brignac? should we expect him up soon?

this is baseball america's report on brignac:

"Strengths: Brignac's advanced approach to the game makes him a solid contributor in all phases. He improved his plate discipline and bettered his ability to hit offspeed pitches by making adjustments with his setup and load. He uses the entire field and has plus power that really stands out for a shortstop. His speed and defense are solid.

Weaknesses: Brignac reduced his whiffs by shortening his swing with two strikes last year, but he needs to continue to trust his hands and resist a tendency to become pull-happy. Though he has good body control, his range is just adequate at shortstop and he struggles at times with balls hit right at him. He's still growing into his body and making improvements with his footwork and quickness.

The Future: Tampa Bay's trade for Jason Bartlett eliminated any need to push Brignac even more aggressively. Projecting as an offensive-minded shortstop, he'll get a full season at Triple-A before challenging for a big league starting job in 2009."

if the plan was to give brignac a full season in AAA, i wouldn't see any reason for that plan to have changed. bartlett is in TB for his defense and his offensive struggles were to be expected.

Yea I think Reid needs a full year in AAA. I highly doubt we see him this year, even if Bartlett gets hurt. They would just move Elliott Johnson over there.

Will be interesting to see how that all shakes out though.

They going to be keeping Niemann and Ruggiano up, now? These guys are performing when asked to do so (granted limited action thus far)

Or when Kaz, Garza and Floyd are back, they'll be optioned?

imo, when Kaz comes back Sonny or Hammell go to the pen and Dohmann gets DFA'd. When Garza comes back, Niemann goes to AAA as there's no room for him and he could use a little more work there. I guess they could put the one remaining with Sonny/Hammel in the pen, leave Niemann in the rotation and DFA Glover, but that is exceedingly unlikely.

Ruggiano or Haynes (hopefully Haynes) goes down when Floyd comes back.

Sonny's stuff just isn't flat-out good enough to be a SP. Would like to see him in the pen and have Hammel and/or Niemann stay.

Looking forward to watching Eva

Home Run Longoria

Another close, sucky loss. Sure have been a lot of those so far. At least the front office can cut the bull#### with Longoria.

Or just maybe Bartlett and the defensive re-alignment is what's making that SP look so good.

When a team sacrifices a spot in the order as an automatic out due to your "defense", you better not make a habit of committing 2 run errors that can potentially cost your team the game.

Edit: Bartlett owes Riggans a steak.

Man...9 losses...4 by 1 run and 2 by 2 runs.

that's especially frustrating (losing 1 run games) as the bullpen (other than reyes) has actually been pretty respectable as they've been overworked.

hammel cruising along until a bartlett 2-out error. he's not still on minny's payroll is he?

They just showed the replay of Pena running down the line and it looked like he pulled his hamstring. That's not good for the Rays or his Fantasy owners.

That would be an astonishing 11th player on the DL. It's mid-April.


Being a Rays fan really sucks ####.

9 game homestand coming up (including the Disney games)...not a good time to lose Pena.

From Rotoworld...

The St. Petersburg Times reports that the Rays have signed Evan Longoria to a long-term deal.

It only took six games and 20 at-bats. The team is expected to announce the signing at a 1 p.m. press conference. Longoria wasn't eligible for free agency until 2014, and the contract likely takes him through then with a club option. He projects to be one of the league's better third basemen, and the deal should protect the Rays against rapidly inflating salaries come arbitration time. Apr. 18 - 12:11 pm et

WoW! Longoria breaks the bank.

How are the Rays playing this year? Are the fans coming out? Good luck with the Sox coming in. Should be some good baseball...

If he plays like they think he'll play, this contract could end up being a steal for the Rays.

(Also eliminates potential for a 'Super-Two' spike, so in other words Willie Aybar)

it's hard to match the news of locking up the chosen one for the better part of a decade, but the rays signed dan johnson today. this is scary b/c of what i might mean about the severity of pena's injury, but if pena is out for awhile, it seems like a great move. pretty good move even if he's not, i think.

longoria on his new contract:

"First of all, I like being here," Longoria said. "It's an enjoyable place to live and play. Why not be here and be part of the nucleus of the team, the core group of young guys? As a player, you have to look out for what's best for you. For me, the security of a long-term contract and knowing that now I'm pretty much set for life, it's just very assuring to me. The money is one thing, but at the same time, it's what the player wants. What I wanted was to be set and just worry about going out and playing the game and winning."

knightro may have to reconsider that baby name.

I'm Italian so I'll just give the kid 3 middle names

So much for the "they're going cheap with Longoria" shtick

Suuuuuure, they pay the white players. Guys like Delmon Young get screwed.

They pay the good players.

.246/.323/.456 with 11 R, 6 RBI (half in his last game), 1 SB so far this year

Doesn't look like he'll be up anytime soon

I had an interesting conversation at the game last night with someone who works with the Team. They said Stu has a "Plan B" if the stadium deal does not go thru. They had no idea what that meant though.

Would Stu just pay off the $50M he owes on the lease and relocate?

The Rays are locked into the City of St Pete until (about) 2027...could Stu get out of that?

give'em hell sonny!!!!!!!!!!!!

gotta feel great for the kid. i hope he sticks in the rotation. he had great 1st game (except for 1 inning), got screwed by randy marsh in his 2nd, got toasted in his 3rd, and now completely shut down a great offense in his 4th.

That game against the White Sox was a gem. It wasn't one of those games where "he got lucky" that some line drives went right to people...he was in charge from the first pitch to the last. Excellent concentration for a young guy.

He and Kevin Slowey played NECBL summer ball on the team in my hometown. It's cool to see him in the bigs trying to carve out a role for himself. I'm not so sure he sticks in the Rays rotation long-term (Kazmir, Garza, Davis, McGee, Price, Hellickson, etc.) but it's cool to see him having some success right now

Nice sweep to get back to .500...I'll take with all of the early injuries. Big weekend against the Sox. Too bad we don't have our Sox-killer healthy.

Bullpen looks good of late. I wish Aki and CC would stop swinging at every pitch. Pena needs to come back to life. But Longoria starting to swing the bat well. And nice to have Navarro back.

Nevermind!

Kaz to make debut against Sox

that was a great sweep.
pena needs to think about taking a pitch now and again, as well. he's great, but he's going to strike out a ton and that BA could get ugly.
i really like that eric hinske. he's a terrible fielder, but he's a nice gritty hitter to have towards the back of the lineup. i like navarro alot too, but i assume he'll go into a bad slump at some point.

i'm not much on aki. i don't know why, but i don't really like him leading off.

That is for next week's series in Boston though

I was at last night's game - great stuff

Pena is really struggling but he's not swinging at bad pitches. They are pounding him with cutters and backdoor breaking balls. He is swinging over the top of the pitches and hasn't been late on them. He's gone through bouts like this but Toronto really exposed it and brought in tough lefties like Carlson and Downs to make it worse in the later innings.

Aki at leadoff is by default because nobody on the team can do it. Bartlett is struggling just as bad in the 9 hole. I don't want to waste CC at the leadoff spot but it may come to that with Aki hitting second where he might get some hits from hit and run situations CC creates.

Great series, nice rebound from recent struggles.

Sonny and Hammel pitching well - EJax to the bullpen when Kaz comes back? All of a sudden this is a loaded pitching staff.

what a game. 12-11. now we just need to overtake those pesky orioles and A's to go ahead and lock up the wildcard.

Pretty good writeup an outing by on Jake McGee here: link

Wow...last night is really going to help this team continue to gain confidence in itself.

shields. dealin'.

pullin' out the brooms for the world champions.

Wow! Extremely impressive pitching. What a great run -- I don't think it's nuts to say this team could be a legit WC contender this year.

Why not?

i can't think of a good reason.

I refuse to buy into it yet and it's probably because I'm a pessimist, but mostly because I dont have much faith in the pen, that being said, Pena, Aki and Bartlett are all struggling behind the plate right now and outside of Hinske no one is really playing out of his mind, so the offense SHOULD get better. And what about Longoria? That kid can flatout play.

-chris

i don't think a rays fan could ever be faulted for feeling pessimistic, but it seems that, at this point, the bullpen is a reason for optimism. last year this team lost 15 games in which they had the lead heading into the 9th inning and had the worst bullpen in modern history. this might've been a 75 win team last year with a merely adequate bullpen (which i consider this year's to be, at least). i like to think a more mature offense, a better defense, and some young starters maturing could account for some more wins and put the rays right at .500 with an outside shot to win 5-10 more than that and compete for a wildcard.
either way, this is a fun team and it'll be a fun ride. if it ends in disappointment, so be it.