Any involvement in the 2nd half conversation in '08 would be great.

In '09, I expect to be a threat to win it all (Brian Cashman agrees).

Great game by Shields today. It took him, what, 98 pitches to get through a complete game shutout.

you have a quote from him? interested to read that.

yup, he was at 93 pitches to start the 9th

Nothing in print. A business friend ate dinner with him and Girardi during Spring Training. He sat next to and talked to Cashman all night...said he was a brilliant guy of course. BC spoke glowingly about the Rays talent...said that there used to be 1 guy other teams would be seriously interested in (CC)...now there are a bunch. He then said that they would be a legit contender in '09 for the AL East...which I expanded to contending for everything.

Of course that could be a bad thing...our guys are now on the radar of the 500-pound gorilla.

James Shields named AL Player of the Week!

AL POTW

***OFFICIALLY*** one of the teams I prefer to watch on my Extra Innings package.

Anyone just see Upton's shoulder pop? Didn't look good.

He popped his shoulder back in 06 and missed about a week if I recall.

We win again today; that's 8 wins in the last 9 games

Pretty awesome ball they are playing...without Kaz. Very exciting.

Underrated thing, but I'm looking forward to Aybar coming back and Haynes getting the boot. Now that they have Gross, he's somehow even more useless than he was before. I like Aybar's bat off the bench and as a utility guy. Then Floyd comes back for a week before he gets hurt.

Aki
CC
BJ
Pena
Longoria
Floyd before he dies
Hinske
Navarro
Bartlett

With Gomes, Aybar and Gross on the bench. That's a very good lineup and bench.

And with the way they're pitching now and the arms on the horizon...holy crap.

I love hearing 'everyone' calling the Jays as the 2nd best team in the East...as we continue to beat them.

im a big fan of what you guys got goin on over there...

Never really understood the jays love. At the beginning of the year I thought the were the second worst team in the AL east.


I won't mention who I though was the worst.

Rays are **officially** my 3rd favorite team this season. After watching them smack the Yankees in Spring Ball I've been rooting for them to do well this year.

Keep it up!

Nice character shown last night after blowing a 3-run lead in the ninth.

And Pena is alive!

Wow, this team is good.

I got stuck in I-4 traffic last night and didn't even make it into the area until the 7th inning. I was listening to the game on XM the entire drive and then watched the rest in my dad's house in Dunedin. Shields is the man!

I'm taking my mom, stepmom, and the rest of the family to the series finale tomorrow

Anybody see that catch by CC last night?



Man I love that CC/BJ combo in the outfield...

On another note...here's a question for you. I have an opportunity to buy for a steal an authentic signed jersey from 1 of 4 Rays players. I collect memorabilia, so definitely getting one.

The players are CC, Upton, Aki, and Longoria. CC seems like the obvious choice, but I personally love Upton and his potential, and of course Longoria may have the most upside of them all.

Which jersey would you buy?

I would want a CC jersey because he has a great chance of being a 3000 hit player and could be a hall of famer unless he becomes this generation's Tim Raines.

BTW, another shutout tonight of a first place team - that is now 8 straight home wins for the Rays if you count the series at Disney.

Another sweep...10 straight wins at home.

I like this lineup alot with Floyd back. CC is hot, Aki is heating up, and BJ is grooving his stroke.

Big series next four days vs the Empire!! I'm surprised to hear about the small crowds they are expecting...I guess the band-waggoning Yankee fans have decided to wait until they are not behind the Rays in the standins to show.

<--- believer

This rotation is sick with Kaz and Shields at the top. Garza should be fine, but you still never know what you'll get each night with Sonny and EJax. But they've been better than not.

Howell has been awesome out of the pen - unsung hero so far.

With Floyd that lineup is pretty potent. #### finishing .500 I want the playoffs.

Howell has been a lifesaver in games where the starter hasn't gone 6. What a fun game to be at today - if you watch the highlights of CC's homer, look for the goofball at the top of the stands in blue jumping around when the ball lands - it's me

what do you guys pay for tickets? im thinking of going to a game on vacation someday...

It's a good time to be a baseball fan in Florida. The Marlins have the best record in baseball and The Rays are 5 games above .500 for the first time in club history.

Never pay face value. Go on stubhub or look on ebay for tickets. Upper deck is $9 but I always find a good deal online or from someone outside. I had 12 free tickets yesterday from some vouchers they gave out during the Orlando series.

Nothing sells out any longer until the Cubs come to town for the interleague - I fully expect those games to sell out.

Another great SP performance

When you consider they got both Garza and Bartlett's glove, that Delmon trade is looking great.

Yea, how many HRs has Delmon hit this year?

Go Rays! My grandpa is a very pround Rays fan and I will be attending a game there sometime in late July.

Last I checked he has as many as me, with only a slightly higher OBP.

Tough one tonight with Wang going as he's brutal on them - if they take this one though they should get at least 3 out of 4 against these jokers.

playing some great ball...

Awesome win tonight against their nemesis.

Was going to change the thread sub-title to signify first in the East, but that's bad luck at this point.


Oh, and we get Shields and Kaz the next two nights.

:dancingbanana:

What is the story on Maddon?

I know very little about him.

I've seen him interviewed a couple of times, and other than his Buddy Holly glasses I didn't get a sense of his personality.

When you think of Torre, Leyland, Cox, LaRussa, Piniella, and Baker, you get a visual of what they are like.

How much does he have to do with the Rays recent success? A lot, or is just the emergence of all these gifted young players?

print this and frame it

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb73/mo...j/standings.jpg

i don't know much either. he was a mike scosia assistant in anaheim of los angeles of orange county of california. the buddy holly glasses rock.
i don't know how much is him, but this is just a talented team that plays the game the right way.

i thought i saw a memo saying the yankees were entitled to the playoffs and you can't score on mariano rivera? i guess the rays missed it.

The Rays have signed Kazmir to a 4 year deal with an option worth 28 million and could be 39.5 million if the option is exercised. All that is left to lock up to a longterm deal is Upton now as every other key component is signed through the next 3 years.

Hey - guess who has the best record in the entire American League now?

Best record in the league and all their studs (sans CC...for now) signed for at least 5 years and often longer.


Awesome times.

Great news on Kaz, but I am concerned about BJ longterm. I "know" that he wants to play with his brother...and I could see him gettng a huge payday from a larger market in the future.

What do you guys think about the plans for financing the stadium released today? Came across very well in the news...with the focus being that taxes for residents would NOT be raised.

Maybe there is a chance of this thing getting thru afterall?

I'll admit to not being that educated on the issue. Just too busy to deal with it. I assume they'll get it, unless the signs in yards ratio is legit. It's at least 15 signs to 1 in favor of no in front of houses.

18 hits in a Loss hurts...but I'm glad Maddon isn't changing his aggressive gameplan with the Rays success.

Boy, Brignac is struggling big time down there in Durham.

Knightro -- is he still a trade commodity? Are people still up on him if the Rays look to move him? I see no room for him with the difference Bartlett has made at short -- no way does Reid have that range and I don't think the Rays are going to move him to RF or anything. And they're not going to go back to mediocre defensive SS play after seeing what a difference this guy has made.

Plus, they may draft Beckham for 3-4 years down the road.

Just wondering what Brignac could fetch.

He is still a commodity but his current performance isn't helping things. We're looking at a full year of struggling production from him where his productions aren't meeting expectations. Bartlett has this year and next year on his deal and there isn't much else behind Brignac which is why the top choice will be either Posey to address catching needs or Beckham to address the shortstop depth.

I really don't think there is an imminent need for SS in the system. They have Bartlett for the next year and a half, and he should be rather easy to re-sign if they choose to. If he goes down, Zobrist isn't the worst replacement in the world either.

I hope they do take Beckham though. Looks like a stud, and with the way Navy is playing, C isn't a problem.

Despite the loss, you can't help but feel good about the way Edwin is pitching. He finally looks like that projected #1 that the Dodgers gave up on.

Put him with the big-2 and hopefully Garza finds his touch...and wow. Along with Sonny and the arms in the minors, it's just ridiculous how much pitching they have.

Also, it was cool that they wore their spring jerseys today. They look great.

I agree. The only issue with those is the transfer on the back name & number, instead of the usual tackle-twill. It makes them seem a little cheaper, even though they are more expensive than replicas.

I thought it was a mistake not to have an Alt jersey this year (and have the same font on the front of both home and away jerseys)...but look for one next year in either Navy or Carolina Blue...or both!

Great win last night - what a tough ### road trip. Hope they can get one more there.

Kazmir needs to throw a lot of strikes tonight. The A's chase nothing.

that was just a gutsy 13 innings of baseball. it takes some testicular fortitude to pull out the win when your starter gives back the lead 3 times. tough night for shields, but a great win.