2 straight losses and Jonny Gomes has played in both of them. Coincidence?

Please trade for a real RH hitter that can play defense so we can get this wrestler off our team and let him start his career in the WWE already.

I still say the Rays need one more legitamite hitter to make the playoffs.

Rays Nation wholeheartedly agrees with you. It needs to a an RF that hits right-handed.

Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, or Matt Holliday - come on down!

bay would be nice, but i have a feeling he'll cost too much. the pirates have been talking forever about dealing him, but i assume they haven't b/c they want more than teams are willing to offer.

based on assumed cost, i'd rather have nady over bay.

i'd also be happy with someone who'd just platoon with hinske and gross. someone like ryan spilbroghs or cody ross.

it seems like bringing the bigger name rarely works out and there are alot of teams that'd like to have a good righty bat, so the really good ones won't be cheap. also, i'd like to see hinske and gross continue to get regular ABs.

Nady would make perfect sense and shouldnt cost too much.

actually, spilborghs just hit the DL with a strained oblique. those can take awhile, but if he could be back around aug. 1, i think he'd be a great add. he's some pop, a bit of speed and can hit for some average. he would also be dirt cheap, as he's way past the "upside" stage. he seems similar, to me, to the other rays additions, only right handed.

Nady is the guy I want because he mashes lefties. Nobody in the Rays lineup hits them well in the middle of the lineup. Longoria can't, Pena can't. Navarro is the best option right now, as sad as that is.

Really enjoy watching this Rays team...

Glad the Yanks were able to grab one last night b/c I fear you guys are going to crush Ponson today...

Me too but hopefully we can mash Jackson.

Love the O10.5 in that one...

Ponson v Jackson is only 10.5?

Take the WTFO on that one.

Positive vig also:

of course, we could make all this trade stuff moot.
there is an option that would allow the rays to not bother with trading away any prospects.

a man with a lifetime .444 OBP. a lifetime .607 SLG. that 1.051 liftetime OPS probably a fluke, he's only had 10,000 lifetime ABs.
nah..the rays surely couldn't use someone getting on-base nearly every other time he steps to the plate or slugging .600.
he is left-handed, but last i checked, he never pissed himself looking at any LHP. plenty of his 762 homeruns came off of lefties.

i know all the reasons not to, but all those reasons are complete horse####.

You guys want to ruin every bit of "Hey..good for the little guy!" vibe you've got going on with the public, then Bonds' old ### is a GREAT option. Nothing like bringing the circus to town to distract a bunch of inexperienced kids.

Wait a minute.....the sports world has been ramming the Rays down my throat for the past few weeks and all I keep hearing is that one of the main parts of their success is due to their clubhouse chemistry..why would they bring in a guy like that?

They wouldn't bring Bonds in. I don't know why pollard keeps bringing it up.

the whole "hey good for the little guy" vibe is cute, but i'd prefer the rays send the message that says, "we're here to win #######it!!"
at some point, being the "loveable little guy" doesn't cut it. not saying that time is now, but that vibe doesn't last forever.
big boy clubs take the shot at winning the whole damned thing when the shot's there. i like to think of the rays as an emerging big boy club as opposed to a loveable little guy.
the best part about a bonds move is that they can take the shot this year and don't have to give up any of the future to do it.

if the the players can't handle, then they just aren't ready to play for a big boy club. maybe the red sox should get rid of that whole manny distraction, i'm sure the clubhouse would be better without him.
big boy clubs can handle a little distraction if the production's there.
if they asked all the rays players if they'd like to have bonds if he would get on base at .400+ clip, hit 15 HRs from here on out, and could be what the offense sorely needs to contend, what do you think they'd say?

if the fans can't handle it, then they aren't ready for a big boy club either.

i'm not saying that they would, only that they should.

last time i brought it up was pre-season. way back when the notion of the rays playing .500 ball still seemed a bit crazy.

i bring it up now b/c the rays have a real shot at winning the division and a big hurdle in that quest will likely be an inability to produce runs when facing a lefty.
to solve this problem, trading some prospects for a decent right-handed bat is okay.
trading nothing for the greatest bat of our generation sounds like a much better option to me.

maybe signing bonds made little sense in the preseason (to everyone but me), but if the fans were to revolt over signing bonds now, then that would be silly.

then trade some of that farm talent to bring back Bobby Abreu....(if the Yanks are out of it).

Isn't Abreu at 17M next year too? If so, the Yanks would have to give the Rays prospects to take on that dreg.

Almost positive his contract option was for 08 only

Not sure how he would help though, as he is a lefty hitter who slugs 140 points lower vs LHP

Whats with you? 2nd contract you got wrong in 2 days.

Yeah Cappy, how dare you not know the contract status of every player in Major League Baseball

No more LH batters for the Rays. They have to GD many already. That's why just about every lefty had owned them this year.

Nady, Bay, Holliday, or Nelson Cruz (AAA Rangers) are the only guys I want here.

just not myself anymore.

Apparently both teams have been brainwashed by the Kabala

Either that or they were all out banging strippers last night because the hitters look like crap against 2 guys that struggle to throw strikes.

Weird game.


Edwin Jackson has a 3.93 ERA in July

Surely you're smart enough to not be making this comparison with a straight face....

obviously, i'm not saying their situations are the exact same, but the point is the same.
the red sox don't get worked up when manny punches a ticket jockey b/c they need his production. the fans are okay with it to. good teams can handle a head case here and there and keep on rolling.

there's going to come a point in which the rays find it more important to win than to keep a squeaky public image. that's just what teams, like the yankees and red sox, that plan on contending every year do. a winning organization doesn't need to go over the top sucking up to the public. the yankees didn't cut giambi when his steroid issues came about. the patriots do pretty well bringing guys who were previously thought of as "bad guys". the cowboys seem to be able to handle the TO circus okay and they'll be fine with pacman.

aside from any MLB collusion that may be going on, do you think that if the yankees or red sox needed bonds that they would shy away from bringing him in? neither needs much offensive help right now and the sox have ortiz and the yankees about 539 guys who are better off DHing, but they'd certainly get him if he were the difference b/w making or missing the playoffs.
that's not the case for them, but it very well could be for the rays.
given the state of the team, i see no reason to diminish future prospects to win this year. with bonds hanging around, they don't have to. they don't have to give prospects and they wouldn't be bringing in someone that'll too expensive to keep around.

under different circumstances, i could see bonds being bad for the rays, but we're talking about a bonds that's being shut out of MLB right now. they could bring him in and it would be on their terms, similar to TO's situation going to the cowboys. this would literally be bonds' last shot at baseball and a championship. they wouldn't have to pay him much. they wouldn't have to give him a cushy locker or any other amenities that would set him apart from the rest of the guys. there would added media attention for the guys have to deal with, but there's also added attention that just comes along with winning. especially if they are in the thick of things in september.
again, if they are ready for big boy baseball, they can handle it.

if the rays feel like a better power bat to deal with LHPing is needed to win the division then bonds is the best baseball move out there (he's never had an OPS less than .960 against lefties).
when organizations make a habit of making smart baseball moves in an attempt to win, fans generally find a way to get behind it. just ask all the yankee fans that are sporting fake mustaches these days.

Ugly 2-game set, but I'm not surprised. They never play well there. Hopefully they can beat up on Cleveland.

bump

5 runs in our last 31 innings

Inexcusable when that includes time against Gil Meche and Sidney Ponson

The team needs to make a trade for another run producer in the middle of the lineup desperately.

Are the Yankees the only team in the East with a winning record vs TB?

Tampa Bay Rays 55 35
New York Yankees 49 42


bump


Yea they probably need another bat, but losing 2 in NY is no big deal.

3-0 in his starts so far. (I know the other shoe will fall off soon but let me gloat for now)

You may have lost a step, but in your defense, it's a step that not too many others ever had in the first place

Really not commenting on the Yankees here. TB is the better team right now. Just saying they need a bat badly.

This race just got a LOT more interesting with Boston thrashing the Twins 18-5 en route to a sweep. Cuts Ray's lead to 2 games with an unfavorable schedule in the second half.

I still think, short of a collapse by either, TB and BOS make the playoffs... will be interesting to see who gets the division and who gets the card.

Ponson?

Mussina shut you guys out. #### happens.

Good thing we spotted them 8.5 . That will at least make it interesting when we're nipping their heels in late August.

Winning creates chemistry

I hear that there's this guy who's willing to play for the minimum (and he'll even donate that to orphans, orphans with diseases) who might be able to hit a little.

I understand theyre probably the 3rd best team in that division but to just completely ignore the Yankees is foolhardy, dont you think?

Mussina >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ponson

So is Jackson motivated by the Price hubbub?

look for me behind the Indians dugout tonight...

will be holding the "CAPELLA LIKES UNDERAGE BOYS" sign































j/k

You should wear some kind of hat so that we can identify you. Perhaps a bright colored cap that you change every inning to a different color.