Buster Olney wrote an article this morning naming the five best rotations in baseball.  While the Rays weren’t in the top 5, they were around 9th depending on how you interpret his Others in the conversation list.
The first two choices, the Sox and the Yanks are hard to argue with.  The Sox took a rotation that already had Josh Beckett, Jon Lester (my favorite pitcher in the AL), Dice K, Clay Bucholz and Tim Wakefield and added John Lackey.  Barring injury, the deepest group 1-6.  Another rotation that had a great 2009, only got stronger in 2010 as well in [...]

There has been a feeling in Tampa for a few seasons, that CF BJ Upton had no real interest in signing with the Rays long term.  Upton, before playing in the Second Annual BJ Upton Celebrity Golf Classic, might have dispelled those rumors a little bit.
“You know what, I’m definitely all for that,” said Upton prior to tee-off time for the Second Annual B.J. Upton Celebrity Golf Classic Monday at Tampa’s Hunter’s Green Country Club. “I love the city of Tampa and I’d love to be here for an extensive period of time. So if that’s something they want to [...]

With a 694 and 923 record during the 00’s or the aughts or the 2000’s or whatever the hell you want to call this decade, one would think it would be pretty hard to put together an all decade team.   For a team that had some faces that stuck around through most of the lean years, and some true studs that are helping us into the future (including our run to the Series) there were easily enough spaces to fill out a mini roster.   I can’t lie, there were a few positions like CL and C that were [...]

Bill Chastain of MLB.com answered some questions about the Rays that were placed on the teams website yesterday.  With the Hot Stove cooling down to a more reasonable temperature, at least in regards to the Rays, there isn’t much to report to you guys.  Some of these are solid questions that any fan might have, so I’ll provide you with the link and a quick blurb.

What do you think about the acquisition of Rafael Soriano? Is he the answer for improving the bullpen?
– John S., Tampa

Who knows if Soriano is the answer, but you’ve got to say he’s a good [...]

I didn’t see this until I got back from out of town this weekend, and caught up on some Rays reading, but Akinori Iwamura apparently took a full page ad out in the St Petersburg Times thanking the Rays fans.  A really nice gesture from a guy who will be missed in the Bay Area.

For the next 50 days, or just about till the end of the full baseball season (obviously including playoffs) I will be putting up a review of every player on the 25 man roster, or who spent time on the 25 man roster at some point during the year. It has been a disappointing season for Rays fans all over the country, and this piece will attempt to figure out which players helped lead us to this disappointing finish and which ones tried to help us break out of it.
Carl Crawford – A

G
PA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
SB
CS
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS

63
278
259
23
67
11
6
2
30
9
5
9
41
.259
.290
.371
.661

151
661
630
80
177
18
9
5
54
55
10
26
102
.281
.309
.362
.671

152
672
626
104
185
26
19
11
55
59
15
35
81
.296
.331
.450
.781

156
687
644
101
194
33
15
15
81
46
8
27
84
.301
.331
.469
.800

151
652
600
89
183
20
16
18
77
58
9
37
85
.305
.348
.482
.830

143
624
584
93
184
37
9
11
80
50
10
32
112
.315
.355
.466
.820

109
480
443
69
121
12
10
8
57
25
7
30
60
.273
.319
.400
.718

154
664
598
95
183
27
8
15
68
60
16
51
96
.306
.366
.453
.819

1079
4718
4384
654
1294
184
92
85
502
362
80
247
661
.295
.335
.437
.772

162
708
658
98
194
28
14
13
75
54
12
37
99
.295
.335
.437
.772

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 10/2/2009.

Crawford [...]

With one feel for the wall and jump, a defensive wizardry in left that Rays fans have become accustomed to, Carl Crawford might have finally made himself visible to the rest of baseball.  Even though we went to the World Series last year, and even though if you watch any games, I don’t know how you could honestly have voted for any other LF to win the Gold Glove, Carl Crawford has yet to win a Gold Glove.
It’s something that I know the Rays take personally, their lack of Gold Gloves.  They were upset last year when they had the [...]

MVP – Ben Zobrist
I even had a little issue typing that out myself,  and I know a lot of people will probably laugh when they see that, but when comparing the stats of all the hitters on the Rays, it is clear to me that Zobrist is the MVP of this years team.
AVG – .288, HR – 17, RBI – 50, OBP – .407, SLG – .602, OPS – 1.009
Slugging – 2nd in the AL
OBP – 3rd in the AL
OPS – 2nd in the AL
As I have mentioned before, there were some stats last year that indicated that maybe Zobrist [...]

Editors Note – This piece was put together entirely by my great friend and ex season ticket partner (ex to the Rays, still have season tix with him to the Bucs) Daniel Edwards.
As I pondered which Rays would be in St. Louis on July 14, I decided to make my own projections according to the actual selection rules. I must admit, this proved to be more difficult than I originally anticipated. I now have a much greater appreciation for each Manger’s responsibility to fill the roster. Having only 7 selections to fulfill an obligation to ensure each team is represented [...]

What do you think of those moves?
A good friend of mine, David Diaz, a retired bass guitarist, emails me from time to time asking certain questions about the Rays and Bucs. I will start responding to them here on Rayhawk as mini-posts.
These questions were in repsonse to the demotion of Andy Sonnanstine as opposed to David Price, and the demotion of Winston Abreu.
Q:
Seems like Price, even though he already has better stuff than Sonny, could have benefited from a little more seasoning at AAA; learn that 3rd pitch and control his workload
Sonny, even though he [...]