The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays - Page 14

Art Deco · 09-20-2022, 08:50 PM

Let's go...

We acquired Juan Soto as a 1-year rental last winter for one express purpose: to win a World Series. Soto had an MVP-caliber season leading us to 102 wins, helped get us to the World Series, and now he's got us 3 wins away after a great performance in Game 1 tonight at the Trop. Soto drilled a 2-run homer in the 1st to give the Rays a 3-1 lead which they wouldn't relinquish, and added an RBI single in the 5th to provide a little breathing room. It was a good thing as rookie John Swanda apparently had a case of the nerves getting the ball for Game 1 of the World Series as he walked the first three Phillies he faced. He settled down after that, giving up only one run on a fielder's choice before fanning the next two and ended up allowing only one hit in 5 innings (albeit with 6 walks in total). He put the first two on in the 6th with the score 4-1 but Christopher Gau induced a double play and ended the Phillies' last best chance tonight. Unfortunately though while we got Randy Arozarena back from injury tonight, we lost two more players. Alex Bregman, who's had a rough postseason but came through with an RBI double to tie the game ahead of Soto's homer, was hit by a pitch his next time up and suffered a fractured thumb, ending his season and most likely his Rays career. And then in the 9th rookie reliever Colby White tore his triceps and is also done for the season. Drew Rasmussen will get the start tomorrow as we hope to go to Philadelphia up 2-0.

Art Deco · 09-20-2022, 09:15 PM

Probably gonna be a long series...

Before I get into the recap, we made two moves which will be a sort of a 2025 preview. To replace Alex Bregman at 3B we called up his heir apparent, Casey Schmitt, to take over the position. Schmitt's hit 53 HR and accumulated 9.8 WAR the last two seasons at Durham and is more than qualified for the call. The other move to replace Colby White was to activate veteran starter Carlos Rodon, whom you may recall we signed to a 2-year deal early this season as he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Rodon came back sooner than expected and pitched for Durham late in the season and in their playoffs, and will give us a long relief arm in advance of a likely spot in our 2025 rotation.

Well as you saw from the box above the Phillies have evened the series with a 7-2 win behind a former Ray in Jake Odorizzi. Drew Rasmussen, after a quick first, just didn't have it tonight and although they got within 4-2 on Casey Schmitt's first MLB hit as he became the rare player to make his big-league debut in the postseason (like his teammate Shane McClanahan in 2020), that would be as close as they'd get. Carlos Rodon also made his Rays debut and looked pretty good outside of a solo homer he allowed. So now McClanahan will try to get the Rays back in front at Citizens Bank Park in two days.

Art Deco · 09-20-2022, 09:47 PM

What a game, what a win...

It was a tight, tense affair throughout but the Rays prevailed thanks to Curtis Mead and Randy Arozarena 3-2 in 11 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series. Mead's homer in the 11th, his 4th hit of the night, on a 3-1 Kevin Abel pitch was the winner, and Arozarena, who hit a clutch 8th-inning homer to tie it, was the hero in the bottom of the 11th when he threw out Ethan Wilson attempting to go from first to third on a single, short-circuiting a Philly rally. The Rays twice had men thrown out at the plate, including one on a Mead single with two out in the 8th that could have put them ahead in regulation. Shane McClanahan wasn't his sharpest but was still pretty good and once again the bullpen was brilliant with 6 more shutout innings including 1 1/3 more from Sandy Gaston (who also made his MLB debut in the postseason) to give him 11 2/3 scoreless over 7 playoff appearances with a 2/11 BB/K ratio. Josh Taylor also turned in a pair of scoreless innings in the 9th and 10th and picked up the win; he has an amazing 9.2 1 0 0 0 11 combined line this postseason, not allowing a hit until tonight. We'll try to take a commanding 3-1 lead tomorrow with Luis Patino on the hill - he's coming off a decent start (6 IP, 3 ER) in the ALCS after a rough one in the ALDS.

Art Deco · 09-20-2022, 10:14 PM

As I was saying, it's gonna be a long series...

The Rays couldn't get the pitching tonight and lost a pair of leads and the game 7-3 to the Phillies as the World Series is now knotted at 2. Curtis Mead homered again to make it 1-0, and then Ozzie Albies delivered an RBI single to put the Rays up 3-2 in the 5th but Luis Patino immediately surrendered a 2-run homer to Keston Hiura in the bottom of the inning and it snowballed from there. Carlos Rodon was taken deep by JT Realmuto once again, and JP Feyereisen really let it get out of hand in the 7th. And the news got even worse for Rodon: right after coming back from a UCL tear he tore it again tonight on his final pitch which saw him record his 6th strikeout in 2 innings. He'll miss 10 months this time so at best we get him back for September next year. John Swanda will get the call as we'll hope for a repeat of Game 1 tomorrow night and now we know we'll be heading back to the Trop to play some baseball. The Rays' M.O. this postseason has been putting themselves in a position where they need to win the last two, and that's where they'll be if they don't win Game 5.

Art Deco · 09-21-2022, 08:48 AM

Advantage Rays...

The Rays, especially Lorenzo Cain (5 hits) and Randy Arozarena (4), had their hitting shoes on tonight as they routed the Phillies 11-2 on 19 hits to move within one game of a world championship heading back to St. Petersburg. Philly actually led 1-0 after 2 as John Swanda's first-inning jitters continued with wild-pitching in a run but Mr. October struck again as Arozarena drilled a 3rd-inning leadoff homer to tie it up and the Rays unloaded from there. By the time the dust settled Cain had tied an AL record for hits in a playoff game, Curtis Mead (bidding for World Series MVP) homered yet again and doubled, and Arozarena had 3 more safeties. Swanda settled in and dominated, and now Drew Rasmussen will try to improve on his abysmal Game 2 outing and bring home the Rays' first ever championship.

Art Deco · 09-21-2022, 09:17 AM

CHAMPIONS!!

They did it! In their 27th season of existence (only 23 years after expansion mate Arizona) the Rays are World Champions! It turned out to be a surprisingly easy finale for Tampa Bay as they put 5 on the board in the 2nd and Drew Rasmussen pitched one of the best games of his career to propel them to another comfortable win. Zach DeLoach had the big hit, a 2-run double to put them on top and they kept hitting after that. The cherry on top was a 2-run Curtis Mead homer, and the second-year man unsurprisingly was named Series MVP for his 4-homer performance. The Phillies did get likely NL MVP Bryce Harper back for this game but it didn't matter as Rasmussen was sharp in a complete 180 from his Game 2 start. Now the only question is where to hold the celebrations: a boat parade in Tampa like the Bucs and Lightning or a parade down Central Avenue in St. Pete? For now, there was celebration enough on the field:

Art Deco · 09-21-2022, 10:45 PM

Current state of the team:

As we hit the offseason, it seems that 2025 will be a transition year of sorts as the team we built to win a World Series accomplished its mission and now there will be some key departures. Specifically we'll lose about 13 WAR between Juan Soto and Alex Bregman, both of whom are free agents. Other free agents we'll say goodbye to include Lorenzo Cain, who patrolled CF for us the last couple months and had a good postseason, and bullpen mainstays Jeffrey Springs and Andrew Kittredge. We also bid adieu to Ryan Pressly, who pitched in 5 games for us before getting hurt and ending his season. Finally, Austin Meadows is out the door too after a miserable return to the team following a couple of hot weeks after his re-acquisition. I'm also non-tendering a couple of mid-season veteran waiver pickups who were unimpressive with us in Lou Trivino and Caleb Ferguson.

Stu Sternberg has given me a payroll of $130M which will be more than enough to keep the remaining squad intact, which will total about $93M and that's assuming I decide to pay a combined $17M to the back end of the bullpen in Pete Fairbanks and Josh Taylor, who were both very good last year.

A position-by-position look at where things stand:

C-The Christian Vazquez/Rene Pinto combo is back, and that's fine. Vazquez had another Gold Glove-caliber season even if he isn't much of a hitter (although he came up big in the playoffs) and Pinto is a capable backup, both offensively and defensively.

1B-Curtis Mead had a monster postseason and although he's a little light in the power department for the position he's a fine all-around hitter and has a good glove at the position.

2B-Ozzie Albies certainly was an upgrade at the position even if his defense was kinda awful (-7.7 ZR) and he's back.

SS-Wander Franco. The franchise cornerstone had a decent season last year but is capable of better with the bat, and his glove is below average.

3B-This is a transition spot with Casey Schmitt, who averaged 5 WAR the last two years at Durham, taking over for Bregman. We got a taste of Schmitt at the position in the World Series when Bregman broke his thumb and he was alright (we did win the Series after all).

LF/RF: I'm lumping the corners together since Randy Arozarena can play either one with Gold Glove-caliber defense; which one he mans will depend on who wins the the other corner job. Joshua Mears has hit 58 HR and earned 8.2 WAR at Durham the last two seasons and deserves a shot; his best position is RF. Zach DeLoach was decent off the bench for us and eventually took over LF against righties from Meadows and Andrew Vaughn and could force his way into a platoon with the righty-hitting Mears.

CF: This is a problem position, which is why we traded for Cain at the deadline. Josh Lowe was excellent (3.6 WAR) in 2024 but tailed off badly last year to the point he was sent back to Durham, and while he raked there he didn't carry that over back up here in his September callup. Also his defense at the position is average at best; we can live with it if he hits 251/315/453 like 2024 but not 196/272/373 like last year. Arozarena can play the position if I want to go with DeLoach/Vaughn in left and Mears in right but he'd be about Lowe-level defensively if I stuck him there and I'd lose his Gold Glove D in the corners. A position for upgrade.

DH: This was where Juan Soto spent most of his time and he simply isn't going to be replaced. Vaughn has the inside track but I was kind of hoping for more than the 17 and 16 HRs he's hit the last two years. With Soto gone we don't really have a guy I can count on for 30+ homers, although Mears has that potential. All through the lineup we have guys who are "good" but not necessarily "great" with Bregman and Soto gone. So if a true impact bat becomes available I may very well make a move.

Bench: In addition to Pinto, Jeremiah Jackson served as the backup infielder last year and was OK with occasional pop and a decent glove. I once envisioned him as the starting 2B before we acquired Albies but I don't see him as a starter any more. OF backups could be DeLoach, Lowe or Heliot Ramos (remember him?).

Rotation: 4/5 of the rotation returns with McClanahan, Swanda, Patino and Rasmussen all back (Shane Baz tore his UCL and will miss 2025). They were pretty inconsistent throughout the year but we did win 102 games and the World Series with them, although one could say that was because of the league's best offense and a great bullpen - perhaps they could be exposed more with a less potent offense next year. Taj Bradley is the front-runner for the 5th spot and there is some depth with Ian Seymour and JP Sears, who had their brief stints with the team, and JJ Goss, who didn't. And we ended up wasting $6.6M on two years of Carlos Rodon which netted us 2 long relief appearances in the World Series sandwiched between a pair of torn UCLs, although he could return late in the year.

Bullpen: As mentioned, the key end-game guys are back in righty Fairbanks and lefty Taylor, they're just going to be a bit pricey but we can afford them. Setup guys JP Feyereisen and Tanner Scott are back too, as are 2-WAR multi-inning marvels Chris Gau and Forrest Whitley. The departures of Springs and Kittredge open a couple of spots and one of those will go to Sandy Gaston, who was brilliant in his first MLB action in the postseason and fanned 136 in 86 IP at Durham. If I want a third lefty to go with Taylor and Scott, Jovani Moran was very good at Durham (94 whiffs in 53 IP) although he's been inconsistent at the big-league level.

I'm not averse to adding an impact starter or reliever though, especially a starter as the rotation seems a lot like the offense: good but not great.

Speaking of JP Sears:

His 50 stuff/45 movement/60 control profile might be a good fit on a better defensive team; I'm not sure how much he'd succeed with us and some rough outings early in the year confirmed that (although he did have a nice start on the season's final day for us).

Art Deco · 09-22-2022, 11:22 AM

Like the Oscars, we have our In Memoriam section except for players who are retiring rather than dying:

New York Mets: SP Max Scherzer retired from professional baseball.
Arizona Diamondbacks: SP Madison Bumgarner retired from professional baseball.
Toronto Blue Jays: RF Jason Heyward retired from professional baseball.
Washington Nationals: SP Stephen Strasburg retired from professional baseball.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 1B José Abreu retired from professional baseball.
1B Joey Votto retired from professional baseball.
SS Elvis Andrus retired from professional baseball.
SP Dallas Keuchel retired from professional baseball.
SS Starlin Castro retired from professional baseball.
SS Brandon Crawford retired from professional baseball.
LF Khris Davis retired from professional baseball.
SS Andrelton Simmons retired from professional baseball.

Former Rays hanging it up:

Seattle Mariners: 2B Derek Dietrich retired from professional baseball.
RP Sergio Romo retired from professional baseball.
C Robinson Chirinos retired from professional baseball.
CL Alex Colomé retired from professional baseball.
Minnesota Twins: 2B Daniel Robertson (AAA St. Paul) retired from professional baseball.
2B Joey Wendle retired from professional baseball.

Surprised the Reds aren't retiring Votto's number.

Awards season:

Gold Gloves: As expected our catcher Christian Vazquez won the AL award at his position.

Reliever of the Year: AL winner was KC's Abner Uribe, 6-0, 8 saves, 1.48 ERA while the NL nod went for the second straight year to the Cardinals' Kevin Ginkel, 41 saves, 1.61 ERA, 91 K in 61 IP, 2.9 WAR.

Silver Sluggers: We took two: Ozzie Albies (2B) and Juan Soto (DH).

Rookie of the Year: In the AL White Sox 2B Jose Rodriguez (.287-18-59) took 29 of 30 first-place votes with our John Swanda finishing second with one first-place vote (guess whose?). The NL winner was Jordan Walker of St. Louis, a unanimous choice after an impressive .247-43-113 season.

Cy Young: No surprise in the AL as it went to Jacob deGrom of the Yankees (15-8, 2.04) while in the NL Corbin Burnes copped his second in four years after going 14-8, 3.09. deGrom was unanimous and Burnes took 29 first-place votes with one going to Miami's Sandy Alcantara.

MVP:

Congrats to our (soon-to-be-former Ray) Juan Soto, who had the contract year of contract years, winning the MVP and the World Series. Alex Bregman finished 8th in the voting. Jacob deGrom, who finished 10th, picked up the other 3 first-place votes not shown above.

In the NL it unanimously went to Philly's Bryce Harper, his 2nd MVP in 4 seasons, after a .316-50-111, 9.4 WAR season the best of his illustrious career.

Our first business of the offseason:

So Ryan Pressly's Rays career won't be limited to 5 games after all. I had assumed he'd want too much money given he had been paid 8-figure salaries the last few years, but for the heck of it I clicked on "offer contract extension" and he was only asking for a 1/4 deal and ended up taking 3.5. There's a little risk here considering his age and the fact he missed 4 months with shoulder inflammation, but given the money and term it won't be much.

Arbitration: We won our hearings with Josh Lowe and Shane Baz, but lost them with Randy Arozarena and Luis Patino, so that adds about $1.5M to our wage bill between them. Juan Soto and Alex Bregman declined the qualifying offers as expected and we'll recoup a couple of sandwich picks when they sign elsewhere.

November 25: A couple of interesting trades with Minnesota sending OF Jake Cave to the Blue Jays for 2B Cavan Biggio, and the Red Sox sent former Rays rental Josh Bell to the Angels for a prospect.

The veteran international free agent class is pretty poor this year; sometimes you can get a decent bargain there but not this time.

Blockbuster trade incoming!

I said I wanted to add an impact bat to the lineup, and boy oh boy did we add one. You probably don't need any introduction to Kyle Tucker, but he's a perennial .300-30 HR guy who plays excellent defense in RF and has earned 6.8 and 6.7 WAR each of the last two seasons. The catch of course is that like Juan Soto last year, Tucker is a one-year rental. The cost was a bit steep, primarily in terms of Jimenez who is ranked the #21 prospect in baseball and was our July 2 signing in 2023. If he pans out he could be a top-tier 3B, but of course that's if he pans out. Colmenarez is no slouch either, a potential Gold Glove SS who has some ability with the bat. And to save salary Houston took Carlos Rodon off our hands, who we were going to pay $3.3M to maybe pitch in September before becoming a free agent. Combined with the fact Houston is also taking on 80% of Tucker's salary it's basically going to cost us nothing money-wise. And we'll recoup a prospect when Tucker goes free agent next winter and we get a sandwich pick in the 2026 draft. Also, the fan interest was "amazing" and Tucker is a local boy, having been drafted by Houston out of Plant High in Tampa.

This also gives me a lot of flexibility in the OF as I now have an excellent fielder in RF with Tucker, meaning I can put Randy Arozarena in center and go with a DeLoach/Mears/Vaughn mix at LF/DH.

November 29: Another big trade as the White Sox sent SP Dylan Cease to the Angels for four prospects.

December 3: Well that was quick and not particularly ideal - Juan Soto signed an 8/324 deal with the Yankees. We get a supplemental 1st rounder out of it but I would have obviously preferred he went back to the NL or at least out of the division.

December 7: And the other big free agent shoe drops as Alex Bregman is off to the team we vanquished in the World Series, the Phillies, for 6/210. Also division rival Boston signed 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt for 3/76, which seems an overpay considering Goldy's production has dropped the last couple of seasons including hitting 258/350/404 last year. The Bregman signing of course brings us another supplemental 1st-rounder.

December 10: The biggest name among starting pitchers in this year's free agent class has a new home as Walker Buehler joins the Cubs on a 6/165 deal.

December 12: What's this about the draft helping the small market clubs? The Cubs and Dodgers had off-years in 2024 and both moved up big-time in the draft lottery with Chicago securing the #1 pick instead of the 10th and LA moving up from 11 to 3. Cue the "rigged" complaints. Also Atlanta signed SS Tim Anderson to a healthy 4/123 deal. Anderson won the AL batting crown at .328 and had 20 HR and 75 RBI.

December 16: Well-traveled slugger Jorge Soler may finally be settling down as he inked a 4/47 pact with Washington.

December 24: Boston signed CF Victor Robles to a 6/117 deal. Before acquiring Kyle Tucker I was thinking of kicking the tires on Robles.

December 26: Added 1B Kyle Manzardo, OF Nick Decker and C/OF Jeferson Morales to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 time. Manzardo is the mostly likely to this trio to have an impact as a power-hitting 1B. Decker is a 4th/5th OF-type and Morales is a bat-first catcher who is terribly defensively but can hit.

We didn't lose anyone in the Rule 5 draft, although I might have taken Pittsburgh 2B prospect Maikol Escotto, a top 100 prospect, had he been available at my turn but the Astros scooped him up first.

December 27: Another of our free agents has gone to Philadelphia as Lorenzo Cain, who played for the Phillies in 2023, joins Alex Bregman and will be paid 3/58. Veteran closer Edwin Diaz signed a 1/5.6 deal with the Angels.

December 28: Jonathan Loaisiga, who pitched for us in 2024 and was part of the package we sent to Atlanta for Ozzie Albies, has joined division rival Toronto on a 4/78 contract.

December 30: Jordan Hicks, the one-time reliever converted to a very effective starter by the Cardinals a few years back, signed a massive 6/151 deal with the Angels.
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Art Deco · 09-23-2022, 11:50 AM

January 1: Jeffrey Springs, a mainstay of our staff the last several years, now joins the enemy Yankees on a 3/17.8 deal. Also Dominic Smith, who had to take a minor league deal with the Reds last year before hitting 36 HR and driving in 115 between Cincinnati and the Angels, parlayed his big season into a 3/52 pact with those same Reds in a rare case of a free agent going back to the team that traded him at the deadline.

January 5: Anthony Rizzo still commands interest around the league and the Astros inked him for 3/62. Meanwhile longtime White Sock Yoan Moncada stayed in the division thanks to a 6/81 deal with Kansas City.

January 9: Former Royals and Angels closer Scott Barlow's career is over thanks to a serious case of shoulder inflammation.

January 15: The Hall of Fame results are in and nobody got in. Closest was first-year man Ichiro Suzuki at 72.9% while Todd Helton and Carlos Beltran were at 66.9% and Adrian Beltre at 66.6%. Also Mitch Haniger, who had a nice run for us in the second half of 2024, is on the move again as Colorado has dealt him to Milwaukee.

January 21: Longtime Oakland OF Ramon Laureano is on the move to Arizona in a deal for a couple of prospects.

January 24: The Blue Jays dealt OF George Springer to Cleveland for a couple of minor leaguers and retained most of his contract.

Rays news: I made an offer to free agent SP Julio Urias, who is a great pitcher but has major issues staying healthy (i.e., he's "wrecked"). He's only looking for a 1-year deal which is great, but is asking $11M which isn't considering I might only get 40 IP from him. I offered him $8M which he rejected but I have a feeling he'll come crawling back to me as Spring Training gets closer.

February 3: Another of our longtime relievers turned free agent signed elsewhere as Andrew Kittredge joined the White Sox for 2 years at just under $7M total. He's still recovering from a torn rotator cuff suffered midseason last year and won't be ready until May.

February 5: Minnesota traded 1B Rowdy Tellez to Colorado for 2B Brendan Rodgers.

February 13: Closer Liam Hendriks signed a 2/16 deal with Miami.

February 22: St. Louis found its Paul Goldschmidt replacement as they dealt for Baltimore's Ryan Mountcastle.

February 23: Former Rays SS Willy Adames had to settle for a minor league deal with Oakland.

February 27: Austin Meadows, who flopped in his return to us last season, signed a minor league with Kansas City.

March 10: The Angels swung a deal to acquire 1B Brandon Belt from San Francisco.

March 27: Signed OFs Marcell Ozuna and Michael A. Taylor to minor league contracts with MLB options; Ozuna still looks like he can hit for power while Taylor is a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder. Both are insurance against Mears/DeLoach. Also Julio Urias has received some other offers and is now back to demanding $11M even though he did come back to me at the start of Spring Training, so the heck with him.

Art Deco · 09-23-2022, 01:22 PM

No injuries worth reporting during ST, always a good thing. Here's our 27-man (MLB is going with 27-man rosters now) Opening Day roster:

C-Vazquez, Pinto
1B-Mead
2B-Albies
SS-W.Franco
3B-Schmitt*
IF-J.Jackson
OF-DeLoach, Arozarena, Tucker, Mears*, J.Lowe
DH-Vaughn

SP-McClanahan, Swanda, Patino, Rasmussen, Bradley*
LR-Whitley
MR-Gau, Moran, C.White, T.Scott
SU-Pressly, Taylor, Feyereisen
CL-Fairbanks

*rookies

I listed "OF" since it's going to be fluid both positionally and in terms of who's playing. You can count on Tucker and Arozarena playing every day, mostly in RF and CF respectively. Either will play some LF and we'll mix and match.

The last cuts were Sandy Gaston on the pitching staff, mainly because Jovani Moran is out of options, and Heliot Ramos in the OF as I opted to go with Josh Lowe for his defense and ability to play CF.

The preseason predictions, which notoriously don't like us (remember they predicted 69(!) wins last year, a total we exceeded by 33 with a World Series title):

They like Kyle Tucker and the offense but not our pitching (4.36 ERA). While the staff (primarily the rotation) does not exactly fill me to the brim with confidence, I'm sure we'll do better than 4.36 ERA or changes will be made.

Art Deco · 09-24-2022, 05:45 PM

Time to start another season of Rays baseball:

Opening Day couldn't have been scripted any better as new star acquisition Kyle Tucker hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 Rays lead as they went on to beat Boston 5-2. Tanner Houck had shackled the offense but they took advantage of Lance Lynn with Ozzie Albies and Wander Franco singling and then Tucker depositing a Lynn offering into the RF seats. Shane McClanahan had a nice start and Josh Taylor saved with a lefty up after Pete Fairbanks had put two men on with two out.

Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Swanda (0-1, 3.2 8 5 5 0 5). Rough outing for Swanda and the offense only managed 6 hits.

Game 3: 6-3 W. WP-Patino (1-0, 5 5 3 3 1 4). S-Fairbanks (1). HR-Vaughn (1). Rays scored 4 in the first and never looked back. Vaughn drove in a pair and Tucker was 2-3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.

Game 4: 1-5 L. LP-Rasmussen (0-1, 5 6 3 2 0 5). Ras was decent but the offense stunk again.

Team record: 2-2. Next up: 3 at home vs Texas including Taj Bradley's MLB debut starting the opener.

Art Deco · 09-25-2022, 07:44 PM

Game 1: 4-5 L. LP-Scott (0-1). Starter-Bradley (5 4 2 2 3 3). HR-Franco (1), Tucker (2). Taj Bradley was impressive in his MLB debut shutting out Texas through 5, but put the first two on in the 6th and Tanner Scott gave up a 3-run homer to Nick Yorke and the Rays never could come all the way back.

Game 2: 6-2 W. WP-Taylor (1-0). Starter-McClanahan (6 6 2 2 0 7). HR-J.Jackson (1), Mead (1). Filling in for a banged-up Wander Franco, Jeremiah Jackson blasted a 2-run homer in the 7th to break a 2-2 tie and Mead added a 2-run shot in the 8th.

Game 3: 7-1 W. WP-Swanda (1-1, 5.2 4 1 1 2 7). HR-Tucker (3). Kyle Tucker was 4-5 including a solo homer and Ozzie Albies had a pair of RBI hits including a triple to pace the offense and support a well-pitched game from Swanda.

Team record: 4-3, tied with the Yankees atop the AL East. Next up: Our season-opening homestand concludes with 3 against Detroit.

Art Deco · 09-27-2022, 05:00 PM

Game 1: 5-1 W. WP-Patino (2-0, 5 4 1 1 3 5). Patino was sharp and four relievers each threw a hitless inning. A 4-run 3rd capped by a 2-run Kyle Tucker single propelled the Rays to victory.

Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Gau (0-1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 4 2 1 2 5). HR-J.Jackson (2). This time the bullpen let them down, allowing 4 runs in the final 3 innings after Jackson's 2-run homer tied it in the 6th.

Game 3: 5-1 W. WP-Pressly (2-0). Starter-Bradley (4.2 4 1 1 2 7). HR-J.Lowe (1), W.Franco (2). Josh Lowe saw his first action of the year and homered in his first at-bat, and Wander was 3-3 with a homer and 2 RBI. Taj Bradley missed out on his first MLB win as he put 2 on with 2 out in the 5th and was at 95 pitches.

Team record: 6-4. Next up: An off-day then our first road trip of the year starts with 3 games in Oakland.

Art Deco · 09-28-2022, 11:42 PM

Game 1: 5-3 W. WP-McClanahan (1-0, 5 5 3 3 3 6). S-Fairbanks (2). HR-Albies (1), Tucker (4), W.Franco (3). Albies and Tucker had 2-run homers in a 4-run 3rd which keyed the win although they should have scored a lot more than 5 considering 15 men were LOB and they had 16 hits.

Game 2: 12-3 W. WP-Swanda (2-1, 6 7 2 2 1 4). HR-W.Franco (4), Schmitt (1), J.Lowe (2). A 0-0 game after 3 was 9-2 Rays after 6 as they exploded in the middle innings. Casey Schmitt had 3 hits including his first MLB homer as did Curtis Mead, and Wander drove in 3.

Game 3: 6-5 W (10). WP-Pressly (3-0). Starter-Patino (5 7 5 5 3 3). HR-Schmitt (2). Patino couldn't hold a 4-0 lead but the Rays came back to tie it in the 8th on a Rene Pinto triple and then Schmitt homered for the second straight day in the 10th to win it.

Team record: 9-4, now 2 games above the Yankees, whom are next on the agenda with 3 at the Stadium.

Art Deco · 09-29-2022, 10:54 PM

Game 1: 7-5 W (11). WP-Fairbanks (1-0). S-Scott (1). Starter-Rasmussen (7 4 1 1 2 5). HR-J.Lowe (3), Vazquez (1). Feyereisen and Taylor blew a 5-0 lead in the late innings but DeLoach's RBI single in the 11th was the winner.

Game 2: 4-2 W. WP-Bradley (1-0, 6 4 2 2 1 6). S-Pressly (1). HR-Arozarena 2 (2), W.Franco (5). Taj Bradley finally picked up his first MLB win in his third start despite pitching well in all of them, and Arozarena led off the game with a homer then added one for insurance in the 9th.

Game 3: 4-3 W (10). WP-Pressly (4-1). S-Feyereisen (1). Starter-McClanahan (4.2 6 2 2 4 3). HR-Albies (2). Taylor Scott gave up a Kyle Schwarber homer to let the Yankees tie in the 8th but Rene Pinto won it in the 10th with an RBI single as the Rays made it 7 straight.

Game 4: 2-4 L. LP-Feyereisen (0-1). Starter-Swanda (5 4 1 1 3 6). HR-W.Franco (6). Rays couldn't hold the lead again and this time it cost them when Feyereisen gave up 2 runs in the 8th.

Team record: 12-5. Next up: 3 games in Houston.

Art Deco · 10-01-2022, 02:42 PM

Game 1: 12-6 W. WP-Gau (1-1). Starter-Patino (4.2 6 6 5 4 3). HR-Tucker (5), Mead 2 (3). Rays overcame a poor Patino start with Casey Schmitt's RBI triple in the 8th breaking a 6-6 tie before they broke it open. The pen turned in 4 1/3 hitless innings. Mead drove in 4 and Vazquez had a bases-clearing double.

Game 2: 12-9 W (13). WP-C.White (1-0). Starter-Rasmussen (4.1 7 7 7 3 3). HR-Franco (7), Arozarena (3), Mears (1). Just like yesterday the Rays battled back from shaky starting pitching to win, although this time the pen blew leads in the 8th and 10th to prolong it. Schmitt was 3-4 with 5 RBI, Wander was 3-6 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI and Joshua Mears hit his first MLB homer after clubbing 58 the last 2 years at Durham. Vaughn had the game winner, an RBI single in the 13th.

Game 3: 6-2 W. WP-Bradley (2-0, 7 5 2 2 1 8). HR-J.Lowe (4), J.Jackson (3). Taj Bradley was outstanding again despite allowing a couple of solo homers, and Josh Lowe has done nothing but rake since being put in the lineup over the last 10 days after being an afterthought for the first two weeks. He was 3-4 with 4 RBI today including his homer and is hitting 333/391/667 with 4 HR and 9 RBI in 11 games. With the sweep, the Rays have now won 10 of 11.

Team record: 15-5. Next up: Back home for 3 vs the Yankees.

Art Deco · 10-02-2022, 08:49 PM

Game 1: 0-6 L. LP-McClanahan (1-1, 5.1 7 4 4 0 4). Rays were dominated by Jacob deGrom who pitched a 5-hit complete-game shutout. Mac hung in there until giving up 3 in the 6th.

Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Swanda (2-2, 5 4 2 2 2 6). HR-J.Lowe (5). It was Gerrit Cole's turn to shackle the offense today, although they had their chances early against him but couldn't score and he settled in to whiff 10 over 8 innings.

Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Gau (2-1). S-Fairbanks (4). Starter-Patino (5 4 1 1 3 5). HR-Tucker (6). After Chris Gau blew a 2-1 lead in the 6th, Kyle Tucker's 2-run shot in the bottom of the inning won it, and Curtis Mead added a 2-run double.

Team record: 16-7. Next up: An off-day then 3 in Toronto, currently in second 3 1/2 games back.

Art Deco · 10-03-2022, 09:25 PM

Forgot to include this info in the previous post, so I'll give it one of its own:

Congrats to Taj, who might have been our most consistent start in the season's first month.

Caminero was once a Top 100 prospect, ranking as high as #59 after the end of the 2022 season, but has stalled out at Bowling Green although he seems ready for a promotion to AA Montgomery. He now projects as a 50-55 rated hitter across the board and can play 1B, 2B or 3B so he could fill in as a bench player down the line.

Curet is an up-and-coming relief prospect who seems to be following the Colby White path, moving up a level each year and succeeding.

MLB Players of the Month:

Batter: NL-Bryce Harper (PHI), .338-8-24; AL-Mike Trout (LAA), .338-8-23. Harper also hit his 400th career homer.

Pitcher: NL-Deivi Garcia (ARI), 3-0, 0.66; AL-Jacob deGrom (NYY), 3-0, 1.15.

MLB News: The Padres, off to an 18-9 start, have lost superstar SS Fernando Tatis Jr. for 4 weeks with a knee sprain.

Art Deco · 10-03-2022, 09:34 PM

Game 1: 1-7 L. LP-Gau (2-2). Starter-Rasmussen (5 5 1 1 1 6). Jays scored 6 times in the 6th to break open a 1-1 game with Chris Gau charged with 5 of those runs in a brutal inning.

Game 2: 10-3 W. WP-Bradley (3-0, 6 6 3 3 0 5). HR-Schmitt (3). It was the Rays' turn to bust open a closing game late as they scored 4 times in the 7th to break a 3-3 deadlock and win going away. Tucker and Vazquez each knocked in a pair to lead a balanced attack with all but two Rays driving in runs and all but one getting a hit.

Game 3: 7-0 W. WP-McClanahan (2-1, 6 5 0 0 1 8). HR-Schmitt (4), Arozarena (4), Albies (3). Mac was dealing and again a close game through 6 wasn't close after 7 as the Rays opened up a 2-0 game. Wander had 3 hits including a pair of doubles.

Team record: 18-8. Next up: An off-day then the eyes of the baseball world will be upon Tropicana Field as the 21-5 Angels visit in a matchup of the teams with the two best records in MLB.

Art Deco · 10-04-2022, 10:16 PM

Game 1: 5-7 L. LP-Swanda (2-3, 5 7 5 5 1 4). HR-J.Lowe 2 (7). The Rays lost despite a huge game from Lowe, who hit a pair of solo homers and an RBI double. No idea what's gotten into his this year after a miserable 2024 but he's staying in the lineup until he stops hitting.

Game 2: 0-10 L. LP-Patino (2-1, 3 6 7 7 3 2). Patino this year has either been great or has been shelled and it's been the latter more often despite this only being his first loss as his ERA sits at 7.16. Dylan Cease held the Rays to three hits over 6 2/3 and they only managed five in total against the now 23-5 Angels.

Game 3: 4-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (1-1, 6.2 1 1 1 3 8). S-Fairbanks (5). HR-Mears (2). Ras no-hit the mighty Angels until one out in the 6th and finally picked up his first win despite pitching well for the most part this season. A 4-run 3rd which started with Mears' homer and was capped by Mead's 2-run single was enough to salvage the finale. Mears is going to get a run at DH to try and take advantage of his power and so far so good.

Team record: 19-10, 2 up on the Yankees. Next: 3 games at home vs Oakland.

09-20-2022, 08:50 PM	#261
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	October 24, 2024: World Series Game 1 Let's go... We acquired Juan Soto as a 1-year rental last winter for one express purpose: to win a World Series. Soto had an MVP-caliber season leading us to 102 wins, helped get us to the World Series, and now he's got us 3 wins away after a great performance in Game 1 tonight at the Trop. Soto drilled a 2-run homer in the 1st to give the Rays a 3-1 lead which they wouldn't relinquish, and added an RBI single in the 5th to provide a little breathing room. It was a good thing as rookie John Swanda apparently had a case of the nerves getting the ball for Game 1 of the World Series as he walked the first three Phillies he faced. He settled down after that, giving up only one run on a fielder's choice before fanning the next two and ended up allowing only one hit in 5 innings (albeit with 6 walks in total). He put the first two on in the 6th with the score 4-1 but Christopher Gau induced a double play and ended the Phillies' last best chance tonight. Unfortunately though while we got Randy Arozarena back from injury tonight, we lost two more players. Alex Bregman, who's had a rough postseason but came through with an RBI double to tie the game ahead of Soto's homer, was hit by a pitch his next time up and suffered a fractured thumb, ending his season and most likely his Rays career. And then in the 9th rookie reliever Colby White tore his triceps and is also done for the season. Drew Rasmussen will get the start tomorrow as we hope to go to Philadelphia up 2-0.

09-20-2022, 09:15 PM	#262
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	October 25, 2024: World Series Game 2 Probably gonna be a long series... Before I get into the recap, we made two moves which will be a sort of a 2025 preview. To replace Alex Bregman at 3B we called up his heir apparent, Casey Schmitt, to take over the position. Schmitt's hit 53 HR and accumulated 9.8 WAR the last two seasons at Durham and is more than qualified for the call. The other move to replace Colby White was to activate veteran starter Carlos Rodon, whom you may recall we signed to a 2-year deal early this season as he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Rodon came back sooner than expected and pitched for Durham late in the season and in their playoffs, and will give us a long relief arm in advance of a likely spot in our 2025 rotation. Well as you saw from the box above the Phillies have evened the series with a 7-2 win behind a former Ray in Jake Odorizzi. Drew Rasmussen, after a quick first, just didn't have it tonight and although they got within 4-2 on Casey Schmitt's first MLB hit as he became the rare player to make his big-league debut in the postseason (like his teammate Shane McClanahan in 2020), that would be as close as they'd get. Carlos Rodon also made his Rays debut and looked pretty good outside of a solo homer he allowed. So now McClanahan will try to get the Rays back in front at Citizens Bank Park in two days. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-20-2022 at 09:16 PM.

09-20-2022, 09:47 PM	#263
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	October 27, 2024: World Series Game 3 What a game, what a win... It was a tight, tense affair throughout but the Rays prevailed thanks to Curtis Mead and Randy Arozarena 3-2 in 11 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series. Mead's homer in the 11th, his 4th hit of the night, on a 3-1 Kevin Abel pitch was the winner, and Arozarena, who hit a clutch 8th-inning homer to tie it, was the hero in the bottom of the 11th when he threw out Ethan Wilson attempting to go from first to third on a single, short-circuiting a Philly rally. The Rays twice had men thrown out at the plate, including one on a Mead single with two out in the 8th that could have put them ahead in regulation. Shane McClanahan wasn't his sharpest but was still pretty good and once again the bullpen was brilliant with 6 more shutout innings including 1 1/3 more from Sandy Gaston (who also made his MLB debut in the postseason) to give him 11 2/3 scoreless over 7 playoff appearances with a 2/11 BB/K ratio. Josh Taylor also turned in a pair of scoreless innings in the 9th and 10th and picked up the win; he has an amazing 9.2 1 0 0 0 11 combined line this postseason, not allowing a hit until tonight. We'll try to take a commanding 3-1 lead tomorrow with Luis Patino on the hill - he's coming off a decent start (6 IP, 3 ER) in the ALCS after a rough one in the ALDS. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-20-2022 at 09:52 PM.

09-20-2022, 10:14 PM	#264
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	October 28, 2024: World Series Game 4 As I was saying, it's gonna be a long series... The Rays couldn't get the pitching tonight and lost a pair of leads and the game 7-3 to the Phillies as the World Series is now knotted at 2. Curtis Mead homered again to make it 1-0, and then Ozzie Albies delivered an RBI single to put the Rays up 3-2 in the 5th but Luis Patino immediately surrendered a 2-run homer to Keston Hiura in the bottom of the inning and it snowballed from there. Carlos Rodon was taken deep by JT Realmuto once again, and JP Feyereisen really let it get out of hand in the 7th. And the news got even worse for Rodon: right after coming back from a UCL tear he tore it again tonight on his final pitch which saw him record his 6th strikeout in 2 innings. He'll miss 10 months this time so at best we get him back for September next year. John Swanda will get the call as we'll hope for a repeat of Game 1 tomorrow night and now we know we'll be heading back to the Trop to play some baseball. The Rays' M.O. this postseason has been putting themselves in a position where they need to win the last two, and that's where they'll be if they don't win Game 5.

09-21-2022, 08:48 AM	#265
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	October 29, 2024: World Series Game 5 Advantage Rays... The Rays, especially Lorenzo Cain (5 hits) and Randy Arozarena (4), had their hitting shoes on tonight as they routed the Phillies 11-2 on 19 hits to move within one game of a world championship heading back to St. Petersburg. Philly actually led 1-0 after 2 as John Swanda's first-inning jitters continued with wild-pitching in a run but Mr. October struck again as Arozarena drilled a 3rd-inning leadoff homer to tie it up and the Rays unloaded from there. By the time the dust settled Cain had tied an AL record for hits in a playoff game, Curtis Mead (bidding for World Series MVP) homered yet again and doubled, and Arozarena had 3 more safeties. Swanda settled in and dominated, and now Drew Rasmussen will try to improve on his abysmal Game 2 outing and bring home the Rays' first ever championship.

09-21-2022, 09:17 AM	#266
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	October 31, 2024: World Series Game 6 CHAMPIONS!! They did it! In their 27th season of existence (only 23 years after expansion mate Arizona) the Rays are World Champions! It turned out to be a surprisingly easy finale for Tampa Bay as they put 5 on the board in the 2nd and Drew Rasmussen pitched one of the best games of his career to propel them to another comfortable win. Zach DeLoach had the big hit, a 2-run double to put them on top and they kept hitting after that. The cherry on top was a 2-run Curtis Mead homer, and the second-year man unsurprisingly was named Series MVP for his 4-homer performance. The Phillies did get likely NL MVP Bryce Harper back for this game but it didn't matter as Rasmussen was sharp in a complete 180 from his Game 2 start. Now the only question is where to hold the celebrations: a boat parade in Tampa like the Bucs and Lightning or a parade down Central Avenue in St. Pete? For now, there was celebration enough on the field:

09-21-2022, 10:45 PM	#267
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	2024-25 Offseason: State of the Team Current state of the team: As we hit the offseason, it seems that 2025 will be a transition year of sorts as the team we built to win a World Series accomplished its mission and now there will be some key departures. Specifically we'll lose about 13 WAR between Juan Soto and Alex Bregman, both of whom are free agents. Other free agents we'll say goodbye to include Lorenzo Cain, who patrolled CF for us the last couple months and had a good postseason, and bullpen mainstays Jeffrey Springs and Andrew Kittredge. We also bid adieu to Ryan Pressly, who pitched in 5 games for us before getting hurt and ending his season. Finally, Austin Meadows is out the door too after a miserable return to the team following a couple of hot weeks after his re-acquisition. I'm also non-tendering a couple of mid-season veteran waiver pickups who were unimpressive with us in Lou Trivino and Caleb Ferguson. Stu Sternberg has given me a payroll of $130M which will be more than enough to keep the remaining squad intact, which will total about $93M and that's assuming I decide to pay a combined $17M to the back end of the bullpen in Pete Fairbanks and Josh Taylor, who were both very good last year. A position-by-position look at where things stand: C-The Christian Vazquez/Rene Pinto combo is back, and that's fine. Vazquez had another Gold Glove-caliber season even if he isn't much of a hitter (although he came up big in the playoffs) and Pinto is a capable backup, both offensively and defensively. 1B-Curtis Mead had a monster postseason and although he's a little light in the power department for the position he's a fine all-around hitter and has a good glove at the position. 2B-Ozzie Albies certainly was an upgrade at the position even if his defense was kinda awful (-7.7 ZR) and he's back. SS-Wander Franco. The franchise cornerstone had a decent season last year but is capable of better with the bat, and his glove is below average. 3B-This is a transition spot with Casey Schmitt, who averaged 5 WAR the last two years at Durham, taking over for Bregman. We got a taste of Schmitt at the position in the World Series when Bregman broke his thumb and he was alright (we did win the Series after all). LF/RF: I'm lumping the corners together since Randy Arozarena can play either one with Gold Glove-caliber defense; which one he mans will depend on who wins the the other corner job. Joshua Mears has hit 58 HR and earned 8.2 WAR at Durham the last two seasons and deserves a shot; his best position is RF. Zach DeLoach was decent off the bench for us and eventually took over LF against righties from Meadows and Andrew Vaughn and could force his way into a platoon with the righty-hitting Mears. CF: This is a problem position, which is why we traded for Cain at the deadline. Josh Lowe was excellent (3.6 WAR) in 2024 but tailed off badly last year to the point he was sent back to Durham, and while he raked there he didn't carry that over back up here in his September callup. Also his defense at the position is average at best; we can live with it if he hits 251/315/453 like 2024 but not 196/272/373 like last year. Arozarena can play the position if I want to go with DeLoach/Vaughn in left and Mears in right but he'd be about Lowe-level defensively if I stuck him there and I'd lose his Gold Glove D in the corners. A position for upgrade. DH: This was where Juan Soto spent most of his time and he simply isn't going to be replaced. Vaughn has the inside track but I was kind of hoping for more than the 17 and 16 HRs he's hit the last two years. With Soto gone we don't really have a guy I can count on for 30+ homers, although Mears has that potential. All through the lineup we have guys who are "good" but not necessarily "great" with Bregman and Soto gone. So if a true impact bat becomes available I may very well make a move. Bench: In addition to Pinto, Jeremiah Jackson served as the backup infielder last year and was OK with occasional pop and a decent glove. I once envisioned him as the starting 2B before we acquired Albies but I don't see him as a starter any more. OF backups could be DeLoach, Lowe or Heliot Ramos (remember him?). Rotation: 4/5 of the rotation returns with McClanahan, Swanda, Patino and Rasmussen all back (Shane Baz tore his UCL and will miss 2025). They were pretty inconsistent throughout the year but we did win 102 games and the World Series with them, although one could say that was because of the league's best offense and a great bullpen - perhaps they could be exposed more with a less potent offense next year. Taj Bradley is the front-runner for the 5th spot and there is some depth with Ian Seymour and JP Sears, who had their brief stints with the team, and JJ Goss, who didn't. And we ended up wasting $6.6M on two years of Carlos Rodon which netted us 2 long relief appearances in the World Series sandwiched between a pair of torn UCLs, although he could return late in the year. Bullpen: As mentioned, the key end-game guys are back in righty Fairbanks and lefty Taylor, they're just going to be a bit pricey but we can afford them. Setup guys JP Feyereisen and Tanner Scott are back too, as are 2-WAR multi-inning marvels Chris Gau and Forrest Whitley. The departures of Springs and Kittredge open a couple of spots and one of those will go to Sandy Gaston, who was brilliant in his first MLB action in the postseason and fanned 136 in 86 IP at Durham. If I want a third lefty to go with Taylor and Scott, Jovani Moran was very good at Durham (94 whiffs in 53 IP) although he's been inconsistent at the big-league level. I'm not averse to adding an impact starter or reliever though, especially a starter as the rotation seems a lot like the offense: good but not great. Speaking of JP Sears: His 50 stuff/45 movement/60 control profile might be a good fit on a better defensive team; I'm not sure how much he'd succeed with us and some rough outings early in the year confirmed that (although he did have a nice start on the season's final day for us).

09-23-2022, 11:50 AM	#269
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	2024-25 Offseason, Part 2 January 1: Jeffrey Springs, a mainstay of our staff the last several years, now joins the enemy Yankees on a 3/17.8 deal. Also Dominic Smith, who had to take a minor league deal with the Reds last year before hitting 36 HR and driving in 115 between Cincinnati and the Angels, parlayed his big season into a 3/52 pact with those same Reds in a rare case of a free agent going back to the team that traded him at the deadline. January 5: Anthony Rizzo still commands interest around the league and the Astros inked him for 3/62. Meanwhile longtime White Sock Yoan Moncada stayed in the division thanks to a 6/81 deal with Kansas City. January 9: Former Royals and Angels closer Scott Barlow's career is over thanks to a serious case of shoulder inflammation. January 15: The Hall of Fame results are in and nobody got in. Closest was first-year man Ichiro Suzuki at 72.9% while Todd Helton and Carlos Beltran were at 66.9% and Adrian Beltre at 66.6%. Also Mitch Haniger, who had a nice run for us in the second half of 2024, is on the move again as Colorado has dealt him to Milwaukee. January 21: Longtime Oakland OF Ramon Laureano is on the move to Arizona in a deal for a couple of prospects. January 24: The Blue Jays dealt OF George Springer to Cleveland for a couple of minor leaguers and retained most of his contract. Rays news: I made an offer to free agent SP Julio Urias, who is a great pitcher but has major issues staying healthy (i.e., he's "wrecked"). He's only looking for a 1-year deal which is great, but is asking $11M which isn't considering I might only get 40 IP from him. I offered him $8M which he rejected but I have a feeling he'll come crawling back to me as Spring Training gets closer. February 3: Another of our longtime relievers turned free agent signed elsewhere as Andrew Kittredge joined the White Sox for 2 years at just under $7M total. He's still recovering from a torn rotator cuff suffered midseason last year and won't be ready until May. February 5: Minnesota traded 1B Rowdy Tellez to Colorado for 2B Brendan Rodgers. February 13: Closer Liam Hendriks signed a 2/16 deal with Miami. February 22: St. Louis found its Paul Goldschmidt replacement as they dealt for Baltimore's Ryan Mountcastle. February 23: Former Rays SS Willy Adames had to settle for a minor league deal with Oakland. February 27: Austin Meadows, who flopped in his return to us last season, signed a minor league with Kansas City. March 10: The Angels swung a deal to acquire 1B Brandon Belt from San Francisco. March 27: Signed OFs Marcell Ozuna and Michael A. Taylor to minor league contracts with MLB options; Ozuna still looks like he can hit for power while Taylor is a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder. Both are insurance against Mears/DeLoach. Also Julio Urias has received some other offers and is now back to demanding $11M even though he did come back to me at the start of Spring Training, so the heck with him.

09-23-2022, 01:22 PM	#270
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	2025 Opening Day Roster & Preseason Predictions No injuries worth reporting during ST, always a good thing. Here's our 27-man (MLB is going with 27-man rosters now) Opening Day roster: C-Vazquez, Pinto 1B-Mead 2B-Albies SS-W.Franco 3B-Schmitt* IF-J.Jackson OF-DeLoach, Arozarena, Tucker, Mears, J.Lowe DH-Vaughn SP-McClanahan, Swanda, Patino, Rasmussen, Bradley LR-Whitley MR-Gau, Moran, C.White, T.Scott SU-Pressly, Taylor, Feyereisen CL-Fairbanks *rookies I listed "OF" since it's going to be fluid both positionally and in terms of who's playing. You can count on Tucker and Arozarena playing every day, mostly in RF and CF respectively. Either will play some LF and we'll mix and match. The last cuts were Sandy Gaston on the pitching staff, mainly because Jovani Moran is out of options, and Heliot Ramos in the OF as I opted to go with Josh Lowe for his defense and ability to play CF. The preseason predictions, which notoriously don't like us (remember they predicted 69(!) wins last year, a total we exceeded by 33 with a World Series title): They like Kyle Tucker and the offense but not our pitching (4.36 ERA). While the staff (primarily the rotation) does not exactly fill me to the brim with confidence, I'm sure we'll do better than 4.36 ERA or changes will be made.

09-24-2022, 05:45 PM	#271
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April 7-10, 2025: vs Boston (4) Time to start another season of Rays baseball: Opening Day couldn't have been scripted any better as new star acquisition Kyle Tucker hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 Rays lead as they went on to beat Boston 5-2. Tanner Houck had shackled the offense but they took advantage of Lance Lynn with Ozzie Albies and Wander Franco singling and then Tucker depositing a Lynn offering into the RF seats. Shane McClanahan had a nice start and Josh Taylor saved with a lefty up after Pete Fairbanks had put two men on with two out. Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Swanda (0-1, 3.2 8 5 5 0 5). Rough outing for Swanda and the offense only managed 6 hits. Game 3: 6-3 W. WP-Patino (1-0, 5 5 3 3 1 4). S-Fairbanks (1). HR-Vaughn (1). Rays scored 4 in the first and never looked back. Vaughn drove in a pair and Tucker was 2-3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Game 4: 1-5 L. LP-Rasmussen (0-1, 5 6 3 2 0 5). Ras was decent but the offense stunk again. Team record: 2-2. Next up: 3 at home vs Texas including Taj Bradley's MLB debut starting the opener.

09-25-2022, 07:44 PM	#272
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April 11-13, 2025: vs Texas (3) Game 1: 4-5 L. LP-Scott (0-1). Starter-Bradley (5 4 2 2 3 3). HR-Franco (1), Tucker (2). Taj Bradley was impressive in his MLB debut shutting out Texas through 5, but put the first two on in the 6th and Tanner Scott gave up a 3-run homer to Nick Yorke and the Rays never could come all the way back. Game 2: 6-2 W. WP-Taylor (1-0). Starter-McClanahan (6 6 2 2 0 7). HR-J.Jackson (1), Mead (1). Filling in for a banged-up Wander Franco, Jeremiah Jackson blasted a 2-run homer in the 7th to break a 2-2 tie and Mead added a 2-run shot in the 8th. Game 3: 7-1 W. WP-Swanda (1-1, 5.2 4 1 1 2 7). HR-Tucker (3). Kyle Tucker was 4-5 including a solo homer and Ozzie Albies had a pair of RBI hits including a triple to pace the offense and support a well-pitched game from Swanda. Team record: 4-3, tied with the Yankees atop the AL East. Next up: Our season-opening homestand concludes with 3 against Detroit.

09-27-2022, 05:00 PM	#273
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April 14-16, 2025: vs Detroit (3) Game 1: 5-1 W. WP-Patino (2-0, 5 4 1 1 3 5). Patino was sharp and four relievers each threw a hitless inning. A 4-run 3rd capped by a 2-run Kyle Tucker single propelled the Rays to victory. Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Gau (0-1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 4 2 1 2 5). HR-J.Jackson (2). This time the bullpen let them down, allowing 4 runs in the final 3 innings after Jackson's 2-run homer tied it in the 6th. Game 3: 5-1 W. WP-Pressly (2-0). Starter-Bradley (4.2 4 1 1 2 7). HR-J.Lowe (1), W.Franco (2). Josh Lowe saw his first action of the year and homered in his first at-bat, and Wander was 3-3 with a homer and 2 RBI. Taj Bradley missed out on his first MLB win as he put 2 on with 2 out in the 5th and was at 95 pitches. Team record: 6-4. Next up: An off-day then our first road trip of the year starts with 3 games in Oakland.

09-28-2022, 11:42 PM	#274
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April 18-20, 2025: at Oakland (3) Game 1: 5-3 W. WP-McClanahan (1-0, 5 5 3 3 3 6). S-Fairbanks (2). HR-Albies (1), Tucker (4), W.Franco (3). Albies and Tucker had 2-run homers in a 4-run 3rd which keyed the win although they should have scored a lot more than 5 considering 15 men were LOB and they had 16 hits. Game 2: 12-3 W. WP-Swanda (2-1, 6 7 2 2 1 4). HR-W.Franco (4), Schmitt (1), J.Lowe (2). A 0-0 game after 3 was 9-2 Rays after 6 as they exploded in the middle innings. Casey Schmitt had 3 hits including his first MLB homer as did Curtis Mead, and Wander drove in 3. Game 3: 6-5 W (10). WP-Pressly (3-0). Starter-Patino (5 7 5 5 3 3). HR-Schmitt (2). Patino couldn't hold a 4-0 lead but the Rays came back to tie it in the 8th on a Rene Pinto triple and then Schmitt homered for the second straight day in the 10th to win it. Team record: 9-4, now 2 games above the Yankees, whom are next on the agenda with 3 at the Stadium.

09-29-2022, 10:54 PM	#275
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April 21-24, 2025: at NY Yankees (4) Game 1: 7-5 W (11). WP-Fairbanks (1-0). S-Scott (1). Starter-Rasmussen (7 4 1 1 2 5). HR-J.Lowe (3), Vazquez (1). Feyereisen and Taylor blew a 5-0 lead in the late innings but DeLoach's RBI single in the 11th was the winner. Game 2: 4-2 W. WP-Bradley (1-0, 6 4 2 2 1 6). S-Pressly (1). HR-Arozarena 2 (2), W.Franco (5). Taj Bradley finally picked up his first MLB win in his third start despite pitching well in all of them, and Arozarena led off the game with a homer then added one for insurance in the 9th. Game 3: 4-3 W (10). WP-Pressly (4-1). S-Feyereisen (1). Starter-McClanahan (4.2 6 2 2 4 3). HR-Albies (2). Taylor Scott gave up a Kyle Schwarber homer to let the Yankees tie in the 8th but Rene Pinto won it in the 10th with an RBI single as the Rays made it 7 straight. Game 4: 2-4 L. LP-Feyereisen (0-1). Starter-Swanda (5 4 1 1 3 6). HR-W.Franco (6). Rays couldn't hold the lead again and this time it cost them when Feyereisen gave up 2 runs in the 8th. Team record: 12-5. Next up: 3 games in Houston.

10-01-2022, 02:42 PM	#276
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April 25-27, 2025: at Houston (3) Game 1: 12-6 W. WP-Gau (1-1). Starter-Patino (4.2 6 6 5 4 3). HR-Tucker (5), Mead 2 (3). Rays overcame a poor Patino start with Casey Schmitt's RBI triple in the 8th breaking a 6-6 tie before they broke it open. The pen turned in 4 1/3 hitless innings. Mead drove in 4 and Vazquez had a bases-clearing double. Game 2: 12-9 W (13). WP-C.White (1-0). Starter-Rasmussen (4.1 7 7 7 3 3). HR-Franco (7), Arozarena (3), Mears (1). Just like yesterday the Rays battled back from shaky starting pitching to win, although this time the pen blew leads in the 8th and 10th to prolong it. Schmitt was 3-4 with 5 RBI, Wander was 3-6 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI and Joshua Mears hit his first MLB homer after clubbing 58 the last 2 years at Durham. Vaughn had the game winner, an RBI single in the 13th. Game 3: 6-2 W. WP-Bradley (2-0, 7 5 2 2 1 8). HR-J.Lowe (4), J.Jackson (3). Taj Bradley was outstanding again despite allowing a couple of solo homers, and Josh Lowe has done nothing but rake since being put in the lineup over the last 10 days after being an afterthought for the first two weeks. He was 3-4 with 4 RBI today including his homer and is hitting 333/391/667 with 4 HR and 9 RBI in 11 games. With the sweep, the Rays have now won 10 of 11. Team record: 15-5. Next up: Back home for 3 vs the Yankees.

10-02-2022, 08:49 PM	#277
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April 28-30, 2025: vs NY Yankees (3) Game 1: 0-6 L. LP-McClanahan (1-1, 5.1 7 4 4 0 4). Rays were dominated by Jacob deGrom who pitched a 5-hit complete-game shutout. Mac hung in there until giving up 3 in the 6th. Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Swanda (2-2, 5 4 2 2 2 6). HR-J.Lowe (5). It was Gerrit Cole's turn to shackle the offense today, although they had their chances early against him but couldn't score and he settled in to whiff 10 over 8 innings. Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Gau (2-1). S-Fairbanks (4). Starter-Patino (5 4 1 1 3 5). HR-Tucker (6). After Chris Gau blew a 2-1 lead in the 6th, Kyle Tucker's 2-run shot in the bottom of the inning won it, and Curtis Mead added a 2-run double. Team record: 16-7. Next up: An off-day then 3 in Toronto, currently in second 3 1/2 games back.

10-03-2022, 09:25 PM	#278
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	April Players of the Month Forgot to include this info in the previous post, so I'll give it one of its own: Congrats to Taj, who might have been our most consistent start in the season's first month. Caminero was once a Top 100 prospect, ranking as high as #59 after the end of the 2022 season, but has stalled out at Bowling Green although he seems ready for a promotion to AA Montgomery. He now projects as a 50-55 rated hitter across the board and can play 1B, 2B or 3B so he could fill in as a bench player down the line. Curet is an up-and-coming relief prospect who seems to be following the Colby White path, moving up a level each year and succeeding. MLB Players of the Month: Batter: NL-Bryce Harper (PHI), .338-8-24; AL-Mike Trout (LAA), .338-8-23. Harper also hit his 400th career homer. Pitcher: NL-Deivi Garcia (ARI), 3-0, 0.66; AL-Jacob deGrom (NYY), 3-0, 1.15. MLB News: The Padres, off to an 18-9 start, have lost superstar SS Fernando Tatis Jr. for 4 weeks with a knee sprain.

10-03-2022, 09:34 PM	#279
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	May 2-4, 2025: at Toronto (3) Game 1: 1-7 L. LP-Gau (2-2). Starter-Rasmussen (5 5 1 1 1 6). Jays scored 6 times in the 6th to break open a 1-1 game with Chris Gau charged with 5 of those runs in a brutal inning. Game 2: 10-3 W. WP-Bradley (3-0, 6 6 3 3 0 5). HR-Schmitt (3). It was the Rays' turn to bust open a closing game late as they scored 4 times in the 7th to break a 3-3 deadlock and win going away. Tucker and Vazquez each knocked in a pair to lead a balanced attack with all but two Rays driving in runs and all but one getting a hit. Game 3: 7-0 W. WP-McClanahan (2-1, 6 5 0 0 1 8). HR-Schmitt (4), Arozarena (4), Albies (3). Mac was dealing and again a close game through 6 wasn't close after 7 as the Rays opened up a 2-0 game. Wander had 3 hits including a pair of doubles. Team record: 18-8. Next up: An off-day then the eyes of the baseball world will be upon Tropicana Field as the 21-5 Angels visit in a matchup of the teams with the two best records in MLB.

10-04-2022, 10:16 PM	#280
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,067	May 6-8, 2025: vs LA Angels (3) Game 1: 5-7 L. LP-Swanda (2-3, 5 7 5 5 1 4). HR-J.Lowe 2 (7). The Rays lost despite a huge game from Lowe, who hit a pair of solo homers and an RBI double. No idea what's gotten into his this year after a miserable 2024 but he's staying in the lineup until he stops hitting. Game 2: 0-10 L. LP-Patino (2-1, 3 6 7 7 3 2). Patino this year has either been great or has been shelled and it's been the latter more often despite this only being his first loss as his ERA sits at 7.16. Dylan Cease held the Rays to three hits over 6 2/3 and they only managed five in total against the now 23-5 Angels. Game 3: 4-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (1-1, 6.2 1 1 1 3 8). S-Fairbanks (5). HR-Mears (2). Ras no-hit the mighty Angels until one out in the 6th and finally picked up his first win despite pitching well for the most part this season. A 4-run 3rd which started with Mears' homer and was capped by Mead's 2-run single was enough to salvage the finale. Mears is going to get a run at DH to try and take advantage of his power and so far so good. Team record: 19-10, 2 up on the Yankees. Next: 3 games at home vs Oakland.