Comments for Rays of Light

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by BillG

BillG — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:48:20 +0000

Sorry for the Percy-whine, but the reality is Percy is getting old…he is on the downward side of his best years. Will he not only carry the Rays on his 9th inning back in 2008 but also 2009, or is Balfour or Salas or ??? being groomed to replace the Percy War Horse when 1) he breaks down again or 2) gets too far past his prime to be a championship closer. Again, sorry, but the most common observer can see he is getting it done most of the time (when not hurt) except we are all living on the razor’s edge during these innings waiting for the party to end. Rays are in the second half in first place…hate to waste this opportunity. There are many teams that say, “oh, we can do it next year” and they do not make it back to the playoffs for 10-15 years. Let’s go for it, but at not a backbreaking cost. If Nady is not the guy, what about Thames?

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by Richard

Richard — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:10:50 +0000

Boy you guys have had 10 years of training about complaining. Closer comes in and doesn’t throw 3 pitches and gets 3 outs, get rid of him. 2 games of the DL and he gets the job done. Gomes had a good 3 day series, count the times on base and runs he was involved in. the only thing I really agree with you guys on is 23 and 13 has to start producing with men on. The bottom of the order came through today. Bartlett will help us with his defense and his base running and I hope his bat will get him up to 280 or 90. The Rays have to start lowering th LOBs and that will take care of any closer problems. I personally am more worried about the Yankees that Boston because the Yankees are winnning more on the road. Let’s face it men with our schedule it’s going to be damn tuff to make the playoffs unless we can some how win on the road. MLB scheduling has favored the Yankees and Boston for years. Check back and you’ll see there at home a lot the last of the season. MLB wants the big markets in the post season. Makes money.If the Rays could win the division which is set up for Bonston or New York we’d truly be the best team in baseball and we’d take over for the miracle Mets. God wouldn’t that be great. Enjoy every W we get now because months 9 and 10 are going to be tough.

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by bobr

bobr — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:06:55 +0000

Can we please stop thinking about Nady as an impact bat or even a particularly good one (especially for a right fielder). I know he is having a fine season this year, one that is almost certainly a career year and unlikely to continue. But if you review his overall career you see almost exactly the performance as Ty Wigginton. In fact they are eerily close.

Maybe that represents some improvement over what we have, although odds are that Gomes will hit just as well as Nady over the rest of the season, but at what cost. The point is that given his current numbers, Nady is going to command a lot more than he is worth for the very unlikely possibility that he continues his hot streak all year.

As for Bay, he cannot play right field. He has no arm and his defense in left field has declined precipitously. He is an impact hitter and is worth pursuing, but his price is even higher than Nady’s. It is unlikely the Rays would pay it, and probably are right not to. There is quite a bit of evidence that deadline deals have historically had minimal impact on the outcome of pennant races. A glaring example was Atlanta getting Teixeira last year for minor leaguers when they were 1 1/2 games out of first and ending the year 6 1/2 games out and out of the post-season. Quite a few studies have demonstrated that is the most common result of “big” deadline deals.

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by Michael

Michael — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:20:15 +0000

Zobrist is finally sent back to Durham
HIs bat is going great for the majors, but his defense and instincts are horrible.
The middle game of the Oakland series could have easily been saved if his bad infield plays had been played properly.
Welcome back Barlett!

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by Hazleton Jason

Hazleton Jason — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:03:51 +0000

agreed on all fronts, not happy winning this way, dont get me wrong the W is nice to have, but, most teams explode for runs once a week, it is truly a struggle every night for this team.

Pena should be in the 6-hole and Crawford down to 8

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by BillG

BillG — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:31:43 +0000

My final post for the day, then I quit. Percy is no longer a “light out” closer as he was in years past. He is a great, experienced reliever, but the Rays need to seriously look at a lights out closer for the remainder of this year and next. Almost every game Percy comes into ends up being a heart stopper. To many runs, too many walks, etc. Sorry Percy, accept that age has set in and you can be part of the solution, but you no longer are THE solution.

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by BillG

BillG — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:06:04 +0000

Folks, we may be winning right now, but we will not win too many if the Rays continue to muster, what is it now?, only six hits in eight innings. The bats have to wake up. Crawford, Upton, Pena, Gomes are all hitting sub-par…. They all tired out already?

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by BillG

BillG — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:00:29 +0000

We do need a strong bat behind Evan. Carlos hitting there is getting ridiculous. The onlu way to do this is to trade for a real bat (NO NOT MURTON!), a real, proven hitter like Jason Bay or NadyX. We have the prospects to do it. Bring in someone who, is a strong steady big bat, is not a 2008 rental, and who will also be here for the 2009 run. And do it soon.

Comment on Game #100: Looks like we made it by BillG

BillG — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:52:36 +0000

Will Carl Crawford please show up to work? Four at bats, four outs and five runners stranded. This is not a three hole hitter. Crawford and Pena are AWOL. They need to start hitting or give back some of their paycheck.

Comment on A’s 8, RAYS 1: Nothing pretty about this one by A.J.

A.J. — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:34:59 +0000

The only problem I would foresee with Wiggy being back is that he doesn’t play the OF well at all. He’s a fine infielder, but not good in the OF. A guy like Casey Blake makes a ton of sense for us in a trade. Essentially, he’s the right-handed version of Eric Hinske. And as you said, the Astros are still trying to win their division, for some odd reason.
I, too, was a little disappointed about the Rauch trade. I thought we could have offered the Nats some pitching, which is really what they need more than anything. However, I think the organization is comfortable with what they’ve seen out of Balfour while Percy’s been out. So, maybe he is our closer of the future, and the Rays will be looking in a different direction.
By the way, Scott, no offense to your opinion, but Gomes is done here. I really don’t care about what he’s done in this series because he always plays well against Oakland. Their his hometown team, and he’s always made it a point to do his best against them. Maybe not by hitting HRs, but he does do well against them. He can’t be trusted in the OF, and his swing is terribly inconsistent. As has been said many, many times before, nobody doubts his hustle and character, but performance is where it counts the most, and he hasn’t stepped up.
Also, Floyd has not been dead weight by any means. He has come up with some big hits for this team, and his veteran leadership has been noted by teammates. This is his 1st time giving the DH-role a try, and I think he’s done well in his limited time with us. He’s going to hit about 11-14 HR this year, which is great since he’ll only end up around 250 AB’s. Maddon has done a nice job keeping him rested this year. I really think Maddon has done it on purpose because he knows that Floyd could really help out in August and September with his veteran leadership, and power bat to go with it. It’s more important to have Floyd be fresh and healthy later in the season than it is in the beginnning of it.
Finally, Aybar is hitting about .280 against LHP this year, which is better than most of the guys we have on this team right now. That’s the only reason he’s been in the lineup. He’s doing a fine job. We don’t have much dead weight on this team at all. We have 3 guys that I feel we need to replace: Zobrist, Gomes, and Hammel.