Rays of Light

I approve: Evan Longoria to don red, white, and blue for Team USA

It was announced just a few days ago that Evan Longoria will be headed to Los Angeles to join Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. And I couldn’t be happier.

You might recall that I’m the guy who also said that he was deeply disappointed that Scott Kazmir wouldn’t be playing, so it should come as no surprise that I’m ready to see Evan Almighty take a few cuts for his country and try to win the world championship.

I can’t argue with the fact that he wasn’t on the initial roster – Chipper Jones and David Wright are pretty darn good baseball players – but you can bet that this won’t be the last time that Evan is selected to take part.

Tags: Evan Longoria
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9 Positions in 9 Days – Shortstop

This is the eighth in a nine-part series that breaks down each of the Rays’ positions as we head into pitchers and catchers reporting to camp this week. One position will be covered every day up through the 13th. Hopefully we’ll give you a little something you hadn’t already read somewhere else before. At the very least, it should keep your juices flowing heading up to that first pop of the mitt next week.

Today, we continue at shortstop.

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Tags: Ben Zobrist, brendan harris, Elliot Johnson, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, josh wilson, phil rizzuto, Reid Brignac, tim beckham, Willy Aybar
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9 Positions in 9 Days – Left Field

This is the fifth in a nine-part series that breaks down each of the Rays’ positions as we head into pitchers and catchers reporting to camp this week. One position will be covered every day up through the 13th. Hopefully we’ll give you a little something you hadn’t already read somewhere else before. At the very least, it should keep your juices flowing heading up to that first pop of the mitt next week.

Today, we continue in left field.

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Tags: Akinori Iwamura, B.J. Upton, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, desmond jennings, Evan Longoria, Fernando Perez, gabe kapler, Joe Maddon, pat burrell, ryan royster, Shawn Riggans
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9 Positions in 9 Days – First Base

This is the fourth in a nine-part series that breaks down each of the Rays’ positions as we head into pitchers and catchers reporting to camp next Friday. One position will be covered every day up through the 13th. Hopefully we’ll give you a little something you hadn’t already read somewhere else before. At the very least, it should keep your juices flowing heading up to that first pop of the mitt next week.

Today, we continue at first base.

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Tags: Ben Zobrist, Carlos Pena, chris nowak, chris richard, Evan Longoria, first base, Gabe Gross, John Jaso, Morgan Ensberg, rhyne hughes, Willy Aybar
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9 Positions in 9 Days – Third Base

This is the second in a nine-part series that breaks down each of the Rays’ positions as we head into pitchers and catchers reporting to camp next Friday. One position will be covered every day up through the 13th. Hopefully we’ll give you a little something you hadn’t already read somewhere else before. At the very least, it should keep your juices flowing heading up to that first pop of the mitt next week.

Today, we continue over at the hot corner with third base.

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Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Ben Zobrist, chris nowak, Elliot Johnson, Evan Longoria, Morgan Ensberg, Reid Brignac, third base, Willy Aybar
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Weekend Roundup

Here’s what you might have missed over the weekend while you were busy watching Puppy Bowl V on Animal Planet…

The Rays agreed to a deal with left-handed specialist – known around the blogosphere as a LOOGY – Brian Shouse. (ESPN)

Brian Shouse, a veteran left-handed reliever, has agreed to a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, according to baseball sources. The deal is pending a physical exam, which he will take on Thursday.

Shouse, 40, pitched in 69 games for the Brewers last season, mostly as a specialist against left-handed hitters. Lefties hit just .180 against him with a .192 on-base percentage and a .482 OPS. Shouse has pitched in more than 422 games in the big leagues over nine seasons with 216 strikeouts and 111 walks in 322.2 innings.

Conflicting reports on whether its a one- or a two-year deal, so let’s split the difference and say that the Rays have signed Shouse to a 243-game contract. For those keeping track, the Rays now have more relievers in the their bullpen than Todd Kalas has product in his haircare cabinet.

There also needs to be a corresponding 40-man roster move at some point to make room for Shouse. Derek Rodriguez, Elliot Johnson, and Juan Salas seem to be the most likely suspects, unless there’s some kind of trade coming down the pike.

The Professor over at Rays Index made a very astute observation. (Rays Index)

And with Gabe Kapler, Gabe Gross and Grant Balfour already in place, The Trop is becoming the place where Brewers go to win.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee remains the place where… well… no one goes willingly.

Marc Topkin is reporting that the Rays are in negotiations with both Dioner Navarro and Willy Aybar on multi-year contracts (St. Pete Times)

The Rays are exploring multiyear deals with C Dioner Navarro and INF Willy Aybar, which would allow them to avoid arbitration hearings.

If John Jaso is the first baseman of the future and not the catcher, this makes plenty of sense. Tons ‘o’ Fun is an above-average backstop in a league full of junk at the position. Aybar, on the other hand, is perhaps the best utility player in the game. He’d be starting on a lot of other teams. He will retain his spot as the Evan Longoria Insurance Policy™. People keep suggesting that he should learn to play right field a little bit on this team, but I think he’ll be just fine staying in the infield.

Big League Stew ran into Evan Longoria at some football game in Tampa over the weekend. I had no idea that was going on. (Yahoo!)

BLS: Why don’t you think more players are interested in the WBC?

EL: I think because the game of baseball on the worldwide scale isn’t as big a game as say soccer or rugby even for the European countries. I just think baseball is not as widely publicized worldwide, and [the WBC] just doesn’t get as pumped up, as say, the Super Bowl or whatever.

As long as the WBC is seen as nothing more as a way for players to refine their excuses as to why they can’t/shouldn’t play, it will never be taken seriously. Simple as that.

Bleacher Report calls David Price (and Matt Wieters) the future face of the American League. In other news, the sky is blue. (Bleacher Report)

Price is the future of the Rays pitching-wise. Tampa  Bay has plenty of talented young pitchers on the team, but Price is beneficial to the Rays success. The Vanderbilt alum is the most talented fifth starter in the league, hands down. Price’s mid 90’s fastball is intimidating and his work ethic and poise is undeniable. He has expectations for himself that are unmatched by any other. “Every time I step on the mound, I expect to throw a perfect game.” Price has the speed (95-97 MPH fastball), a great mix of breaking pitches and a very deceptive delivery. Rays scouting director Brad Matthews calls him the “best amateur pitcher I’ve ever seen.”

Eric Hinske who, despite all of the great things he did last season I will always remember flailing miserably at the final pitch of the ’08 World Series, inked a deal with the Pirates on Friday. Weren’t they talking about him playing in Japan or something? Well, if he plays well, he should find himself a new home around the trade deadline. (MLB.com)

And on that note, I’m going to go try to figure out how I’m going to squeeze 24, Heroes, and House in tonight while still taking care of the baby and getting chores done around the house. You stay classy, Tampa Bay.

Tags: Brian Shouse, David Price, Derek Rodriguez, Dioner Navarro, Elliot Johnson, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, John Jaso, Juan Salas, Milwaukee Brewers, Weekend Roundup, Willy Aybar
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Lunch Break – 8/8/08

How worried were you when Evan Longoria was hit on the hand last night? I know I was petrified that he might have a broken bone or something. Thankfully, everything turned out okay.

It made me wonder, though: who is the one player that the Rays absolutely, positively could not live without if he were injured for the rest of the season? Is it Evan? I tend to think it is, but I’m curious what other people think.

Tags: Evan Longoria
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Get ready for your closeup, Mr. Longoria

The day, my friends, is finally here. (TBO.com)

Evan Longoria will be in the Rays’ starting lineup—probably batting sixth or seventh—Saturday night against the Orioles, Rays manager Joe Maddon said tonight.

“Obviously we’ve been decimated by injuries a bit, and it’s not necessarily the ideal way we wanted to call him up,” said Andrew Friedman. “But we’re confident in his ability to adjust at the plate and what he brings to us defensively was something we felt was very important with where we’re going.”

I actually have plans during the afternoon tomorrow, or I’d be in my car and on my way to the Trop. Alas, I’ll be here with you jokers in the chat room, as long as I’m home in time from my co-worker’s daughter’s first birthday party. :)

Of course, you didn’t come here to read about Charlotte Bower’s big day, you came here to read what I think about Evan Longoria being called to the big leagues.

From a logistical standpoint, I’m not sure the Rays had much of an option once Willy Aybar needed to be sent to the disabled list. Joel Guzman is still not hitting, so Longoria was absolutely the best available choice to add a much-needed extra bat to the middle of the lineup. No offense to Shawn Riggans (or Mike DiFelice), Nathan Haynes, or even Jason Bartlett – but none of them is the hitter that Longoria projects to be. With Cornelius on the disabled list now, the middle of the order was already looking a bit thin. Now, not so much.

This couldn’t work out any better from the Rays’ front-office standpoint. Longoria essentially gets a 2- to 4-week evaluation period where he will be starting at third base virtually every day against big league pitching and will TRULY get a chance to prove that he belongs in the Major Leagues. If he succeeds, the Rays can simply keep him on the roster when Aybar comes back and try to work Willy into some kind of utility role, playing a little second and short and maybe even grabbing an outfielder’s glove. If he doesn’t do well, the team can send him back to Durham once Aybar is ready to be activated, and no one’s growth is substantially stunted.

Everything I’ve heard about Longoria is that he is a level-headed, mature kid who would understand that if he’s not performing in this “audition” phase that it makes sense to send him back to Durham. Especially if the Rays are legitimately in the playoff hunt a month from now (which I think you can reasonably expect they will be), it makes sense for the team to keep its best 13 position players and Evan Longoria now has a chance to prove he is one of those players.

I suppose that if Longoria REALLY struggles – I’m talking like he hits .125 with a 50-percent strikeout rate – this could blow up in the Rays’ faces as some sort of irreparable damage to his career curve, but I highly doubt that. At the end of the day, the Rays and their fans get a month to see if this kid really is who we think he is. It SHOULD bring people out to the Trop, and it SHOULD help the team win some games.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am ready for this. I don’t think I’ve ever been more jazzed going into a mid-April game in my life. You see that banner up at the top of the page right there? The future truly is NOW.

Tags: Evan Longoria
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Cup of Joe: Evan Longoria edition

“This young man is special and he’s going to be special here for many years to come. So for us it’s a difficult moment, but we had to do what we perceived to be the right thing to do right now and not what anybody outside this organization thinks is the right thing to do.” – Joe Maddon

Well, I’ve had some time – and some sleep – to think it over. I still don’t REALLY know if I feel like this is for the best. but I can at least try to put it into words.

I was never shy about my desire to see Evan Longoria begin the year as the Rays third baseman. I feel like he’s the best option in the system – “ready” or not – and in the effort to put the best possible team on the field, he should be playing at third base on Opening Day.

I can’t help but feel we were lied to by the Rays. Though they said prior to Spring Training that he would get a chance to compete for the job, I don’t really feel like that’s what he was allowed to do. By all accounts – as in, every single one I’ve read – he is the superior player to Willy Aybar. Not only did he play better than Aybar this spring, but his skill-set is clearly superior. All people around the team have indicated that he has the skills needed to succeed at the big league level, and all of his teammates interviewed indicated that the Rays would be a better team with him than without him.

And yet that wasn’t enough.

We’ve heard everyone rave about him – for the local media to the national. Most assumed that he would be the American League Rookie of the Year. Despite that, he worked just as hard as anyone else in camp.

And yet that wasn’t enough.

I suppose what I’m REALLY trying to figure out is what he would’ve needed to do in order to win the job. Maybe it’s nothing. And I go back to my original point. It’s hard not to feel like we were lied to by the Rays; as if they never had any intention of allowing him to begin the year in the big leagues. It’s as if they went out of their way to tease those of us who actually follow the team, only to dangle that carrot and yank it away in one deft motion. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE most of what FriedCo. has done since taking over. The team is definitely in better shape – and better prepared for the future – than it was 3 years ago. But why’d they have to go and be dishonest? I would’ve much preferred to hear prior to Spring Training, “Look, we’d like to keep Evan in the minors for a couple of months just to be sure. Not only will that keep his salary clock from ticking, it will also give us a few more months just to make sure that he’s really, truly ready.” But they never did. We were told he would be given a fair chance to compete for the third base job – which it’s hard to believe he really got at this point.

With all of that said – I absolutely understand the decision. Whether or not its best for the long-term success of the franchise is debatable, since I believe that he’ll sign a contract long before he gets to that last arbitration year. But why take the chance? He’s probably ready to take on big league pitching, but he might not be so why take the chance? It all makes perfect sense to me.

FriedCo. had better hope that the Rays win some ballgames to start this season, though. You can bet that if the team starts in a funk, people are going to be calling for Longoria sooner rather than later. Fans are DESPERATE for a winning team, and putting anything less than the best team possible on the field at this point is unacceptable. If Willy Aybar stumbles and the team doesn’t do well, you can bet there will be plenty of backlash – and plenty of calls to bring up Longoria earlier than the end of May, which would end up making this entire thing fruitless and even more damaging.

But it goes back to being able to put the best team possible on the field. That’s what we’ve heard – essentially – from the front office all off-season. Who among us really believes that Willy Aybar rather than Evan Longoria is the third baseman on the best possible team? And that, again, goes back to the feeling that we were lied to – at least a little bit. 2008 ISN’T the year in which “one day” becomes “now.” 2008 is just another building year to some season in the future. And FriedCo. is going to have to deal with the backlash that comes from that.

Tags: Evan Longoria
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Interesting Longoria Note from Buster Olney

So, I was in my car going to grab some lunch a little earlier and I flipped to the Yankees-Blue Jays game on XM. They were in a rain delay and talking to Buster Olney about all of the other teams in the American League. When he got to the Rays, I thought what he had to say was very interesting. I’m paraphrasing, but this is the gist…

Over the past few days, I’ve begun to hear some things that the Rays are feeling some pressure to keep Longoria on the big league roster rather than sending him down. As it relates to his contract and arbitration status, he’s signed with an agent who is considered to be a “do what the player wants” kind of agent, so the Rays are beginning to think that they can sign him long-term without ever having to go to arbitration.

Could this be the little bit of an opening that Evan needs to crack the opening day roster?

During the Rays broadcast today, before it got rained out, Dave Wills and Andy Freed were RAVING about an at bat that Longoria had last night against the Yankees in which he saw something like 13 pitches. They were both saying that this at bat alone should make the Rays stop and reconsider sending him to Durham if that’s the plan they have for him.

Just some food for thought…

Tags: Evan Longoria
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