Later Hammel

In case any one out there has actually listened to my podcast then what I'm about to write won't come as much of a surprise, but for those of you with a life I'll try to make this short and sweet. I've had a bit of a conspiracy theory involving the Rays that dates back to the end of spring training, and basically it goes as follows.

The only real problem about having so much raw, untapped talent is that it's hard to single out who's in and who's out as quickly as you would want. And this formula becomes even more difficult when these fringe players are out of options, and just happen to be good enough that you can't cut them out right. So what do you do? Well if you're the Rays you send down the players with options even if they are the best player (Longoria). And you put a guaranteed starter on the DL even if he's not that hurt (Kazmir). All of this was done just to try to get a few extra weeks to evaluate the talent that's left.

Now for the last few weeks with the team playing quite well management has been almost hoping for a bad outing just to help them make there minds up. And now that Kazmir is coming back time is running out fast. Well last night Jason Hammel gave them the excuse they needed. After giving up three runs and putting a lot of base runners on, Maddon had no choice but to pull him after only going 2 2/3 innings. Now we will go over the reasons why Hammel has drawn the unlucky chamber in this game of Rays Roulette. Kaz, Sheilds, and Garza are absolute locks which leads only two starting positions and with success of Sonny and the hard on they have for Jackson the chances of the starting five changing is slim to nill.

And with the bullpen playing out of their minds the only changes that will be made is dropping Birkins for Reyes, but even Birkins is playing well, unless of course they release Reyes and keep Hammel but I just don't see that happening. And if you look to the bench Haynes is the one they might move but then you have to take in to consideration what to do when Aybar and Zobrist are healthy. Now all of this is of course is speculation but no matter how you look at it Hammel's days are numbered, and it's not because he can't cut, but because he's on a team with too much talent.

Home Sweet... ORLANDO?

For the second year in a row the Rays have made the trip down I-4 to The Magic Kingdom for a three game home/away series in Orlando. And for the fifth straight game they have won. Tonight's game was especially exciting with Evan (MAN CRUSH) Longoria getting a two out, two R.B.I. single off the great Roy Halladay in the sixth to tie the game. Jason Hammel was good enough (again) going six full and grabbing the W. My only question is, why are the Rays so freaking good in Orlando?

It's been hard for them to do anything successful in bunches since the formation of the organization and all I want to know is, why not play more games there. Now just to let you know, I am not the biggest fan of them having "home" games on the road but I do understand what they are trying to do. For those who do not follow ratings, the Tampa and Orlando markets combine to be the number six market in the country. And that's a lot of money if every one is on board.

But the reality is, how many of these Disney based homes are going to make the two hour drive to St. Pete to catch a game. I don't know one person going from here to Orlando to see the Magic, and they're in the playoffs! So even though I support the spread of Rays mania, I don't think the experiment is going to be much of a success. But if they keep winning out there I have no problem sacrificing a couple of extra games just to pad the stats.

RAYS FORECAST, NOT TOO SONNY

Last night Andy Sonnanstine was absolutely awful giving up six runs in two and a third innings. Now when it comes to Sonny's popularity fans are pretty much split down the middle. Those who like hard throwing, flashy guys seem to dislike him where control/Maddux fans are more on the band wagon. Myself, I would lean more toward the latter.

Now usually one bad outing does not warrant a trip to the gallows, but if I was Andy I would be plenty worried, and here's why. One of the only reasons Jackson and Hammel (especially Hammel) both broke with the team after spring training was that they were both fresh out of options. As I've mentioned in previous articles Hammel is pitching to save his job and if there is one thing that helps his cause it is someone else faltering, and after two decent starts he is definitely on the right path. Jackson wasn't exactly on the hot seat and after his fast start this year most doubts about him have been erased, at least for now.

Now Jeff Neimann still has an option left but if he can put together a string of quality starts like he had on Sunday, Maddon would be crazy to send him back down. And to make matters worst for Andy within the next two weeks both Kazmir and Garza will be coming off the DL which means the team will have to make room for them both. Now I don't believe he is numero uno on the chopping block but if he does anything close to this last performance on his next start you might here the sharpening of the career clever. Now there is the possibly of moving him to the pen and dropping someone like Reyes who as of now is clearly the weakest link out there.

Now I know the season is early and this rant comes off as a bit pessimistic, but if the Rays are seriously committed to winning, they can not use the regular as an extended spring training session, and they must start putting the best product they have out on the field on a regular basis. As for me, I'm hopping there are Sonny'er days ahead.

IS IT 2009 ALREADY?

So I finally made it to my first Rays game of the season on Saturday and for the most part it was like any other day at the ballpark. It started when my buddy Chris and I arrived an hour early to partake in a little pregame tailgating. We then made our way to the ticket counter, and that's when I saw something that I just could not believe. There, on the enormous projected starting lineup that is pasted on the side of the Trop.... Starting at third base, wearing number three, Mr. EVAN LONGORIA!

Now I have no clue how this information skipped past me but it took a good three minutes before I was convinced what I was reading was real. After changing pants we proceeded into the dome where the Rays played a good hard nine innings but unfortunately lost the game. Jason Hammel pitched another above average game and is really making a strong case for himself to keep his rotation spot. Longoria didn't do anything flashy but he did get a single, almost had another, and showed good range at the hot corner, though Pena did bail him out a couple times. And speaking of Carlos, he seems to have picked up right where he left off from last year. Also it seems that all the home runs keep coming in late inning clutch situations.

All in all it was a good time and to top it all off, in today's afternoon game we were treated to the debut of Jeff Niemann. All six foot nine of him stepped up to mound and after a close jam in the first proceeded to make the O's look like minor leaguers. Longoria played great D and contributed a hit and an R.B.I And Upton capped it off with his first dinger of the year. So after all the years of rumors and anticipation, it is really awesome to finally see these prospects play, and with performances like these, it really make it easier to have hope in the future.