January 9, 2009 • 8:48 pm
Both said it was the money. First,
Even after 554 saves, it’s hard to justify paying a pitcher who worked 45 1/3 innings last season nearly 10 percent of a last-place team’s payroll. It would be like using Krugerrands to balance the legs of a wobbly kitchen table, or renting a Porsche to deliver pizza.
Second,
The Padres, under a mandate by owner John Moores to reduce payroll by about 40 percent, did not make another offer to Hoffman. If the 41-year-old pitcher passes a physical next week, the end of his Padres tenure will be official.
And they had a closer in the wings,
Padres manager Bud Black has said that Heath Bell, the team’s eighth-inning specialist, likely would move into the closer’s job in 2009.
He also brings intangibles,
“We are losing a guy that is a professional at a level that is over and above anybody else,” [Padres trainer Todd] Hutcheson said. “I have seen it in this clubhouse, the way he goes about his business and relates to people. We are going to miss him a lot. There is going to be a big void here.”
And
Padres pitcher Chris Young said, …”He set a great example for a lot of people, had a very positive impact on a lot of guys’ careers, whether he knows it or not. He is really going to be genuinely missed.”
Filed under: Baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, Sports , Baseball, major league baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, sport, Trevor Hoffman
January 3, 2009 • 12:19 pm
January 2, 2009 • 4:23 pm
Via the St. Petersburg Times
A vacant block in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg is emerging as a potential new home for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The site, 15 acres in the Carillon office complex, would be closer to Tampa and north Pinellas County than either Tropicana Field or the failed proposal for Al Lang Field.
The Carillon location also has twice as many people within a 30-minute drive than either downtown St. Petersburg site, according to an internal report released by the Rays.
The other sites in the mix for the new stadium in addition to the Carillon property are
Al Lang Field, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport, the Toytown landfill, the former sod farm property south of Valpak off Interstate 275, and Derby Lane.
I’ve got a Google map of the sites here.
The report by the ABC (A Baseball Committee) is here (part one and part two, both PDF files). These reports take an in-depth look at all the sites. It states at the outset,
By 2012, Tropicana Field will be the 5th oldest stadium in all of MLB, behind Fenway Park (1912) in Boston, Wrigley Field (1914) in Chicago, Dodger Stadium (1962) in Los Angeles, and the Rogers Centre (1989) in Toronto.
Wow. Of course, the stadium was part of the Tampa Bay Area’s “Build it and they will come” effort in the early 90’s, before finally landing the Devil Rays in 98.
The Times reports in a separate blog that the Rays stadium site, www.majorleaguedowntown.com. The web site now directs traffic to the Rays’ official web site, www.raysbaseball.com.
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , major league baseball, new stadiums, Sports, Tampa Bay Rays
November 15, 2008 • 4:09 pm
It does? Why?
This is the Yankees’ organization we’re talking about, right? Aren’t they known for signing players to rich contracts?
Twenty three and 1/3 million is not that big a jump from the $20 million reportedly offered by the Brewers.
And wasn’t Melvin the GM for the Rangers when they signed A-Rod to what was viewed as a ridiculously high contract?
Which CC will the Brewers (or Yankees) get? First half of last year? Or second half of last year?
Filed under: Baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, Sports , major league baseball, Milwaukee Brewers
October 29, 2008 • 9:01 pm
October 27, 2008 • 4:51 pm
I think someone’s substituted the past 10 years Devil Rays for this years Rays.
Gary Shelton summed it up,
It is a team that has been defined by the way it has beaten the odds against it. It is a team that will be remembered for the way it has overcome the obstacles in front of it.
Never, however, has the deck been stacked so severely against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays are in trouble.
It reminds me of the 1966 series. Everyone bragged on the Dodgers pitching and it was the Orioles who outpitched them.
No hitting (since they lost game 5 of the ALCS, the Rays have averaged less than 3 runs per game and are 2-4), spotty pitching, and defensive lapses have led the Rays to the brink of losing the Series.
And they face Hamels tonight.
And can I just add that RISP (hits when runners are in scoring position) is overrated?
Oo, boy.
But even if they lose tonight, the Rays and their fans should be proud of the team. Two hundred to one longshots at the beginning of the year, every major league team now takes this young team seriously.
Here’s the lineup for tonight:
Iwamura, 2b
Crawford, lf
Upton, cf
Pena, 1b
Longoria, 3b
Navarro, c
Baldelli, rf
Bartlett, ss
Kazmir, p
Baldelli in for Zobrist and moving Crawford up in the order are the major changes.
Here are some interesting links:
Top 10 Rays victories
10 moves that turned it around
Rays trivia quiz
Phillies ties land Clearwater in hot water with Tampa Bay Rays fans (Note: Clearwater is where I grew up and where the Phillies have had Spring Training for 60 years. They have an A-ball team in the Florida State League at Clearwater–the Threshers.)
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , 2008 World Series, Clearwater, Clearwater Threshers, Florida, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays
October 22, 2008 • 7:52 pm
I gave it a thought, but, one, I have too much to do while it’s on and, two, I didn’t want to subject my Milwaukee readers to it.
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series
October 3, 2008 • 5:04 pm
September 29, 2008 • 10:27 pm
For those who have never been there, I give you this ESPN video about Jim Cagle walking the catwalks at Tropicana Field. After all, who knows how much longer it will be standing?
Filed under: Baseball, Sports, Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Tropicana Field
