Sign of the Apocalypse

MLB - Standings - Yahoo! Sports
American League
East                          W  L    Pct  GB
Tampa Bay Rays      14 11 .560   –
Baltimore Orioles    14 11 .560  –
Boston Red Sox       15 12 .556  –
New York Yankees  13 13 .500  1.5
Toronto Blue Jays    11 15 .423  3.5

Yes, folks, the Devil Rays and the O’s are tied for first. So is Boston but they’re sure to fade

Meanwhile, Rays fans continue to be outnumbered at home games,

The Rays have often seemed like the visitors when the Red Sox and Yankees are in town, but they hoped it would change with an improved team.

Maybe the Rays should consider Orlando

Tampa Bay Devil Rays rallied Wednesday night,

for a 5-3 victory at Disney World. “We’re very fortunate to be able to do it.”

Tampa Bay improved to 5-0 in games they’ve played here the past two seasons in home-away-home series designed to bolster fan support in the Orlando area.

Five and oh. That could be enough reason to build that new stadium in Orlando.

The attendance was 8989, that’s about what they’d get at the Trop.

Gross for Butler

In a move so earth shattering that it’s hard to find it on the Rays front page, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays acquired Greg Gross from Brewers.

The Tampa Bay Rays addressed a need for help in the outfield Tuesday, when they acquired Gabe Gross from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league pitcher Josh Butler.

Gross was batting .209 with no homers and two RBI’s in 16 games this season. He went 2-for-4 and scored three runs, including the game-winner, in Milwaukee’s 9-8 victory over St. Louis earlier Tuesday.

Butler was 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in three starts for Class A Vero Beach this season.

A mediocre position player for a mediocre minor leaguer. Boy I hope both teams are improved with this move.

See more at “the Bar.”

AL EAST

We will find out this year if Joe Torre is the genius everyone thinks he is. He has left the New York Yankees and gone to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he may have to decide pitching changes once in a while. Will the Yankees live up to their potential this year? The pitching staff has promise. The offense should show no slack.

But they won’t beat the Boston Red Sox who should repeat as AL East champs. Providing everyone stays healthy and Ramirez and Papi regain their 2006 form.

Toronto Blue Jays should gain third place if only because all they have to do is beat out the Devil Rays and the Orioles. They got David Epstein for SS and Scott Rolen for 3B.

Joe Maddon is predicting a .500 record for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays this year. Right. But they probably won’t finish last thanks to the Orioles. Maybe 70+ wins will help get them that new stadium at the waterfront.

What to say about the Baltimore Orioles? With Erik Bedard going to Seattle, the O’s have no one close to a bona fide starter. Last place, even though they are in the same division as the Devil Rays.

Wow, it’s only spring

From The Heater, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays blog,

So much for any issues between the Rays and Yanks being “put to bed.”The Rays-Yankees spring training game Wednesday took a wild turn in the top of the second, when Yankees 1B Shelley Duncan slid spikes-high into Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura while trying to stretch a single into a double. Duncan[']s hard slide prompted a quick ejection, and sparked the benches to clear.

Duncan, if you remember, had made some veiled threats earlier this week that there would be more intensity in today’s game following the much-publicized home plate collision Saturday by Rays INF Elliot Johnson. The Rays felt it was just a hard play. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said it was “uncalled for” during a spring training game.

Just think what it will be like when the regular season starts.

This is why we hate the Yankees.

Rays won’t seek state subsidy

From the St. Petersburg Times

The Tampa Bay Rays said Monday they are temporarily abandoning plans to seek a $60-million state subsidy to help pay for a new downtown waterfront stadium.

Team senior vice president Michael Kalt said the decision does not affect the team’s stadium proposal or timetable. The Rays wants to build a $450-million waterfront stadium on the site of Al Lang Field that would be ready for play in 2012.

Kalt said it’s unclear whether the stadium would have to be redesigned to accommodate for the loss of state funding. Financing details still need to be worked out, in large part because it’s unknown how much money the redevelopment of Tropicana Field could generate.

Delegation uninterested in Rays’ wish

From the St. Pete Times,

The Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays need a pair of state lawmakers to spearhead their push for a $60-million state subsidy for a new stadium.

But that prospect, in this tax climate, is more daunting than it seems.

The overwhelming majority of the [Devil] Rays’ hometown lawmakers - the 12 members of the Pinellas County delegation [to the Florida legislature] that would be most likely to push the team’s interest - sound unwilling or uninterested in aiding the Rays when contacted by the St. Petersburg Times this week.

Principle owner Stu Sternburg insists the plan for a new stadium is not a ploy to leave town.

The Devil Rays are also trying for a new Spring training complex in Charlotte County in SW Florida.

It’s all part of plan to expand the Devil Rays low fan base. Winning would do that best, but it seems the Devil Rays haven’t learned that yet. Stories like this don’t help.

Even though he is entering his first year of arbitration eligibility, there’s already talk that Scott Kazmir’s days as a [Devil] Ray are numbered.

Here is complete coverage by the Times on the proposed stadium, including pictures.

Tampa Bay Rays to build new park.

From the St. Pete Times “Breaking News” blog,

The Tampa Bay Rays [formerly the Devil Rays] are planning a $450-million stadium on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront site of Al Lang Field.

The stadium, with about 35,000 seats, would be paid for primarily by the team, which would contribute about $150-million, along with the proceeds of the sale of development rights to Tropicana Field. The team hopes to attract a private developer to build a large retail/residential complex at the Tropicana Field site. The team also would seek as much as $60-million in future state sales-tax revenues, which would require approval by the Legislature.

St. Petersburg voters would need to approve the new stadium because it is public property. The city would attempt to sell the land to the county so it wouldn’t have to pay property taxes. The Rays would ask for a longterm lease.

For my SE Wisconsin readers, Tropicana Field was originally started in 1986 and finished in 1990 for $115 million. It was built to try to attract a major league baseball team. First as the Florida Suncoast Dome and then as the Thunderdome, it sat largely empty until MLB awarded a team in 1995. The Devil Rays started play in 1998 after $70 million in renovations.

The new stadium would be open-air, but it could be covered with sail-like material on a cabling system. Some seating areas would be air conditioned.

This is a change from the earlier thinking as recorded by the Wikipedia article,

It was taken for granted that a domed stadium was necessary for a prospective major league team to be viable in the area, due to its extremely hot, humid summers and frequent thunderstorms.

One wonders what the change was. Was it the disastrous design of the roof on Tropicana Field with the catwalks which cause probably the screwiest set of ground rules in baseball?

This, of course, is not going to solve the main problem of the worst team in baseball since they entered the league; a lack of fans. The smaller stadium will be easier to fill–they may even get some sellouts when the Yankees and Red Sox come to town.

The Devil Rays can’t attract fans from the Orlando area like the football Buccaneers do, when the Orlando fans can make a day of it and not lose time to work.

Seems like a bad idea that won’t solve a thing.

Devil Ray Trades

The Devil Rays are attempting to shore up the major leagues worst pitching staff. Tampa Bay is ninth in the AL in hitting, but last in pitching with a team ERA over 6, 7.18 in the last 30 days! They are 10-32 since June 10.

First, they traded Seth McClung to the Brewers for Grant Balfour. I’m not sure this will be a good trade for Brewer’s fans, as McClung’s career ERA with the Rays is 6.38. He just never lived up to the Rays expectations. Shawn Camp was sent down to make room for Balfour.

Balfour, proving that a change of leagues has not helped (at least not yet). As far as the D-Rays go, how can they get worse?

Then, they sent Jorge Cantu to the Reds with OF Shaun Cumberland and cash. In return they got left-handed pitcher Brian Shackelford, right-hander Calvin Medlock and the much-traveled player to be named. They will report to Durham, the Rays AAA team

Cantu, the team’s 2005 MVP, was not happy at Tampa Bay with his reduced playing time.

Lastly, they shipped fan favorite Ty Wiggington, familiar to Brewer fans, to Houston for right-handed reliever Dan Wheeler. To replace Wiggington, the Rays recalled shortstop Ben Zobrist from Triple-A Durham. Wheeler is 1-4 with a 5.07 ERA and 11 saves in 45 appearances.

Wiggington’s flexibility should come in handy in Houston.