The GBT - The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
RAYS 12, Royals 0 (boxscore)
THE GOOD: Remember when this team was supposed to be awesome offensively this season? They rank 25th in runs per game at just 4.01. Their .239 batting average as a team is tied for last in all of MLB with the New York Mets and they give a lot of at bats to Bartolo Colon! Their .307 OBP is 26th in MLB and next-to-last in the AL. And yet, we see glimpses of the offense’s potential in games like last night when they crank out 12 runs. This was the 5th time this season the Rays have scored at least 12 runs in a game. Only three teams (Padres, Cardinals, Red Sox) have more 12-run games this season, and no team has more than seven such games. We have talked about the streakiness of the Rays in the past. Teams with a lot of young players and with a lot of moving parts (no set lineup) is going to be streakier than most. Now add in a bunch of players who may not be good at getting on base but are good at mashing the ball (they are 9th in MLB in home runs), the type of players that tend to be streakier than others. Now all of a sudden you have The Perfect Storm of streakiness and it is not surprising when this team nearly gets no-hit and then scores 12 runs two nights later…Let’s not miss what Jake Odorizzi did last night either, 6 shutout innings, giving up just 2 hits. In his last 3 starts, Odorizzi has not allowed a run in 20.2 innings with 16 strikeouts and just 2 walks. That’s pretty good. And it was classic Odorizzi. Pitching can be simple if you hit your spots. For Odorizzi it is fastballs up (way up) and change ups down low. Look at these strikeouts. Every one is either a fastball up or a changeup down.
THE BAD: OK, this one is not really bad. But how funny is it to see Steven Souza strikeout and then get mad at the pitcher. YOU CAN’T GET MAD AT HIM FOR THROWING A GOOD PITCH!
Steven Souza is mad at the pitcher for throwing a good pitch. #Rays #Royals pic.twitter.com/Y8Jvf2d6U4
— Dr Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) August 4, 2016
Also, are people still dabbing? C’mon.
3 hits + 1 dab = 4 hits.#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/hnzLc72nYf
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 4, 2016
THE TELLING: Taylor Motter was demoted back to Durham and Richie Schaffer was recalled…Alex Cobb and Matt Duffy are both scheduled to play for Charlotte tonight on rehab assignments…[Norfolk 6, Durham 0] Austin Pruitt gave up 6 runs in 6 innings, including 3 home runs. The Bulls did not have a single base runner until an error with 1 out in the 9th inning. That was followed by their only hit of the night.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Brad Miller is not happy about the Rays trading for Matt Duffy. [TampaBay.com]
- It sounds like the Rays wanted a lot more from the Rangers for Matt Moore than they got from the Giants. [MLBTR]
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17 Comments
Lately we have been winning 1 in 3 games which has dropped us to be one of the 3 worst teams in baseball with little hope of catching Atlanta.
To imagine this team could be a playoff team next year or even challenge for one is pure wishful dreaming. Seems likethey are pulling an Atlanta and jettison everyone who won't be around in 2018 and maybe '19 is more realistic.
the '18 bye byes are down to Forsythe and Cobb, so that is the Rays plan for sure. Either they didn't get enough offer for Logan at the deadline and figure the offseason will bring in as much or better if he keeps up his torrid pace. Hopefully Cobb can come back strong enough next year to bring something at the deadline. History tells us whatever work he gets this year will not be impressive. Putting Erasmo in the rotaton to maximize his off season value for the balance of the year.
The Guyer move points to a team shooting for competing in 2019 at the earliest so look for Smyly to be dealt in the offseason especially if he finishes strong.
I think that is the actual plan and I agree with it.
Expect Archer and Longo to be here for that 2019 run. They are so valuable and at a fixed low cost until the next purge if '19-'20 fails.
Sure wish there was a way to keep Cobb in the minors until it is known he has recovered. There's no way this team can compete for a playoff this year, but why can't they be a stronger team going into the final 1/3 of the season and leave us with optimism for next year?
Before I start my daily rant about the ineptitude of the front office let me wish Matt Duffy the best of luck coming into a pretty volatile situation. Archer, Miller and Longo have publicly expressed their disappointment on Silverman's latest brain fart moves. Not cool.
I get the Pearce move both as a salary dump and a way to recoup value for a pending free agent. And let's face it, the team really does need another sub .200 hitting catcher in the minors. Good luck Steve.
The Guyer move puzzles me. 1st year arb player, probably in the 3 M range for two who are they Indians. Meanwhile Jennings sticks with the club and does what he does best. Nothing much.
The Moore trade shows just little vision the FO has. They traded for Miller this winter knowing he was defensively challenged yet announced in spring training that his defensive play was correctable and he was our starting SS. They didn't foresee that he can mash the ball. He's currently 2nd in HR's and OPS among AL SS's. So...having overplayed their hand with the Rangers, Silverman makes a last minute (3:59 PM) move to pick up Duffy. "We've liked him as a SS for awhile" he says. Really? Duffy last played SS with regularity in 2014 at AA. He made 15 errors. He's never played on turf, never played indoors and is on the DL with a tricky Achilles injury. WTF Matt, do you have a plan? How cavalier to proclaim the job is his without challenge. How insulting it is to Miller. Are you blaming Miller for the dismal season?
So here's the deal as I see it. Since the summer of 2014 we've traded Price, Moore, Karns, Zobrist, Esobar and released Astrubal, SRod and Jaso for Adames (AA), Franklin (Quad A), Robertson (AAA), Miller (without a position) and Duffy (unproven at SS). Matt, If you trade stocks like you trade players you must be on food stamps.
Guyer was traded because he would not be here for the 2019 season. So far all the moves point to that being the first next year the Rays can reasonably compete. Its not a unreasonable strategy. Why struggle to slowly get to .500 over next two years? Sacrifice 2017 and 2018 for a real run in 2019 and 2020. Of course he cannot come out and say it. Thats what the Astros did and the Braves are currently in the process of doing. And the Devil Rays did but sort of stumbled into and became a blueprint for the process.
You're forgetting we also traded McGee, Joyce, Hellickson, Peralta, Myers, Hanigan, Montgomery, Boog Powell
and received
Smyly, Lucius Fox, Morrison, Justin Williams, Andrew Velasquez, Kevin Padlo, Dickerson, Greg Harris, Jose Dominguez, Jepsen (who was then traded for Chih-Wei Hu), Burch Smith, Souza, Erasmo, and Jake Bauers.
You also cut off the Forsythe/Andriese/Boxberger trade which was a huge win. And left out the waiver claims of Cedeno, Whitley, and Arcia.
So my take on all those moves is they are probably a wash. Some of them piss me off (Myers/Souza, and the Moore deal potentially) while some have worked out well (Mcgee/Dickerson&Padlo, Karns/Miller&LoMo, Jepsen since we got a top 15 prospect and then resigned him). It's basically like every other team out there.
Agreed Drew that there were some positives among the moves you mentioned. Can't agree that they were a wash since we've actually had a poorer team record wise as a result. My point was just to show that each of the trades I mentioned had a prospective SS involved. We are saturated with players at that position. Moving Miller to first makes LoMo a spare part, makes Schafer (a #1 pick) a moot point and Gillaspie (another #1 pick) out in the cold. What's the plan?
Ok so I was wrong about the pitching trades. We didn’t overvalue our players and say we can get better value in the winter. We overvalued our player and basically settled for a player and force him to change positions.
I pray that a Moore for Profar swap was never offered by the Rangers. If we turned that down, we have the dumbest front office in MLB.
We also traded Pierce for a sub top 10 catching prospect that can’t hit “A” level pitchers. The odds on this kid ever making our team is extremely small. We basically gave away Pierce for a dream.
We overvalue our players, get shot down, then we settle cheap kids that will never make it to our system because we can’t develop talent other than pitchers. It’s the Rays way.
Are you still thinking we could have competed in 2016?
Pierce came here as a one year rental and cost us nothing. We got something for nothing. His value was zero when we picked him up. In fact we got the catcher from the team that gave him away to us. In our division.
The kid's a defensive catcher all orgs need defensive catchers at all levels. He helps develop young pitchers.
I do not get your complaint, He was going to play 50 some odd more games for our horrible team then get a pay raise somewhere else in 2017.
you're trying to rationalize trading for an A level catcher that is going to help our organization.
How many "defensive, pitch framing" catchers can a organization have? we stockpile them year after year. we have show zero ability to evaluate talent at the catcher position. we've show zero ability to develop young catcher and have them perform for our MLB team.
I realize that we needed to move him, but lets be honest. the odds of this trade amounting to anything is about zero.
Well your MO lately is 'criticize every move'. Outrage over the Pierce trade is silly. I am sure you could have gotten a hot prospect if you had only been in on the negotiaions lol.
Would you have preferred we kept him and only lost 98 games not 99?
http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/mlb/news/prospects/index.jsp?c_id=bal
Heim is only a 21yo catcher
Ill take the 13 th ranked prospect in the O's admittedly weak farm system. You take 2 useless months of Pearce in a Rays uniform. helping us battle the Twins for the #3 overall draft pick.
Via MLB Trade Rumors:
"Heim has struggled offensively at High-A this year, hitting .216/.300/.344 in 329 plate appearances. MLB Pipeline ranked him 13th among Orioles prospects, praising his defense and makeup. The Rays will hope the switch-hitting Heim progresses offensively in the coming years. "
What would you be saying Mr Sunshine if the Rays just traded the 13th best player in their farm system for a 2 months of a guy they DFA'd last year?
Switch hitting isn't easy. he's 1.5 years younger than the average High A player. A ball is filled with real catchers learning to hit and hitters learning to be catchers.
We failed in the past so we shouldn't try is not a cogent arguement
We proved again today that we can't scout catchers for shit. we were going to "fix" conger and casali was supposed to be a serviceable replacement.
yet they both are back in durham. we can't "fix", trade for, or develop catchers. yet you are ok with them wasting a trade on a catcher that can't hit "A" pitching. i guess we can fix and develop this kid.
It was a wasted trade!!!!!!
Read up a little more
I don't have to read up a little more. We suck at developing that position. The kid will never it to our MLB team. I was all for moving Pierce, but it was a complete waste of a trade of a position that we are hapless at developing.
Once again a wasted trade.
If LoMo hadnt gotten himself hurt, we may have gotten a prospect for him as well. His overall 2016 numbers are only slightly less than 2015 after that horrible start.
Ken H: You are the best poster, bar none. You speak for so many Rays fans. Among your many appropriate comments, the best and most accurate was your statement that Silverman has no plan. He has no plan for the big league club, nor a philosophy or plan for the organization, top to bottom. He bounces around like a pin ball and like someone who doesn't truly understand baseball. Keep up the good work, Ken H.
I keep thinking the Duffy acquisition could have something to do with getting set up to trade away Longoria in the off season. Then, I remind myself the Rays are always interested in versatile players. Maybe there's nothing more to it. So I'm just left scratching my head and clueless as ever.