SB Nation User Blog: LeftRight

Tampa Bay Rays look to Hillsborough for financing stadium

LeftRight — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:55:36 -0000

Tampa Bay Rays look to Hillsborough for financing stadium

Deadline for 40 man roster today

LeftRight — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:39:00 -0000

Goodbye Hammel? Ryu? Orvella? We have to put Davis, McGee, and Morlan on right? Royster is also eligible for Rule 5. Chris Mason? Any predictions? At least we will finally see some action today....

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Is our problem RF?

LeftRight — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:51:27 -0000

After looking at our club splits by position, the short answer would seem to be no. The biggest lack of offense seems to be coming from the spot in the order designed to produce the most offense - the DH. Our DH spot is producing .237/.315/.383 with an OPS only lower than SS. Our glaring hole is obviously the inability to hit LHP - this is what our slash line looks like as a team against LHP .248/.326/.395 compared to .265/.341/.415 against RHP. The need is not only for a right handed bat, but for one that hits lefties real well. One very cheap solution that would not cost any prospects, or much money at all would be Sexson - against LHP in 2008 - .324/.423/.623 (wow) - a substantial upgrade over Gomes (our current RHB DH against lefties hitting192/.297/.449. Now the argument here will obviously be what to do with the roster since we would be carrying essentially two DH spots on the bench. I think we all agree that Gomes never needs to be in the outfield as it, so he would essentially be serving the same purpose.

The point of this post was not to call for Sexson, but to point to our current DH problem, and the need for a lefty killer. I still love Nady because of his ability to play D, but I dont think the front office will give away too much, and it doesnt seem like he wants to leave. The roster spot is still up for discussion.

FARM FACTS: Vero Beach OF Desmond Jennings, who opened the year on the disabled list after hurting...

LeftRight — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:02:51 -0000

FARM FACTS: Vero Beach OF Desmond Jennings, who opened the year on the disabled list after hurting his back and then his shoulder in spring training, will have surgery on the shoulder Wednesday. The procedure probably will keep him from playing again this season.

Jennings, ranked 59th on Baseball America's list of baseball's top 100 prospects entering this year, also saw last season truncated by injury, as he had surgery in August to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.

The Trib

Ray's Adjusted W-L Records

LeftRight — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:45:15 -0000

Breaking down our staff using Eric Seidman's adjusted W-L record model looks like this so far this year:

Scott Kazmir is 7-3, with a 7-3 Adj (FIP 3.12)

James Shields is 6-5, with a 7-4 Adj (FIP 3.17)

Matt Garza is 7-4, with a 9-2 Adj (FIP 4.11)

Andy Sonnanstine is 10-3, with a 6-7 Adj (FIP 3.25)

Edwin Jackson is 5-6, with a 3-8 Adj (FIP 4.40)

So, relative to the amount of good games vs bad games, in which they recorded decisions, the Rays five are 32-24, whereas their actual records add up to 35-21, meaning their offense and bullpen has done a good job at scoring and holding leads when starters go 5 or less.

The adjusted numbers are found by seperating each pitchers Cheap Wins, Tough Losses, Legit Wins, and Legit Losses - all of which are derived from AQS (Adjusted Quality Starts). The adjusted records show the amount of times a pitcher deserved to win or lose relative to the amount of decisions received. Also - no decisions are not included in this model.

July

LeftRight — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:34:16 -0000

So leaving the game last night my friends and I got into one of the most fun Ray's discussions I have had in a while. Although it is premature and cannot happen until the attendance gets there, we were talking about being on the opposite of a major trade come July. Assuming we are still in the hunt, and knowing we have a very deep organization, who would you like to see the Rays make a run at? The conversation started with our needs which quickly went towards a right handed power hitting RF, lead off RF, or front line starter. Names got thrown out like Oswalt, and Dye and Ethier. And then we had to decide who we would part with - McGee, Davis, Nieman? And then tonight on mlbtraderumors I noticed that Holliday is on the block. He might demand more than our market can handle, but damn he would fit in perfectly here. So, without stating the obvious of how far away this really is, I would like to hear who the fans want to see in the new Rays gear. I also want to say that I absolutely LOVE the makeup of this team right now, but do feel we will need one more piece to take it all the way.