SB Nation User Blog: RayOfLight

Gaming Site Reports Longoria ("Devil Rays Outfielder") on 2K11 Cover

RayOfLight — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:19:49 -0000

See if you guys can find all of the errors: Evan Longoria Named MLB 2K10 Cover Athlete

The Devil Rays' outfielder makes his videogame debut.

November 24, 2009 - 2K Sports announced today that Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will appear on the MLB 2K11 videogame cover. What that cover will look like is entirely up to the fans this year, as you'll be able to vote on different cover art selections at 2KSports.com from now until Tuesday, December 8 at 12:00 Eastern Standard Time. The final cover will be revealed on Friday, December 11.

"It's been a milestone year for me, from winning a Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger Award, to now being selected as the cover athlete for Major League Baseball 2K10 - this has been a truly humbling experience," said Longoria, All-Star third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays. "Since 2K Sports is letting fans decide on the final box cover art, I'm going to have to rally my Rays teammates to ensure that my favorite takes the lead."

The third overall pick in the 2006 draft, Longoria made his major league debut in 2008 with the Rays and was named American League Rookie of the Year. This past season, the third baseman batted .281, with 33 homeruns, 113 RBI's, and 100 runs, and became the first player in Tampa Bay franchise history to be recognized as American League Player of the Month.

MLB 2K10 will be available in spring 2010 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP and PC.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/104/1049766p1.html

Padres claim Jae Kuk Ryu

RayOfLight — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:58:10 -0000

Padres grab Rays pitcher off waivers

By Corey Brock / MLB.com

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres claimed right-handed pitcher Jae Kuk Ryu off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, giving them yet another arm to evaluate next month when Spring Training begins.

The 25-year-old Ryu appeared in one game for Tampa Bay last season, throwing 1 1/3 shutout innings. He made five starts for Triple-A Durham, going 1-2 with a 4.38 ERA.

Ryu, a native of South Korea, saw his season end early after having arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in July.

Ryu has appeared in 28 Major League games over the past three seasons, posting a 1-3 record with a 7.49 ERA over 39 2/3 innings with the Chicago Cubs (2006) and Rays (2007-08).

Over parts of seven Minor League seasons in the Cubs organization, Ryu was 42-34 with a 3.52 ERA.

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090115&content_id=3746294&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd&partnerId=rss_sd

Dan Johnson signs with Japan team for 1 year/$1.2 mil

RayOfLight — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:44:58 -0000

Johnson signs to play in Japan

Ex-Rays first baseman agrees to one-year deal with Yokohama

First baseman Dan Johnson signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract with the Yokohama BayStars of Japan's Central League on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.

Johnson, 29, played four years in the big leagues and hit .248 with 44 home runs and 161 RBIs with the Athletics and Rays. He made his Major League debut in 2005 with Oakland and had his best season that year, hitting .275 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090110&content_id=3739191&vkey=news_tb&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb&partnerId=rss_tb

A's and Giambi close to 1 year/$4 million deal with option

RayOfLight — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:23:51 -0000

Sources: A's, Giambi near deal
Comment Email Print ESPN.com news services

The Oakland Athletics and free agent first baseman and designated hitter Jason Giambi are on the verge of agreeing on a one-year deal with an option for 2010, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

Jason Giambi will join Matt Holliday in helping to revive what was an anemic A's offense last season, Keith Law writes.

The deal would pay Giambi, who started his major league career in Oakland, $4 million in 2009 with a $6.5 million base salary for the option year in 2010. The second year would also provide for a $1.25 million buyout.

"I can confirm that I have spoken with the A's regarding Giambi, however, I cannot comment on the status of the negotiations," Giambi's agent, Arn Tellem, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Giambi, who turns 38 on Thursday, just completed a seven-year, $120 million contract with the Yankees that paid him $23.5 million last season. A 14-year veteran, he has a .286 career batting average with 396 home runs. New York declined its $22 million option on him after last season, choosing instead to pay him a $5 million buyout.

The addition of Giambi would be the second big offseason acquisition by general manager Billy Beane, who made a trade with Colorado for star outfielder Matt Holliday back in November.

Oakland announced in early November that Bob Alejo would become its new director of strength and conditioning -- a sign Giambi might be next to come back and return to his roots. Alejo served as the A's strength and conditioning coach from 1993-01 and followed Giambi to the Yankees, working for Giambi personally and for the team during some years.

Giambi won the AL MVP for Oakland in 2000, then left for New York following the 2001 campaign. He enjoyed each return visit to the Bay Area, seeing old friends and making trips to the popular California chain of In-N-Out Burger. He said he tried to open an In-N-Out in New York to no avail.

Giambi, a second-round draft pick by the A's in 1992, is a career .286 hitter in 14 big league seasons. He made his major league debut for Oakland on May 8, 1995.

Giambi batted .247 with 32 home runs and 96 RBIs in 2008 for the Yankees, who missed the playoffs despite their $200 million payroll after a run of 13 consecutive postseason appearances. That's just one shy of the record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991-05.

Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3813273

Olney: Rays now have better lineup then Red Sox and Yanks

RayOfLight — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:32:35 -0000

Pretty good interview with Olney here:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3811658

Olney projects the batting order as:

Iwamura, Upton, Crawford, Longo, Pena, Burrell, Joyce, Navarro, Bartlett

75 words is kinda, sorta a really dumb rule, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75, 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75

Red Sox close to 1 year deal with Brad Penny

RayOfLight — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:11:55 -0000

Source: Red Sox close to adding Penny to rotation

Updated: December 28, 2008, 4:55 PM EST 3 comments
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Free-agent right-hander Brad Penny and the Boston Red Sox are close to agreeing on a one-year deal, according to a major-league source.

Penny, who would be in the Red Sox's starting rotation, will have to take a physical and the two sides are still working out the language of the contract.
Penny, 29, struggled last season with the Dodgers, going 6-9 with a 6.27 in 17 starts and two relief appearances. He was shut down in September and placed on the 60-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder.

Penny posted a career year in 2007 by throwing 208 innings with 16 wins and a career-low 3.03 ERA.

The move would give the Red Sox the ability to keep Justin Masterson in the bullpen and be patient with Clay Buchholz.

Adding Penny would be Boston's first big move of the offseason after it lost out on slugger Mark Teixeira earlier this month. Penny would join an already formidable rotation that includes Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8997354/Source:-Red-Sox-close-to-adding-Penny-to-rotation

Olney: Rays and A's in bidding war for Abreu, Burrell, Giambi and Anderson

RayOfLight — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:56:44 -0000

A fascinating bidding war -- which says everything about where baseball is, in this time and place of economic strife -- seems to be evolving between the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays and Athletics, whose combined payroll would probably account for about 3 ½ Yankees, are prepared to be big spenders on a corner outfielder/designated hitter type. Or, at least they're ready to spend big, within the context of this particular winter, which means anywhere from $4 million to $9 million, in all likelihood. There just aren't that many teams willing to dole out a contract that big.

And here's the thing: both teams might prefer that the other team sign a slugger first, whether it be Jason Giambi or Bobby Abreu or Pat Burrell or Garret Anderson, because it would naturally reduce the leverage of the rest of the field, and drive down their asking price.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=olney_buster&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fname%3dolney_buster

Also, according ot the San Fran Chronicle, the A's are talking to Anderson and Abreu with Giambi as a priority, but no mention of Burrell:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/27/SPKL14VNI1.DTL&feed=rss.athletics

Angels will not pursue Abreu, Dunn or Burrell

RayOfLight — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:07:52 -0000

This looks like good news for us:

(trying to get to 75 words long)

From mlbtr.com

Angels GM Tony Reagins told Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times Wednesday that his club is "not likely" to retain outfielder Garret Anderson. Reagins also mentioned that the organization has no plans to pursue free agent outfielders Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu or Pat Burrell. Reagins, of course, had already written off the idea of the Halos inking Manny Ramirez.

Best rotation in the AL East?

RayOfLight — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:50:20 -0000

The Yankees' rotation should (make that, had better) be improved from 2008, with Sabathia and Burnett atop it, but can we say with any certainty that it's now pound-for-pound superior to the Rays' or the Red Soxs'? I don't think so.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/ben_reiter/12/24/teixeira.yankees/index.html

I know the Red Sox and Yanks probably will sign another starter apiece but what rotation do you have?

Rays: Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Price, Sonnanstine

Red Sox: Beckett, Lester, Dice-K, Wakefield, Masterson

Yankees: Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Chamberlin, Hughes

Angels sign Juan Rivera- 3 yr/12.75 mil.

RayOfLight — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:22:50 -0000

Rivera agrees to three-year, $12.75M contract to remain with Angels

Dec. 19, 2008
CBSSports.com wire reports

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Outfielder Juan Rivera decided to stay with the Los Angeles Angels, agreeing Friday to a $12.75 million, three-year contract.

The 30-year-old outfielder hit .246 with 12 homers and 45 RBI in 89 games for the Angels last season, his fourth with the team. All 12 of his homers came in a span of 58 games after July 2. He also was the Angels' top pinch hitter with five hits in 14 at-bats and five RBI, including two game-winners.

Rivera figures to play the outfield and serve as a designated hitter. The Angels are in negotiations to re-sign free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira, and they might pursue free-agent outfielder Manny Ramirez should Teixeira sign elsewhere.

Rivera has a .282 batting average with 52 homers and 197 RBI in 333 games in his four years with the Angels. In his career, Rivera is hitting .284 with 72 homers and 278 RBI in 555 games.

He gets $3.25 million next season, $4.25 million in 2010 and $5.25 million in 2011.

Originally signed by the Yankees on April 5, 1996, Rivera played with New York from 2001-03 and the Montreal Expos in 2004, then was traded to the Angels with infielder Maicer Izturis for outfielder Jose Guillen on Nov. 10, 2004.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/11182080/rss