Everyone but the big league squad and Durham won today. Some highlights:

Felipe Rivero put together another nice outing, and CJ Riefenhauser continued the excellence in Bowling Green. Enny Romero had a no-hitter (with a couple small caveats). Kyle Lobstein seems to be taking a liking to AA this time around, and University of Tampa alum Alex Koronis continues his rebound from a tough year in Charlotte last year.

As far as the hitter's go, Tyler Goeddel continues to rake; and his teammate Juniel Querecuto has had a hot start in his limited exposure as well. Not much news for the bats outside of the stacked Bowling Green squad.

Full boxes below the jump...

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Melvin "Bossman Junior" Upton was selected second in the 2002 MLB draft by the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It was a bit of a coup that he was available there as he was considered the top talent in the draft. In the wisdom that led to zero playoff appearances in his tenure, David Littlefield liked Bryan Bullington's ceiling as a "good number three pitcher" over the toolsy high school shortstop out of Norfolk, VA. After signing for the biggest bonus in the draft in September of that year, B.J. didn't see the field in a D-Rays uniform until the following season. Despite his lack of professional statistics, Baseball America ranked him as the 21^st best prospect in their 2003 list speaking to his great tools and quiet confidence-he believed he could make it to the majors within 2 years.

Upton not only justified their ranking and faith by raking in A-ball and AA as an 18 year old shortstop (.297/.390/.431/.821 slash-line with 40 steals), but he also would end up justifying that quiet confidence Bill Ballew spoke to by appearing in his first big league game in 2004, his second season in the Devil Rays' organization. This quiet confidence-we'd surely call it "swag" now-along with his undeniable athleticism and lightening quick bat speed solidified him as my favorite young Devil Ray.

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At first blush, the Giants and Royals swap of Melky Cabrera and Jonathon Sanchez seemed like a slam dunk for the Royals to me which scared me about the potential market for Wade Davis. Before digging in to the numbers, I thought about Sanchez as the guy with electric stuff whose results often belied his abilities. Similarly, Cabrera in my eyes was the former top prospect whose poor approach (and seeming conditioning, work ethic, defense, etc. issues) failed him. There was also this: 

Melky's poor defense in CF and approach had clouded my ability to honestly examine the trade. I went back and took a look at the actual numbers each player had produced over the last 3 years (my typical time-frame for analyzing what I think a player's current abilities are and for projecting forward). Looking at that, it seems more and more like the deal was very even. Below is a table that shows each player's last 3 years of WAR from Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs along with an average of the two. It also shows the three-year average for each as well as a simple MARCELS projection for going forward. 

After diving in to the numbers, it seems that the swap of these two players was pretty much swapping two players of similar value . Of course, though, when looking at trades you can not just look at what the perceived value of the players are on yearly basis and call it a day. The other aspects are of course cost, contract status, and potential draft picks. Addressing the cost is fairly straight-forward; while neither have contracts in place, both are arbitration eligible and MLBtr projects their costs at $4.4 million for Cabrera and $5.2 for Sanchez. This is both players last arbitration season, so they both have one year of control left. In the same vein, both players are projected to be Type B FAs if they keep up their current performance. So the only difference between the two in the cost, contract, compensation portion of their value is $.8 million in projected salary. That, coupled with Melky's better recent performance, is probably why the Giants had to throw in a fringey prospect (Ryan Verdugo is considered to be a LOOGY prospect).

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The Rays are back in the ALDS despite the odds. They're back facing the team that eliminated them the year before. Though this time, the tables have turned. Last year, the Rays were the favorites, winning more games than anyone else in the AL. They would host the Rangers who were seemingly peaking at the right time looking like the team no one wanted to face (especially in a short series). They had two aces, one of which was the best pitcher in the AL. The Rangers took the short series behind their anchor Cliff Lee who dominated the Rays. Their other top lefty, CJ Wilson, got the third win with a great 6-inning, 2 hit performance. The Rangers two lefties combined for 22 1/3 IP giving up only 2 runs while striking out 28 and winning all three games.

Things have changed, though. This year the Rangers have home-field advantage. Cliff Lee? He's back in Philadelphia, and the Rays don't have to worry about him unless there's a 2008 World Series rematch. The Rays are the team with Aces. The Rangers staff is still built on left-handed pitching with CJ Wilson as the anchor and Matt Harrison also likely to start. Fortunately, it seems the Rays have had more success this year against lefties. Last year the Rays' OPS splits versus RH/LH starters were .739/.729; this year, those numbers have reversed: .719/.735. While we've been better generally against lefties, we've still struggled against Wilson (2-0, 2.08 ERA/3.89 FIP). Wilson will start game one, and he'll probably get another start in the series if it goes 4 or 5 games; so let's take try to breakdown what he's doing.

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Doubleheader today with Rays' off-day. I've got my Aubrey Huff O's shirzey on I got at a giveaway. HERE WE GO O'S!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: The Red Sox lost the first game 6-5, meaning the Rays are now just 1.5 games back. Here's the Gameday link for game two.

Brandon Guyer had a break-out season in 2010 before being traded to the Rays in the Matt Garza package. Guyer was drafted in the 5th round out of UVA in 2007. Baseball America had the following write-up about him leading up to the draft:

Guyer played poorly in the Cape Cod League last year, and he ultimately could fall into the category of solid hitter without enough power for a corner or quickness for the middle of the diamond. The consistent hard contact he made for the Cavaliers this spring opened the eyes of scouts, however, and in a draft thin in college hitters, he had a chance to go off the board in the top five rounds. He plays the game with fervor and has an aggressive, all-out approach. He doesn't work counts and he will swing and miss often, but he has solid-average bat speed and an ability to lash line drives from gap to gap. He's a 60 runner on the 20-80 scale, but lacks the lateral quickness to develop into an above-average defensive second baseman, and his fringy arm strength plays best in left field.

We see the first mention of his plus speed and above-average bat speed. At the time of the draft scouts questioned his power and approach. Since then Guyer has answered on of those questions rather resoundingly: power. His power is quit good. His approach, on the other hand, is still frustrating at times. Even in Guyer's breakout 2010 he still only walked in 6.7% of his plate appearances (which nearly matched his professional high of 6.8%). This past off-season Guyer got the following reviews from scouting services:

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Connecticut 4, Hudson Valley 6

Bowling Green 5, Dayton 6

Charlotte 1, Jupiter 3

Charlotte 10, Durham 2

Elizabethton 10, Princeton 6

AUG 30, 2011 | APP (ROOKIE)

Connecticut 5, Hudson Valley 0

AUG 30, 2011 | NYPL (A-)

Bowling Green 3, Great Lakes 2

AUG 30, 2011 | MIDW (A)

Charlotte 3, Jupiter 4

AUG 30, 2011 | FSL (A+)

Montgomery 3, Carolina 7

AUG 30, 2011 | SOU (AA)

Durham 4, Gwinnett 3

AUG 30, 2011 | IL (AAA)

Elizabethton 6, Princeton 5

Brooklyn 3, Hudson Valley 1

Brooklyn 0, Hudson Valley 7

Bowling Green 10, Great Lakes 0

Fort Myers 2, Charlotte 5

Montgomery 3, Carolina 8

Durham 1, Gwinnett 2

Elizabethton 8, Princeton 2

Bowling Green 2, Great Lakes 1

Fort Myers 0, Charlotte 7

Montgomery 4, Carolina 3

Durham 4, Charlotte 3

Durham 3, Charlotte 0

GCL Red Sox 2, GCL Rays 21

Princeton 6, Pulaski 0

Hudson Valley 3, Vermont 1

Lansing 4, Bowling Green 1

Jupiter 3, Charlotte 4

Jupiter 1, Charlotte 5

Montgomery 8, Mississippi 5

Durham 3, Norfolk 4

GCL Twins 5, GCL Rays 2

Princeton 2, Pulaski 5

Hudson Valley 0, Vermont 5

Great Lakes 8, Bowling Green 10

Jupiter 11, Charlotte 5

Montgomery 1, Mississippi 4

Durham 4, Norfolk 6

GCL Rays 3, GCL Twins 12

Princeton 2, Pulaski 4

Vermont 2, Hudson Valley 4

Great Lakes 1, Bowling Green 4

Montgomery 5, Mississippi 8