Yankees reload at trade deadline, Rays not so much
The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays have taken a different approach to the MLB trade deadline. The Yankees have gone out and acquired IF Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros, OF Austin Kearns from the Cleveland Indians, and it looks as if the Yankees are now also acquiring P Kerry Wood.
The Rays acquired RP Chad Qualls from the Arizona Diamondbacks this morning. I was questioning as to the move, but later in the day it became clear as to the move to acquire a pitcher with an ERA approaching 8.00. It appears now that RP Grant Balfour is heading to the disabled list with a serious rib strain, something not very good for a pitcher. According to Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times, the recovery time for Balfour could take 4-6 weeks.
As I close out this blog posting, it is being reported that the Rays have not made any other deal other than for RP Chad Qualls. That means that Jeremy Hellickson and Desmond Jennings remain with the team and that management hasn’t sold out the future in order to try to win it this year. I think this team can win it this year and once again, I can’t really question too many moves from the front office. The Buccaneers could use a lesson.
Qualls joins the Rays and his current numbers are a bit deceiving. He is a seven year veteran pitcher and was the Diamondbacks closer for a time. He fits the Rays pitching profile, he’s 6’5″ tall and can eat up some innings.
Both of the Yankees early morning acquisitions, Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns are expected to be in the Trop for tonight’s game. That’s alright, reload Yankees, you still aren’t going to win tonight. Matt Garza (11-5 4.06) fresh off his no hitter takes the mound for the good guys, and Javier Vasquez (9-7 4.54) assumes the hill for the Evil Empire.
Tonight’s Rays victory will assure me a free beer from a misguided friend you roots for the Evil Empire and wagered a beer on the series. This will indeed be the sweet nectar of victory.
Tampa Bay Rays end losing streak, down Yankees
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The Tampa Bay Rays collected their first win on a Friday in 11 weeks. No more black cats, broken mirrors,worrying about walking under ladders or tossing spilled salt over your shoulder. The Rays are on a roll. They broke the losing streak last week in Cleveland and now snapped the Friday night losing streak tonight, in the midst of a 7 game win streak, and only 1 game back from the Yankees.
If you like a pitching dual, tonight was a game you would enjoy. Both starting pitchers surrendered 4 hits, but the difference was that Wade Davis gave up a 2 run shot in the 1st inning, and Phil Hughes gave up a 3 run shot in the 6th. Wade Davis has pitched some great baseball since his last start just prior to the All-Star break. If he is going to be trade bait, tonight’s line is pretty impressive. 7 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 ER’s 6 K’s and the Rays are 5-0 in his last 5 starts and he has 4 wins.
This was a fantastic win tonight and now the Yankees get to see Matt Garza tomorrow night. The trade deadline is 4pm tomorrow afternoon, and the guys on Sun Network tonight interviewed Stu Sternberg tonight and he said, ” my gut is there will be 1-2 new uniforms in here tomorrow. I’m not certain which side of the ball though”. During the game I received Tweets stating that the Yankees have already traded for Houston Astros 1B Lance Berkman so Sternberg might very well be correct and I doubt the Rays will pull off a trade.
RaysCentral talks Yankees with Pinstripe Alley
I had the opportunity this week to have a bit of Q and A with Ed Valentine of Pinstripe Alley, a Yankees blog from the SB Nation. We spoke about the upcoming series, Carl Crawford and whether or not Ed would be rooting for the Rays in the World Series.
Q- Tampa and New York are clearly two of the best teams in MLB right now, do you envision the Yankees slipping out of first place down the stretch?
A- Anything is possible. The Rays are only two games back as I write this and I know how good they are, so it would not shock me if the division lead flip-flopped a couple of times before it ends. As long as the Yankees make it to October, I really don’t care.
Q- The Rays and Yankees square off on Friday, the trade deadline is Saturday, do you anticipate a move by the Yankees before the deadline and if so, what players do they target?
A- I ALWAYS anticipate moves by the Yankees. They could use bullpen depth and a corner infielder who can hit as protection in case A-Rod’s hip flares up again. The reliever being targeted right now is Scott Downs of Toronto. The infielder? Maybe Baltimore’s Ty Wigginton. There is also some Adam Dunn speculation, but I’m not sure a major move like that gets done.
Q- Tampa’s All-Star LF Carl Crawford will be a free agent after the end of this season. Would you anticipate the Yankees will make a play for Crawford in the offseason?
A- Before this season I would have said ‘without a doubt.’ He was at the top of my list of non-pitchers (meaning players not named Cliff Lee, who is No. 1 on my list). Now, I’m not so sure. Brett Gardner isn’t Crawford, but he is a better player than anyone thought, and the Yankees also have Curtis Granderson. Both guys, of course, hit left-handed. The Yankees might be more inclined to make a big run at Philadelphia’s Jayson Werth, a right-handed bat. But, hey, I think Crawford would look very nice in pinstripes.
Q- What are the Yankees biggest weaknesses right now?
A- Bullpen, without a doubt. Joba Chamberlain has been inconsistent, and the top lefty in the ‘pen, Damaso Marte, is hurt. They really could use some depth there, thus the talk about Downs and KC’s Joakim Soria.
Q- Do you think the passing of “The Boss” will inspire the Yankees this season?
A- No, not really. I think he had been distant the past few seasons and not a lot of the guys really knew him, anyway. On the field, I really don’t think his passing has an impact one way or the other.
Q- So, when the the Rays win the AL and represent in the World Series this year, will you be rooting for them to win?
A- Well, I know you are joking since that is not happening. But, umm, no. I’d rather root the Mets.
Thanks to Ed Valentine from Pinstripe Alley for the time and Ed, I wish I could wish you guys good luck, but you know how it is!
Rays Fans- It’s Friday, you know what that means
Fresh off a sweep of the depleted Detroit Tigers, the Tampa Bay Rays are set to square off with AL East division leading rival, the New York Yankees. And of course, the Rays start the series on a Friday. Fridays have been like garlic to a vampire this season. The Rays are currently in a slump, losing their last 11 Friday night games, and only have a 3-14 record overall on Friday.The good news though is that the Rays are 10-1 on the Saturday following that Friday loss. But we could just go ahead and get the first win out of the way tonight and be done with it.
The Rays finally broke the losing streak in Cleveland last week and it’s perfect timing to get off the Friday losing streak tonight. Wade Davis (8-9 4.32) takes the mound for the good guys tonight against Phil Hughes (12-3 4.04) for the Evil Empire. Both pitchers are coming off a win in their last start. Davis has pitched better as of late, winning his last three starts with a 2.11 ERA.
The trade deadline is just around the corner and the National’s Adam Dunn is linked to the Rays organization in more and more reports. In what I hope is unrelated news, SP Jeremy Hellickson was limited to just three innings in his start yesterday.
Coming this afternoon, my interview with Pinstripe Alley.
Rays sweep Tigers, next up……Yankees
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The Tampa Bay Rays handed the Detroit Tigers another road loss this afternoon, defeating them 4-2 and completing a 4 game sweep. David Pricerecorded the win, his 14th, the first pitcher in the American League to reach that mark. Price is now within striking distance of the all time single season win record for a Rays pitcher. A mark set in 1998 by Rolando Arrojo of 15 wins.
Tampa is now on pace for 101 wins this season and are 4 games ahead of where they were 100 games into the season in 2008.
One good sign for the Rays is that 1B Carlos Pena’s bat is coming alive and it’s not just home runs he’s hitting. He dd manage to crush one to right field today but it was a solo shot. Pena ended the day going 3-4 and driving in 4 runs.
The loss of B.J. Upton and Ben Zobrist to injury were apparent early on as Gabe “Welcome Back” Kapler was inserted into the center field slot. With Tiger’s 2B Will Rhymes facing David Price in the third inning, Kapler was playing so shallow I think he believed he was supposed to be covering second. Rhymes hit a ball over Kapler’s head which rolled to the wall for his first triple of the season. I certainly hope that Zobrist will be ready to go against the Yankees this weekend.
Make sure to come back tomorrow as I’ve interviewed Edward Valentine of the Yankees blog, Pinstripe Alley and we will be bouncing a few questions off one another about the charged weekend series between the Yankees and Rays.
