This is yet another in a long line of Rays ownership’s low risk, high reward signings.

During the signing of the two former Boston Red Sox teammates, Manny Ramirez told reporters, ” Like Johnny said, the pitching is great. Me and Johnny, we could help. We have a lot of experience. I think we could work with the young guys and make them better”.

The signing comes as I explained, with little risk and a huge upside potential. Johnny Damon now can possibly return to the leadoff position, giving the Rays a genuine leadoff bat, and Ramirez comes with some huge potential as finally providing the Rays with a DH bat which will no longer be hovering around the .200 batting average level. While Man-Ram might not blast 30 homeruns at this point in his career, if he can hold his batting average around .280 and hit 20 homeruns, he will be more productive in the long run than Carlos Pena was last season.

These two are interesting signings, and as many Rays fans were getting ready to write the Rays fans off for the 2011 season, the addition of these two veterans could make the 2011 season very, very interesting. The signing of these two are drawing some interest from baseball observers around the league. Bryan Douglass chimed in at Gunaxin Sports. Bryan always adds a very interesting take on the latest in the world of sports. You can read his take right here.

The Matt Garza trade brought five players that should contribute with in a few years. And yesterday it was reported that two Tampa Bay Rays free agents finally signed. RP Chad Qualls signed a one year deal with the san Diego Padres worth $2 million dollars for one season. In return the Rays will get a compensatory sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of this years MLB draft.

Last evening, news broke that the New York Yankees have finally signed RP Rafael Soriano, one of the highest remaining free agents of the offseason. Soriano’s contract is a remarkable 3 year $35 million dollars. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said last week that the team would not mortgage the future by signing Soriano, despite Soriano stating he would be willing to accept a set up role with the club. This just shows how you cannot take anything a team spokesman says at face value. In return for Soriano, the Rays will now have the 31st pick in the first round in this year’s draft as compensation for losing the closer who recorded 45 saves for the Rays last season.

And for those Rays fans who wanted the club to retain all of these players, here is a staggering figure for you, of the 9 Rays free agents which have signed contracts, those contracts total 19 years of duration and the full value of those contracts are worth a staggering $215 million dollars. And that figure does not include the signings of Grant Balfour, Willy Aybar and Lance Cormier as of yet.

I feel that the Rays have done the best that they could do given the circumstances and I seriously doubt the moves are finished. I have faith that the front office understands what it is doing. The Garza trade allowed a spot on the roster for Jeremy Hellickson, a move that was overdue. These were a series of wise moves for the Rays that are putting together a team that might make another run in 2012 or 2013. However, I am not ruling 2011 out. This is still going to be a very competitive team with one of the best young starting pitching staffs in baseball.

I realize that some Rays fans are having flashbacks to the days of old and are thinking that 2011 is going to be completely lost, the team will be lucky to win 75 games this year. This is not the Rays team of old, have some faith in the moves of the front office and the young talent that this team has groomed. I can easily understand the mindset of what some long time Rays fans must be thinking, I’m also a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans and after a 3-13 season in 2009, thoughts of the Hugh Culverhouse days flashed into my head. However, look at the season the Buccaneers had this year with very young talent, in a season when not very many analysts predicted them to win more than 6 games.

With only a few more day till we say goodbye to another year, I’d like to reflect on 2010 Rays moments! There are many reasons this past year was fantastic! I really thought 08′ couldn’t be matched. Something inside me says, it’s just gonna keep getting better.

One of the surprising revelations for me was the die hard devotion to the Rays. Whether people agreed… agreed to disagree. The love for the Rays was there. I witnessed it. I saw it first hand!

The never ending talks of our fan base, stadium, the chatter in general, speaks for itself. Someone once told me there’s no such thing as bad publicity (slightly disagree). In general, The Rays are now being talked about. Which is an accomplishment in itself. Especially considering we were once the worst team in baseball! We’ve come a long way!

The Rays and Joe Maddon have so much to be proud of, and I’m proud to be a Rays fan!

What was your best Rays memory of 2010?

Was it the beginning?

Spring Training?

A favorite player meeting?

Opening Day?

Matt Garza’s No No?

Reid Brignac’s clutch homer in 11th inning?

Winning the AL east?

Maddon’s classic ejections?

MFIKY?

The BRayser?

A game that meant alot to you or your family?

The very cool plaid?

A special Rays romance?

Maybe even the Carlos toothbrush holder?

Let’s reminisce about the 2010 Rays. Whatever your moment was I’d love to know … I can’t wait to tell you all about mine!

Ciao for now!  Jenny

YahooSports is reporting that former Tampa Bay Rays 1B Carlos Pena has agreed to a 1 year contract with the Chicago Cubs. The contract is worth a reported $10 million dollars. Last season Pena struggled at the plate while with the Tampa Bay Rays. Pena batted .196, hit 28 home runs and drove in 84 runs.

The Chicago Cubs were in need of some power after hitting only 149 homers as a team last season. When the wind is blowing out at Wrigley, Pena will be a monster. Good luck to Carlos, his inconsistency will not be missed.

Sources say General manager Jim Hendry has talked to Pena’s agent, Scott Boras, several times since arriving in Orlando. The Cubs continued discussions with representatives for Pena, late Tuesday. We should expect to hear more early Wednesday. Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman tweeted late Tuesday that the “deal is done.”

I believe Pena was one of the Rays staples. I hate to see him go. Carlos is a class act. He brought a lot to Tampa Bay and the Rays clubhouse.

With Winter Meetings in full swing, tons of lobby rumors are to be expected. This year it seems to sting a bit more. I’ve been hearing constant talks about Carl Crawford, Jason Bartlett, even Garza’s name mentioned (Please leave our bullpen alone).

The amount of key players leaving seem to be rising. It’s hard to believe anything is a done deal, until I see the presser myself. I’m really looking forward to seeing who the Rays add to our roster for 2011. So many questions to be answered… I’d like for this part of my ongoing relationship with the Rays to be over. I don’t like saying goodbye. Especially to someone like veteran Carlos Pena. Wherever he may end up, I wish him the best. As always I have faith in the skipper, Joe Maddon and the Rays front office.

Ciao ~ Jenny

The Tampa Bay Rays offense caught fire after 26 innings against the Texas Rangers and they have managed to tie up the series and bring the fifth and final game back to the Trop tonight. This evening’s game will be a rematch of  both team’s top starting pitchers, Texas’ Cliff Lee against the Rays’ David Price, both left handed pitchers. There are three keys I think that will make a difference in tonight’s game.

1-It has been announced that tonight’s game is a complete sellout, even after the Rays ownership uncovered the outfield tarps and sold an additional 5,000 seats for tonight’s matchup. The Tampa Bay Rays have not lost back to back starts with David Price pitching the entire season. With the Trop sold out tonight, there needs to be a Metrodome-like amount of noise while Cliff Lee is pitching. Bring your cowbells, dinner bells, church bells, I don’t care. The key to defeating Cliff Lee is getting to him early, preferably in the 1st inning, get him off base and do not allow him to settle into a groove. Make Lee pitch deep into counts and run up his pitch count early.

2-David Price needs run support. Manager Joe Maddon has once again tweaked the lineup and has focused on a heavy right-handed batting lineup. Rocco Baldelli will not be occupying a spot tonight, and should never have been in te lineup in Game 1, regardless of sentimental feelings.

3- Tonight’s game is going to require an absolute team effort. 3B Evan Longoria has had 36 hours to rest his quad injury, but the Rays cannot put everything on his shoulders.  I’d like to see at least a base hit from 1B Carlos Pena against a left hander tonight. The Rays three headed monster in the bullpen of Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano is waiting for the Rangers batting order, give them an opportunity to win this game and send Texas back home.

For those of you questioning Joe Maddon’s decision to go with Kelly Shoppach over John Jaso at catcher, once again Maddon decided to play the percentages. Shoppach and David Price have had a good rapport as pitcher and receiver this season and Shoppach is better against left handed pitching than John Jaso.

If Tampa Bay loses tonight, this will most likely be the last time that you see LF Carl Crawford in a Rays uniform. Every single one of you attending tonight’s game, make sure you give him the respect and admiration he deserves when he takes the field in the first inning and throughout the entire game.

Tampa Bay Rays fans, as if we didn’t have enough issues, our good friends who are Boston Red Sox fans have now decided to pile on. Fellow network blogger Alistair Ingram for the Fenway Faithful has posted his comments about how the Tampa Bay Rays will simply pass into obscurity after they are swept by the Texas Rangers. In fact, our concerned friend from Beantown has written that the Tampa Bay Rays will slide into irrelevance after losing in the playoffs this season.

Hmm. Irrelevance huh? His proof, the Rays don’t have money. And that has stopped the Rays in the past? Mr. Ingram has not followed the Rays since their inception as I have and is unaware of how this franchise manages to produce a quality team despite their regional market. He claims that trying to compete for a division title beyond this season would be a “pipe dream”.

Ingram states that Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena and Rafael Soriano might all be gone after this season. True. Crawford will sorely be missed, along with Soriano. Carlos Pena, there is the exit out the front door of the Trop my man, a clean-up batter cannot be batting under .200.

But what the writer of the post states is that there is no way that the Rays will ever come close to challenging for the AL East title after this year because of the Rays payroll. I totally disagree. The Rays had a 73 million dollar payroll this season, well below that of the 207 million dollar New York Yankees as well as the Boston/Pawtucket Red Sox and they didn’t win the division.

Money does not buy championships. Ask Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder how that 100 million dollar contract for Albert Haynesworth is working out for him. Game play elevates during the playoffs in every sport regardless of payrolls, the Texas Rangers were in bankruptcy court for most of the season this year. The San Diego Padres which were in contention until the final game of the season have an entire payroll which is half of what Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre will make for just 16 games this year.

Yes, Carl Crawford will likely head off to another team and sign a contract upwards of over 17 million for a season and great for Carl, he’s proven himself in the majors and deserves to get paid. Desmond Jennings will replace him in left field. Carlos Pena will be gone and I’m perfectly fine with that. Dan Johnson can platoon at 1st. Wade Davis or James Shields might be shipped out in a trade with another team, I’ve been a fan of what the front office has done for the most part regarding trades. Jeremy Hellickson will most likely be in the rotation next season, and why not? And for those of you who don’t follow the farm system all that much, there is Matt Moore who will make an appearance with the Rays at some point in 2011. Moore struck out 211 batters in only 144.2 innings and held opponents to a .211 BA and he is another lefty.

I appreciate the Red Sox fans giving the Rays such valued information, and I’ll file this away as useful, errr….useless information as I expect regardless of the outcome of the Rangers/Rays series, the Tampa Bay Rays will continue to put a quality product on the field in 2011. Mark Kriegel of Foxsports.com called the Tampa Bay Rays the best run sports organization in ALL of professional sports. You can read his report here.

You Boston fans which are so caring about the future of the Tampa Bay Rays, simply worry about your own team and your 22nd ranked team ERA and bloated payroll. We could care less about your chowda and your concern about our team. Talk of the Red Sox takes me back, oh I don’t know, almost three years ago now to a reporter named Mike Duca. A reporter at that time which wrote for the nearly irrelevant Cape Cod Times. Duca was covering the Red Sox while they were trying to extort my local county commission to build a new spring training facility and wrote a scathing article about how horrible my home town is. No Duca, I haven’t forgotten your comments, and you will live forever, as long as I write this column or a different one you jackass. Duca in his own words is a typical New England elitist and despises my hometown, I no longer think he writes for the rag so I don’t know what has become of him.

So Red Sox fans, I appreciate your concern for the Rays well-being, but I think you have your own in-house issues to address this offseason. Move along and address your own in-house issues. I don’t see the Red Sox in the playoff boxscores, maybe I missed that.

The Tampa Bay Rays have made some changes to the lineup for today’s game against the Texas Rangers. Rocco Baldelli has been taken off the roster and replaced with Willy Aybar who be be in the lineup as DH this afternoon. Sub-.200 hitting 1B Carlos Pena is also out of the lineup, replaced by Ben Zobrist at first base.

In another of Joe Maddon’s head-scratching moves, rookie Desmond Jennings will start in right field. This afternoons lineup for the Tampa Bay Rays-

Bartlett ss
Upton cf
Crawford lf
Longoria 3b
Zobrist 1b
Aybar DH
Shoppach dh
Rodriguez 2b
Jennings rf
Shields p

Two innings are in the book in the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers game this afternoon. Tampa Bay Rays fans which are watching are seeing a trend which plagued the team all season long, Tampa Bay leaving runners on base.

In the first inning Tampa left the bases loaded, in the second inning, Tampa left a runner at second base. Both pitchers, David Price and Cliff Lee have thrown 43 pitches in the first two innings.

Controversy and a Rays game seem to go hand in hand and it didn’t take long for a questionable call to surface in this afternoon’s game. With the bases loaded and 1B Carlos Pena at the plate, home plate umpire Tim Welke called a foul tip on a Cliff Lee pitch made to Pena. The replay clearly showed the ball did not hit Pena’s bat. The call of foul tip made the call on Pena 2-2 instead of 3-1. Welke was the same home plate umpire who made the call of the phantom hit by pitch in Tropicana Field when the ball clearly hit the base of the bat.

Texas Rangers RF Nelson Cruz just hit one out at the top of the third, Rangers 3 Tampa Bay 0.