.... not sure yet on Murton… I mean I like him, but if we are losing any of Briggy/Helly/Jennings, then i damn sure better like the return….

Non-Price prospect package for Jason Bay and Damaso Marte (Bay would be around for next year’s World Series championship, too.)
David Price to the bullpen or rotation, with EJax going to bullpen.
Sign Barry Bonds.

Benefits Over Half a Season:
Bay - 1.5 wins
Marte - .5 wins
Price - .5 wins
Bonds - 1.5 wins

That’s a four-win bump and an AL-East-winning team.

But at least this team is still in contention. At best, the Rays are still the division leaders, and at worst they hold the wild card spot at this point. Hopefully this team can sort out the bats during the all-star break and, along with some home cookin’ break this skid first game out and take the Jays to the woodshed.

Obviously this team has vastly exceeded all of our expectations at this point of the season which is why watching them lose like they have is so hard. This team is losing right now because of a single glaring deficiency that really has existed all year but is now manifesting itself to it’s highest level at the worst possible time.

When the Rays were winning games but not scoring a lot, it was that they were scoring “just enough” and that was because we had amazing pitching. The pitching is still good, but it’s not good enough right now to win games 2-1 or 3-2, and let’s be honest, if this team is going to actually be able to compete on the road in the long run, they shouldn’t even try to win games by these kinds of scores.

I hate to say this, but I don’t think we can wait on Crawford much longer to break his slump if this team is going to try to win this year, and we can’t keep waiting on Upton to start producing power numbers either (I know that CF isn’t supposed to be a power position, but it was supposed to be for this team with Upton there, and I personally feel he’s hurt and those home runs just aren’t going to be there this year). The offense we lost by switching Brendan Harris for Bartlett looks quite glaring now in retrospect.

I’m going to the game on Friday. I fully expect to see a clearance sale at the fan shop on Jonny Gomes unis. I’ve started to think more about this and I think the Rays need to really consider getting rid of 2 out of 3 between Floyd, Hinske, and Gross. None of the three can hit lefties, Floyd can’t field at all, Hinske’s pretty bad at fielding, and Gross is the worst at the plate but best in the field by a vast margin. The problem is, none of the three make a good everyday starter (since a DH needs be able to handle both lefties and righties), and the only one who seems suitable for a platoon (Gross) is the worst of the group at the plate at this point.

I’m beginning to think that maybe the Rays really should sign Bonds if we’re hoping to win this year. I don’t like his clubhouse presence but the Rays can’t hope to improve the offense with four guys trying to do two things that none of them are really good at.

I’m a Pirates fan and have been reading this blog fairly regularly. The Rays success this season gives me hope that if run correctly small market teams can compete against the upper echelon. With the trade deadline nearing I’m curious to hear what you all think would be a fair return for a Nady/Marte package and on a bigger scale a Bay/Marte package. Keeping in mind the Pirates need for pitching and SS (assuming Wilson gets dealt).

No, he has no shown much power. Yes, he’s currently in a slump. But if he repeats his first half in the second half, he’s extremely valuable and there’s no reason anyone should even be thinking about a replacement. Why?

His OBP makes him extremely valuable. By linear weights, he’s one win better than the average hitter right now. By comparison Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye are both 1.5 wins above average. Then consider position. Find a decent center fielder is a lot harder than finding a decent corner outfielder. Over a half season, center field gets a half-game advantage over either corner spot. The brings Upton up to the Dye/Quentin level. Then consider fielding. Dye’s a half-win worse than average, Quentin’s a full win worse than average, and Upton’s a half-win better than average in center field. That puts Upton a full win more valuable than Dye and 1.5 wins more valuable than Quentin.

How’s that for perspective. If you think you can find anyone to play center field who’s more productive, I beg to differ. I count XX center fielders who could be considered better players, none of which are available: Grady Sizemore, Carlos Beltran, Josh Hamilton, Curtis Granderson, maybe Torii Hunter, Aaron Rowand and Rick Ankiel (depending how you trust his 2007 numbers so far). (Dejesus is close, Damon would be close. McLouth can’t play defense and should move back to a corner spot.)

Please stop complaining about a sure-thing top-ten center fielder, even if he does still have room to improve.

how far we’d make it without adequate production from CC, Beej, and Pena. We’ll, that got us to about the July 4th weekend.

A trade and/or FA signing would help, but CC, BJ, and C-Pain have got to improve or we are going to fade in the second half.

Just some thoughts

I love this team. And this team has given me so many memorable moments already in this young season and has made me even prouder to be a native of St. Petersburg.

I think we can all agree that these boys have far out exceeded our expectations for this year. And whether this little skid is temporary or more permanent I think they have given us hope for this year and beyond that the front office is doing a very good job and committed to building a winner.

Now to my point, I may be accused of being over positive or drinking the cool aid, and I understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but some of the fanpost and comments on today’s game thread were a little disturbing. Talking about how this year is over and how we are not very good, just the overall bickering and pessimism that has overrun the board.

I understand this week has been tough, but lets look forward to the second half as we sail into uncharted waters and cheer on this young and entertaining team.