The Rays Tank: Happy Yom Kippur, Davey Martinez Is Still Ours

MLB Chatter

Holy cow, the Yankees lost last night. Well, in case you were still feeling ashamed that the Rays got knocked out so early in the playoffs, you can let that go. It turns out the Yanks and their groundbreaking "Too Much Moneyball" approach didn't last much longer. 

But anyway, I suppose I should probably explain the headline. In case you aren't aware, tonight begins Yom Kippur, one of the most important holidays of the year for Jews. Why am I bothering to point this out? Some famous Jews have chosen in the past  not to participate in playoff games due to Yom Kippur -- Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg -- and Alex Remington over at FanGraphs took a look if there were any players that might sit out this season.

The short answer is, well, there aren't all that many Jews in baseball. But the long answer is much more fun, and I learned something new about Ryan Braun and Gabe Kapler. 

Also at FanGraphs, Brad took a really cool look at the correlation between strikeout rate and swinging strike rate, and he creates a basic model for estimating a player's strikeout rate next season. If Hellickson can improve his strikeout rate like that...oh boy, I'm getting the vapors.

Can anyone explain to me the Marlins new logo? It's officially, officially been confirmed as the real deal now, and I'm curious if there's a regional aspect to it. Is the coloring a Miami thing?

I feel like there are two ways to feel about Brian Wilson: either you love his quirkiness or you think he's a giant loser. I fall under the "love the quirkiness" category, so I feel obligated to pass this video along. Rarely do I find ramblings about a sport I don't care about entertaining...but that's pretty fun.

Rays Talk

The White Sox reached a decision for their open managerial spot, and it looks like Dave Martinez is still a Ray so far; the Sox went with Robin Ventura instead. I tend to think they're crazy for passing over Davey -- he's worth it for the beard-growing abilities alone -- but that just means the Rays get to keep him for the time being. Someday Davey is going to get snatched up by another team, but thankfully that day isn't here yet.

Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon had their season-ending press conference yesterday afternoon, and Marc Topkin wrote up a couple different takes on the action. You've already probably seen J.B. Long's writeup from the conference, but I always find it interesting to get another perspective on what's said. These articles also give us a good idea on where the Rays stand entering the offseason (payroll-wise and all), so they're worth perusing.