Rays news and notes:
- Here, something to look forward to, from Marc Topkin:
Feb. 14: Pitchers and catchers report to Port Charlotte
Feb. 20: First full-squad workout in Port Charlotte
Feb. 22: FanFest at the Trop
Feb. 28: Exhibition opener vs. O's at Port Charlotte
March 31: Regular-season opener vs. Jays at the Trop
- Matt Joyce added 20 pounds of muscle this offseason, in hopes that it will help keep his strength up during the length of the season. Joyce said,
"I think that in itself is going to help," said Joyce, who hit 14 homers through mid June and only four after. "Everything looked great last year, but I felt a little weaker."
- This Friday Chris Archer will take over the Durham Bulls Twitter account from 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET. You can submit questions using the hashtag #AskArcher.
- Fangraphs released their Top 10 prospects for the Rays organization, with Jake Odorizzi, Alex Colome and Enny Romero topping the list.
- Another day, another David Price piece, this one from Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. Key takeaway:
The Rays are all about maximizing their assets, and that means forgoing emotional attachment and always remaining betrothed to the bottom line. Sure, that's a mind-set every small-market franchise must follow, but the Rays have been in a class all their own in terms of applying that mind-set successfully over the course of multiple seasons.
Links:
- Missed from Beyond the Box Score a few days back, but a look at sabermetrics and objective analysis, asking if a deeper understanding of the game makes it more enjoyable.
- Jayson Stark saw a lesson the NFL taught MLB about replay, particularly in the NFC Championship game on Sunday: "No matter how many plays you feed into your replay machines and get right, people are never going to be happy about the plays you don't review and get wrong."
- Bud Selig, metaphorical scorpion. So, why do we all hate him so much?
- In their short time in baseball history, the Rays have a stellar starting pitching history. In their long tenure with numerous memorable players, the Yankees do not. Why?
- According to a Japanese report, five teams have made offers to Masahiro Tanaka: the Yankees, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, White Sox and Cubs. Signing deadling is this Friday January 24th at 5:00 p.m. ET.