DRaysBay: All Posts by John Gregg

The Rays Tank: Minimalist Prospect Edition

2012-04-26T13:55:47Z

I'm pinch hitting today for the Tank and I've been sitting on the proverbial pine for awhile. I also (believe it or not) pay very little attention to the major league club, so today's edition will be a "minimalist" edition - short, sweet and about some news on the farm.

Minimalism is apparently the theme for the team's trip to Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers after Matt Moore *cough cough* shows good command today in his start against the Angels at 1:05 PM ET. Maddon apparently wants everyone to bring nothing but a carry-on on the trip. Underwear are apparently optional according to a quote in the Tampa Bay Times which reads: " "One pair of jeans, three shirts, some socks, and those who wear underwear bring underwear. And your toiletries. … As we move forward into this century I think minimalism is going to become a more popular concept." Haha! That Maddon is a funny one. I wonder if anyone on the team free... nevermind.

Sternfan1's favorite Rays prospect "Bustin" O'Conner is on the mend rehabbing a hip injury in Port Charlotte. No word on whether he has filled the gigantic hole in his bat.
Marc Nemcik did a Q & A with Tampa Jesuit's Lance McCullers on Rays Digest. It's a premium story, so I'll point out some highlights:

1) He reveals that he is a Boras client. Should he slip to the Rays at #25 (which is very possible based on what I've heard from draft gurus), would the Rays mess with trying to sign him? He also seems perfectly content to go to UF.

2) He is a Rays fan. That may seem like a "duh?!", but he apparently hits the Trop when he can and has a lot of Rays on his fantasy team.

3) He gushed about meeting David Price earlier this year and said the lefty gave him some good advice and apparently approves of the way the youngster conducts himself.

BTW we'll have a lot of these draft Q & A's on the site in the next month. Commercial over.

Michael Compton, who covers the Bowling Green Hot Rods for the Bowling Green Daily News, has a nice little blog that should be checked out. He often has a lot of good quotes from the players and Brady Williams.

Early Spring Training Impressions

2012-02-27T18:00:37Z

For those that didn't know, I spent a couple of days last week down in Port Charlotte catching Rays' spring training.

There wasn't a lot going on. A lot of stretching, throwing and conditioning work. Perhaps not the most interesting stuff to most people. It wasn't really to me either, but it provided me a great opportunity to play around with my new fancy camera.

If you haven't checked out all of the photos I took, the links to the galleries on my FaceBook page are here, here, here.....and here.

Some photos are better than others, but a professional photographer I am not....yet.

I focused on talking to and watching the guys who are in camp as non-roster invitees or are on the bubble for making the squad, because my goal on Rays Digest this season is to cover the minor leagues. In that vein, the majority of the notes after the jump are on guys who likely won't break camp with the team, but who very well may get their opportunities later on the year.

Jose Molina: A lot of articles have been written the past week about Molina's presence in camp including a fine one here on DRays Bay by mr. maniac on how he might help potential back-up Robinson Chirinos and one written by Chris Girandola on Rays Digest. So at the risk of beating a dead horse...Molina is going to make a HUGE impact on this team.

He definitely stood out on an otherwise uneventful first day of workouts. I saw Matt Bush, Jeff Niemann and James Shields throw bullpens to him and he was coaching, encouraging - and at times - even chiding all of them. And they were listening.

A lot has been discussed on this site and others about his framing ability, but it is still worth mentioning that not only does Pitch/fx data show that he is a master at it, but the pitchers themselves can tell the difference Molina makes behind the dish....even in bullpens.

Consider the following quote from Matt Bush (who I'll talk about in a moment):

""I could definitely tell. His body position and the way he kind of surrounds the plate - even though he’s setting up away - it’s almost like even if you don’t hit that spot you can tell that you’re going to get calls because of the way he positions himself. Where he wants the ball - if you hit it there - his glove doesn’t move. You can definitely tell that he has been doing it for a very long time."

So we all know that he can frame pitches and that that very well may be his biggest asset behind the plate, but it his approach to catching and his willingness and desire to teach and mentor that I believe are even more important.

Robinson Chirinos was literally gushing about the opportunity to work with Molina and called it "a gift".

Joe Maddon called him "a technician" who "takes his craft very seriously."

And there were plenty of others that raved about him as well including Shields and Niemann. And I don't think any of these comments were your standard "party-line" quotes.

The upgrading of the offense and bullpen may have gotten the most attention this off-season, but the under-the-radar signing of Molina is just the kind of Friedmanesque move that could be the deal-breaker in how much this team truly improves in 2012.

It is pretty impressive that one player can stand out so much when essentially all the players were doing was just conditioning and drills....but Molina did just that.

Horse beaten.

Matt Bush: First off...Matt Bush throws VERY hard. I knew this, but had never seen him live. Even though it was just a bullpen and there was no radar gun, his velocity was impressive just to the naked eye. I also saw him throw some nasty breaking pitches as well. (It's worth mentioning that on the the first day of camp, media members were allowed to stand along the right-field wall of one of the fields that offered a clear view of the bullpen area. The next day that area was off-limits and my personal feeling is that the media the day before had seen or heard a little too much of Molina working with the pitchers. You could hear him very clearly.)

It was my interview with Bush after workouts though that stood out.

Forget whatever you have seen or read about him with his previous franchises (Padres and Blue Jays), Bush is not the entitled and immature guy he was then. He is genuinely humble and soft-spoken and I literally left the clubhouse saying to myself: "That was Matt Bush?"

Of course for all I know it was a show for the media, but by all accounts his off-field issues and problems with booze are behind him and six years have past since he was the number-one-overall pick with the Padres. The guy I talked to was happy to be in big league camp and even mentioned that AAA Durham would be just fine with him to start the season as "it's as far as I've ever been."

Matt Bush sounded to me like a guy who has turned the corner personally and has been humbled by his past experiences. People DO change and I believe Matt Bush is a guy who has.

For what it's worth I can very easily see him and Lenny Linsky at the back-end of the Rays bullpen in a few years.

Will Rhymes: I have a full-feature planned on Rhymes for Rays Digest either today or tomorrow. But he told me that the deciding factor in his signing a minor league deal with the Rays was their "merit-based" approach. In other words, the fact that guys like Carlos Pena and Casey Kotchman have come to the franchise on minor league deals and then ended up not only being regulars, but key contributors to play-off teams, was not lost on him.

It remains to be seen if Rhymes will see any time with the big club in 2012, but I think it is interesting to note that the word is out in the league on the Rays and the opportunities that can exist for players coming to Tampa Bay.

Alex Torres: Torres's career minor league walk rate is troubling (5.0 BB/9) and his command is seemingly the last hurdle for him to clear to become a dominant major league hurler.

For what it's worth - Torres told me that he worked on his release point extensively in the off-season and that his goal this season is to cut down on his walks because "they killed me the last couple of years. If I do that, I think I should be fine."

Torres is on the outside-looking-in at a spot on the Rays Opening Day pitching staff, but he also re-iterated that he is fine pitching in any role saying: "I'm gonna be there. Any situation, any day, any inning, I'm gonna be available for that situation."

Torres seems destined to start the year in Durham, but he figures prominently in the team's future plans and any efforts on his part to improve his command should be viewed as a good sign. Let's just see of he can actually do it.

Matt Joyce and Luke Scott: Two left-handed swinging outfielders who are key components of this season's offense. I'm just going to let the following picture speak for itself. But let's just say the two spent about 10 minutes comparing notes on their swings....with Scott doing most of the talking.

Tim Beckham: I'd be remiss if I didn't report on Tim Beckham. I've never seen so many varying opinions on a player's future outlook and I'll be willing to bet a buck that somebody says something about him in the comment section.

Unfortunately, I didn't see much.

He is a crappy first baseman...I can tell you that much. The position players were working out on their own and when I was there neither Carlos Pena or Juan Miranda was in camp yet, so the guys were all taking turns taking throws at first. Beckham missed every throw in the dirt that came his way. Not mind-blowing reporting I know...but it's all I got.

He did however give Rays Digest writer Chris Girandola a fist-bump and bro hug and said "thanks for the love" in the clubhouse. This no doubt refers to Chris's article on him last week.

I mention this because it's pretty obvious Beckham reads stuff that is written about him (as I'm sure a lot of players do) and apparently approved of the piece.

I'll say this once again for all of the detractors...the jury is till out on Beckham. I think we have all analyzed him to death. If he lays an egg at Durham this year, then maybe it will be time to pull the plug. MAYBE.

But for the love of God...what do people want to see from him? A 21-year old Alex Rodriguez? Not gonna happen. But the tools are there and players develop at different rates and I for one hope that he finally puts it all together and becomes a star.

Fernando Rodney: He has personality. At the end of his run around the complex he was doing kung-fu moves and karate chops. Therefore I have already dubbed him Fernando "Kung-Fu" Rodney and hope the name sticks. I didn't see his bullpen session, but Maddon and Hickey like what they saw apparently.

Some other notes: Sam Fuld claims that he can touch the rim on a basketball hoop (he is generously listed at 5'8" so that's some hops) and dunk a tennis ball. He also said that Grantland approached him about writing his now legendary piece for them.

There were about 100 or so fans there and most players spent time signing after the workouts. So if you are an autograph hound, it might be worth the trip down to Port Charlotte to snag some.

If you go....wear sunscreen. It wasn't hot, but my huge forehead is currently peeling from the sunburn I got.

I also spoke with Matt Mangini, Jhonny Nunez, Chris Gimenez and Josh Lueke. I'll have stories on them on Rays Digest this week. So you'll have to wait for news on them (from me anyways). I will say that Gimenez has a very engaging personality and that Matt Mangini talked a lot about cigars.

One last note on a player and this isn't so much a scouting report as it is a gut feeling.

EVERYONE I have talked to about Stephen Vogt - players, coaches, broadcasters - simply loves the guy.

I love him too. I can't for the life of me figure out why more analysts don't talk about him and the role he could play for the Rays in the very near future. He has hit at every level he has been at and although he isn't going to win any Gold Glove awards, has the positional flexibility that the Rays place a premium on.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that he plays at the Trop sometime this season and turns some heads. This isn't based on any sort of statistical analysis or reasoned argument - so feel free to fire away - but on good-old- fashioned instinct. We'll see I guess.

But they spelled his name wrong above his locker (Steven instead of Stephen) and when I asked him about it...he shrugged it off.

The guy doesn't even get enough respect from the guy who makes the nameplates.

Come on man! At least spell the guy's name right!

Geesh!

I leave you with a shot of Dane De La Rosa and his awesome mohawk....

Rays' State of the Farm with Frankie Piliere

2012-02-11T19:59:29Z

Rays' State of the Farm with Frankie Piliere

I'm posting this because I thought it would be interesting to quite a few folks here who have been debating the future of some Rays prospects - in particular Josh Sale and Tim Beckham. I specifically asked his opinion on those guys for the folks here at DRaysBay. Frankie isn't as famous as Keith Law or Kevin Goldstein, but he knows his stuff and used to be a scout for the Rangers. Verdict? Too soon to give up on either.

Shay Crawford Is Already Winning: A Story Of Perseverance

2012-02-08T18:06:51Z

For every high selection like Taylor Guerrieri or Mikie Mahtook each draft, there is a player like Shay Crawford.

A player that most people don't know much about and is one of the multitudes of faceless minor leaguers toiling away in the small cities of America, playing the game they love in relative obscurity.

A player who is drafted with little fanfare and who has the odds stacked against him to move up in the organization and get a shot at playing in the majors.

A player who didn't get a huge draft bonus and has to work in the off-season to make ends meet.

The minors are full of players like these and the Rays Shay Crawford is one them. After hearing his story, it is hard not to root for guys like him. They play the game knowing in the back of their minds that it could all end any day, but continue on undaunted, because they love baseball and they just can't leave the sport without giving it their best shot to try and make it to the major leagues.

Shay Crawford's story is inspiring, but in many ways it isn't unique. There have been, and will continue to be, thousands of players like him. Some of them will defy the odds and one day step foot on the grass at a major league ballpark to finally live out their dream. The sad reality is though, that many will not. After talking to Shay Crawford, I'm hoping that he is one of the ones that makes it.

His story after the jump.

Left-handed pitcher Shay Crawford didn't expect to be drafted last summer in the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft, but when he was, it was the culmination of a life-long dream to play professional baseball.

Drafted in the 41st round after 1259 players had been selected before him, Crawford thought that his opportunity had slipped away.

"I was on my computer on draft day, not really sure if I was going get picked or not and not really having any expectations that I would be," Crawford told me last week in a half-hour phone interview. "I got a call from the Twins in like round 36 or 37 saying that they might take me, but then they ended up not taking me. So I got up from the computer and went outside and was actually getting ready to leave - I think I was going to work out or something - and then got a call from a Tampa Bay Rays' scout who told me that they were going to take me in the 41st."

Crawford was finally going to get his shot at pitching professionally for a major league organization and the emotion of the moment was something he'll never forget.

"It was an incredible moment," Crawford continued. "It was probably one of the happiest moments of my life. A lot of hard work had finally paid off. I didn't really think it was going to happen, but it did and I was very excited to get the opportunity that I did."

The journey for Crawford has been an emotional and rocky one and at one point the 24-year-old Tennessee native quit baseball altogether.

"I transferred from UAB (University of Alabama-Birmingham) - I had been at UAB for 4 years but had gotten hurt one year - and had a medical red-shirt year available. But after playing at UAB I just really wasn't enjoying baseball. So I hung it up."

"I started working in Nashville and on just some whim decided that I might be interested in playing my fifth year. I sent out a couple of e-mails to a few NAIA schools in Tennessee not really expecting to get an answer. I ended up somehow at Lee University, a traditional NAIA powerhouse-type program and found some success there. It's actually kind of a crazy story."

The decision to attend Lee and play baseball was a good one for Crawford and he re-discovered his passion for the game by returning to his roots as a ballplayer.

"I think the turning point was when they said to go back to throwing in a way that feels normal to you. I think at UAB I was trying to be someone I wasn't and trying to have perfect mechanics and it just wasn't me. So when I was at Lee they told me to go back to what ever felt natural and comfortable and I did and found success. "

Crawford put together a phenomenal year for Lee in 2011 going 11-2 with a 1.21 ERA and ended up being one of four players that were drafted from the school in last year's draft. He credits his turn-around to the help of his family and coaching staff at Lee and admits it wouldn't have been possible without them.

"I think going to Lee really helped me learn to have fun with baseball again, something that I hadn't had in awhile. That helped me with relaxing and not really worrying about the expectation of getting drafted and having to prove myself to everybody and letting everybody down. I think that relaxing and going back to being myself like I was in high school really helped. I credit that to the coaching staff at Lee and my parents who really helped me a lot during that time, because I was pretty down. It ended up working out for the best and I am really excited about it."

It is hard for a talented high school baseball player who is used to being the best player on the field to deal with disappointment and lack of success and Crawford is no different. In fact, it was one of the factors in his decision to stop playing.

"Baseball at UAB just really wasn't fun for me anymore and I wasn't enjoying it. I think seeing a lot of the guys that I had grown up with and played with getting drafted really got me down," Crawford told me sadly.

"I think when I realized that it wasn't fun anymore, that's when I realized that I needed to move on. I loved my coaching staff at UAB, there was never an issue with the coaching staff. They're great guys and I still get in touch with them from time to time. I just kind of felt like if I wasn't enjoying it anymore then it was probably best to move on. I would say that was kind of the reason. Not getting drafted and realizing that there might not be a future in it kind of got me down - that was part of the reason - but I think there were a lot of other reasons that went into it as well."

But just because he has been drafted, Crawford knows that he can't let up. He will still have to prove himself to the coaches and player development people in the Rays organization.

He did very well in his first year professionally, and between the rookie level GCL Rays of the Gulf Coast League and the Princeton Rays of the Appalachian League went 3-2 in 16 appearances with an ERA of 3.14 while striking out 44 hitters in 28.2 innings. Crawford told me about his first taste of professional ball and how he managed to have so much success.

"Being a 41st round pick, I just came in with the idea that I had to come in and prove myself every time out. I'm 24 now, so I'm a little up there in age and it took me a long time to get here. So when I got there, I really just emphasized on attacking the zone. So I was trying to go with my best stuff every time and be aggressive and it paid off. I'd attack guys with the fastball and felt very confident in my slider. I just felt like I could go right after guys. For the most part I found success. There were a couple of outings where I was getting the downward bite on my slider and it came back to bite me a little bit. But for the most part, I felt pretty confident in attacking the hitters with my best stuff. So that was kind of the plan I stuck to and for the most part found success with that."

His success last year is a building block for Crawford to work off of, but he knows that his future in the organization hinges upon him moving up through the system fairly quickly and the Rays have told him that his future will be that of a left-handed reliever out of the pen. To his credit - he seems fine with the role after starting primarily in college. He also knows it is his best shot at making the major leagues.

" I was pretty much told right off the bat that If I was going to move up in the organization, it was going to be in that role as a lefty reliever out of the bullpen. So I've kind of embraced that. I really enjoy it. I like the idea of being able to throw multiple days in a row. . It took a little but of time to get used to. Having to warm up really quickly and going through that process. But I've really enjoyed it and really embraced it. I feel good about it and feel like that gives me the best shot.

There are plenty of mental adjustments to make for Crawford now that he is a reliever and one of them is adjusting his daily routine.

"I think being a starter, you have a lot more time. You are very detail oriented and have a warm-up plan that you go through as a starter. I repeated that routine every week. The mental adjustment as a reliever is just knowing that at any time you might have to warm-up and go out there and throw. It took awhile to get adjusted to that and feel like 'OK I'm warm enough, now I can get on the mound and throw.' It's a mental adjustment learning to speed up a little through that warm-up process. Over the summer I think I got pretty used to that. "

He has been working hard this off-season to better his chances of continuing to get hitter's out as he prepares to move to a higher level in the organization and hopes that he will have gained some velocity on his fastball from his efforts.

"An area of focus for me has been gaining strength in my upper body, so I've hit the weight room extremely hard since I got back. I think I've put on close to ten pounds of muscle since I started. I'm really excited to see how that translates into added velocity. The coaching staff that worked with me were hoping that I could get into that 90-92 mph range as a reliever out of the bullpen. I was in the 88-90 mph range last year, so I'm excited to see if the added strength increases my velocity."

He has also been working on a new pitch which he plans to unveil this spring and hopes that it will help him once he begins to face better hitters.

" A work in progress has been the change-up and that's something that I've really been emphasizing this off-season. I'm excited about bringing it out in the spring."

Many of the young 18 and 19-year old players that Crawford played with last year - and now counts among his friends - have been impressed with his long, arduous journey to be able to play professional baseball. Crawford hopes that - if nothing else - he can be a mentor for them.

"I think at Princeton, I might have been the oldest guy on the team, and in the GCL I know I was. It's a little but of an insecure feeling in a way I guess. I think a lot of them were really impressed with my story and how I got there and they were interested in hearing about all that."

"A lot of those guys have some really good tools and the talent to make it. I was excited to share the summer with some of them and make friends with a lot of them. Going forward I'm going to try and mentor some of those guys and try and give them the advice that they need to keep pushing forward. It's gotta be tough being right out of high school and being away from home for the first time."

As excited as Crawford is about being a member of the organization, he knows that the odds are long and having to face the old "he's too old for this level" thing is not deterring him from going out this season and giving it his all - and more importantly enjoying the experience.

"It's definitely crossed my mind. (being 24 years old in rookie ball) But I think that my parents and girlfriend and everybody have convinced me to just go out there and take it day-by-day."

Crawford has his bachelors degree from UAB and is currently working on his Masters degree in Business Administration at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. He will finish up his studies for the semester just a few weeks before spring training, and knows that if professional baseball doesn't work out for him, he has a college education to fall back on. He hopes to one day work in a major league front office when his playing career is over.

" I'm just going to go out in spring training and hope it all works out. If it doesn't, I have a college degree and I'd be happy with whatever came next."

He also know that if the Rays cut him today, that he has already won.

"If it ended tomorrow, I'd be ok with it, because I made it. I got drafted and got that shot that I was looking for and had a lot of fun with it. It's a great opportunity that I got drafted and nobody can ever take that way from me."

Rays Leave No Stone Unturned When It Comes to Player Development

2012-01-29T19:07:23Z

It's no secret that the Tampa Bay Rays organization operates on a shoe-string budget in comparison to a lot of other major league clubs. But the franchise has managed to close the gap with their rivals and field a competitive team - making the post-season three out of the past four seasons - by being creative and investing their limited resources in such a way as to maximize every available means to produce quality and productive major league players.

One such way is the Rays' emphasis on player development.

Perhaps no other organization in baseball is as reliant on their farm system to cultivate players to populate their big league roster as the Rays are - and because of that - player development is among the top priorities for the franchise.

The Rays have many programs in place to help increase the odds on developing young talent and the recently held Winter Development Program is one of them.

28 of the best minor league players in the system were in St. Petersburg earlier this month for the four day camp and Rays director of Minor League Development Mitch Lukevics believes that conducting programs like these are an essential part of the player development process.

"When they're at home you can't see them. It's very difficult. In the off-season they are all over the world. So we have a nice program here where we can see them. There are so many advantages to bringing the player in and and putting them under our coaching staff's eyes. We'll reap the benefits down the road from that."

The list of the camp's attendees read like a Top 20 prospect list from a site like Baseball America, with top young players in the system like Taylor Guerreiri, Mikie Mahtook, Enny Romero, Drew Vettleson, Alex Colome, Ryan Brett, Jake Hager, and Tyler Goeddel among the program's invitees.

But Lukevics says that the Rays asked players to participate for a variety of reasons and that everyone invited to the camp is an important commodity in the future of the franchise.

"As you can see the type of player that we bring could be a first-year 40 man player, it could be - as you see - a number of first-year Spring Training players, it could be some conditioning guys...some rehab guys. We all need to pay attention to all of them, because they're all very valuable to us."

Lukevics admits that the draft and player development is not an exact science but contends that the Rays are committed to doing everything they can to help increase the odds of producing future major league talent.

"It's really hard to predict. And that's why you see in baseball - we don't have all the answers. We try and do certain things over the course of time to enhance the odds of these young men getting to the big leagues . Programs like these help. Instructional Leagues help. We sent players to Australia this year for the first time in 10 years to try and help those odds get greater. I wish I had that magic formula to get the exact odds. But it's a challenging profession and all these programs can help our odds."

Lukevics used Matt Moore as an example of a player who has reaped the benefits from the Rays' player development philosophies and programs like the one conducted at Tropicana Field a few weeks ago.

"For those that don't know - Matt spent two years in Princeton for us. It wasn't like a rapid journey. Signed out of high school, two years at Princeton - and as you saw - the physical attributes - he matured. And the mental attributes - he matured. Having him come here to a program like this has certainly helped. And we feel comfortable that's it going to help the young men who are here this year as well."

The camp offers far more than just the ability for the Rays' coaching staff to work with young prospects - it offers the players an opportunity to become better acclimated with the big league experience.

"I’ll use Matt Moore as an example - who was here last year", Lukevics continued. "He’s never been to big league camp yet, but he’s pitched in the big leagues for us. He was here in this program. He had media training. He’s been in our big league locker room. He’s met Westy, he’s met Zimmy…that takes a lot of expectations down a level in feeling comfortable when they get here. It’s all part of the program. "

2011 supplemental pick Tyler Goeddel echoed what Lukevics conveyed and agreed that the experience was helpful.

"It’s been really good. They have definitely tried to show us what it’s like to be in the majors - which helps motivate us in a way," Goeddel said. "I think I’ve learned a lot just being here in the major league clubhouse and facility and just meeting all the guys and just having them show us around. It’s been great."

But making players feel comfortable extends much further than just letting players hang out in the clubhouse at the Trop and meeting the big league coaching staff and other personnel. There are other issues that need to be addressed by the club in assuring that their young talent is adjusting well to the life of a professional baseball player.

Those challenges are often vastly different from those faced by franchises in other American professional sports. Lukevics spoke about this at length after a Winter Development Program workout.

"With professional football, guys are coming out of college at a certain age and a certain level of competition. We get these young men from all over the world. We’re not all born equal. They come from different social-economic backgrounds. We have language training. We have cultural assimilation programs to put them on par with the domestic players. I think that just from that alone -it’s different from any other sport for the most part."

With such a high percentage of major league players coming from Latin American countries - approximately 20 percent - cultural assimilation is a big part of player development and the Rays do all they can to help their Latin players get a leg up in that regard.

"It’s really challenging, but that’s what we have to do to get - say an Alex Colome - to where we need to so that he can converse with his teammates," Lukevics continued. "He’s acclimated to the country. He’s acclimated to our food. He can converse with you guys. It’s all part of player development. More than just bats, balls, run, field - we have a total player development service-type program to reach all and to reach all these different players about playing the game of baseball."

"Overall in all of our programs - whether it’s in Venezuela, in the Dominican, here in Spring Training, in the Instructional League, even in Princeton and Hudson Valley - we have English lessons and cultural assimilation programs to help these guys get acclimated to our culture and fit in. Obviously they come from different countries, different cultures and we want them to act a certain way of professionalism and it’s an education-type process."

Lukevics comments are in line with what Princeton Rays general manager Jim Holland told me last November; namely that the Rays are very pro-active in helping Latin American players learn English and assimilate to American culture.

"The Tampa Bay Rays are very aggressive in programs to help foreign players adapt to living in this country," Holland said. "We have a local teacher here that the Rays contract to teach these players English and it is my understanding that they make great progress throughout the course of the season in learning the language. I would assume that this continues in all levels of our organization."

But it isn't just foreign-born players that need help acclimating to life as a professional baseball player. Domestic players need assistance too. And as Holland revealed - it is often the Rays' fan base who helps in that process.

" It is not so much me as the GM, but our fans themselves that assist in this process through our "Adopt-A-Player" program, which our franchise has had in existence since 1993. Since then, we have annually been successful in pairing players with local families to give them a local person to bond with. Most of our local adoptive parents will call the players' parents right out of the gate to introduce themselves and I feel it gives the players' parents a little sigh of relief to know there is someone on this end interested in the well being of their son."

But perhaps the biggest benefit of the Rays' all-encompassing approach to scouting and player development is the fact that it isn't tough to attract top talent evaluators to join the Rays' fold, as I recently learned from new Rays' scout Rico Brogna who told me:

"I think it is one of the things that really attracted me to the job and being a part of the Rays. I thought a lot of my personal beliefs on scouting and player evaluation was very much in line with what the Rays look for and a lot of their philosophies. Their's and mine are very similar. I was lucky to have a few opportunities with different teams - and I say that humbly - but that was one of things that stood out about possibly being part of the Rays' organization is that a lot of their core beliefs and philosophies in their developmental system and scouting are very similar to what I believe in."

If the Rays are to continue their success in developing major league-ready players then they will need the assistance of talented baseball minds and according to Brogna it shouldn't be too hard to sell people on working for the organization with the Rays' current way of doing things.

"The uniqueness of the Rays and the way they have been operating - and highly successfully too - is something that drew me in," Brogna said.

That pretty much sums it up.

The Rays HAVE been highly successful in recent years and their attention to player development has been a huge part of that.

The Keppinger signing is official, the Twitter account was not.

2012-01-27T20:20:09Z

The Keppinger signing is official, the Twitter account was not.

It's O-fficial. FYI--the @jeffkeppinger account was a fake. RT @rayspressbox: RAYS SIGN JEFF KEPPINGER TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT— Jonathan Gantt (@Jonathan_Gantt) January 27, 2012

"#Rays closing in on a major-league deal with INF Jeff Keppinger, likely to be finalized by end of...

2012-01-25T22:42:58Z

"#Rays closing in on a major-league deal with INF Jeff Keppinger, likely to be finalized by end of the week."

Marc Topkin

Rays Interested in Jeff Keppinger

2012-01-23T21:57:33Z

Rays Interested in Jeff Keppinger

The Keppinger rumor is now MLB Trade Rumor worthy as Jerry Crasnick is now reporting that the Rays have indeed expressed interest in the infielder. It's very nice to finally have confirmation of this from another source.