Explain the situation that will not allow the Devil Rays to not call up Young and Upton for the month of September.
A:
John Manuel: I really can't; officially, they don't want to start their arbitration clocks and give them enough service time to make them Super 2 arbitration cases (i.e., it will cost them to have those two under contract, even before they become free agents). i can't tell you how shortsighted this seems to me. Delmon is one thing; you can make a case he's not ready. But what do you say to BJ Upton when he's been the good organizational guy, gone to Triple-A, opened himself up to such scrutiny with his defensive struggles, continued to work hard at it by all accounts, rake like crazy at the plate . . . and he doesn't get a promotion? That's just a bad way to run an organization. That kind of player (especially with that talent, but even if he had less talent) deserves to be rewarded with a promotion.
The season isn't even over yet and the past few days we have the two best prospects ever for the Rays organization dreaming of an exit. Had this of been a class organization (like a ST. Louis) , I might say lets not let a bunch of 20 year olds dictate how this organization should be run.
These internal problems have me nervous. Because as Rays fan, all we have is the future. We currently have no past rookie of year awards to reflect about, no post season memories, tommorow is all we have. I guess we do have second half of 2005, thats as best it gets.
As dreary as it looks today, there are possibilties abound. We could be turning the page this offseason. Instead of having an ownership that acts by intimidation, we could have an owner that is all about growing the relationship with the players and the community. Lets hope Vince decides his time is over. Its time to turn the page. Its time to sit down with each of our budding players and tell them how they fit in with the plans for the organziation. Tell them how important they are to turning this thing around for years to come.