An occasional piece focusing on a few small tidbits surrounding the Rays...
Today's edition of Rays Nuggets consists entirely of information culled from Marc Topkin's Sunday column in the St. Petersburg Times.
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Kazmir
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First of all, every Rays fan will be pleased to know that Scott Kazmir says that his shoulder is perfectly fine and that he will be as healthy and ready as ever when camp begins. Kazmir's 2006 regular season was shut down in mid-August for precautionary reasons after he felt shoulder discomfort. While all signs pointed to his being able to make one or two starts at the end of the season, the organization elected to just tell him to come back next year instead of risking returning him to the mound too early. The ace pitcher says he has been working out three times a week for the last three months, while throwing routinely, and has encountered no pain. He threw his first bullpen session on Friday and it apparently went well; he threw 80 non-breaking pitches and said he feels as strong as he ever has in January. Carl Crawford also said that his wrist was fine.
Among other things, the article also states that...
- Evan Longoria will start the season in the minor leagues, however the team is contractually obligated to start him in major league spring training.
- Shinji Mori's minor league contract pays him $2,500 a month, and he is getting paid $900,000 from his prior contract: $700k in actual salary and $200k for the buyout.
Resources
Kazmir insists shoulder is fine [St. Petersburg Times]
