A weekly notes column for things that don't present the stature for their own posts, but hold enough relevance to be mentioned
Edwin Jackson has a sub 4.3 ERA the past month, read that again, savor it. The man who dropped his ERA from 6.56 to 6.35 with a decent outing last night may have found a groove, minus that Baltimore outing. Edwin didn't have his best stuff last night but he worked through it and went six, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, walking four, and striking two out, along with hitting 100 on the radar gun for his final pitch. He wasn't impressive to a fault, but he was good enough against the defending American League champs to get a win, then Gary Glover came in, imploded, and cost Edwin his much deserved victory for the second time in a week, and leaves us wondering if Glover will be around next year.
A user on Rays Baseball brought up the idea of Mike Myers, at first glance his stat line isn't too shabby, he's a lefty, and he has the Halloween theme as his entrance music, then of course you realize that the Yankees need relief help, and dumping one of their groundhogs (relievers who throw everyday, the only time they don't see their shadow is during the winter) doesn't make much sense. He is a lefty, and historically he's a LOOGY, but not this year, in fact lefties have killed him; if the Rays want a lefty who gets right handed batters out give Jon Swizer a call, otherwise if the team wants LOOGY call Jeff Ridgway up in three and a half weeks and see what you've got heading into this off-season.
If Carlos Pena can maintain some level of hotness over the next 50+ games, he's likely to finish with the Rays' franchise records in homeruns and OPS, at the moment he needs nine homeruns to break the record held by Jose Canseco and Aubrey Huff, and to maintain an OPS over .971, set by the great Fred McGriff.
Speaking of Pena, look for him to be on the Comeback Player of the Year ballots, it would be unacceptable for Dmitri Young to beat the humble, life loving Pena out, even if the elder Young has changed for the better, and is all the man for it.
Some readers have expressed concern over the Rays not claiming Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada on waivers; his slugging numbers have dropped each of the past three seasons, but at 32 he's still an offensive threat at shortstop and would bring a legitimate big name to the Southeastern Bay Area. It's certainly an intriguing idea, but I don't believe the Orioles were serious about dealing him, rather just floating the idea and possibly testing the market for this off-season, perhaps the Rays pursue him there, but I'd rate that as doubtful at best.
Devil Rays official site beat writer Bill Chastain floated the idea that B.J. Upton could be placed back at shortstop upon Rocco Baldelli's return, and that we might not see Evan Longoria in St. Petersburg until the end of next season. I will respectfully reject both ideas; while B.J. at short is a tempting thought, for him and the Rays, he's comfortable in center field, and moving him, again, for an injury plagued Baldelli, who is most likely to be dealt this off-season, isn't a comfortable thought, I do, however, like the idea of Baldelli being the fourth outfielder and nearly everyday designated hitter, let him play all over the outfield, prove his value, a team like Atlanta could use him still.
For Longoria, there's no reason to believe he won't be in serious contention for an infield spot come spring training, and at worst I think he becomes a Ryan Braun early call-up, note that Braun has been up 65 games and has over 20 homeruns, pretty impressive for the Brewers; whom the Rays will likely meet in inter-league play next year, along with two other National League Central teams, and the Florida Marlins.
Also, 24th round pick, John Baird has signed