MLB Chatter
First of all, the Tigers beat the Rangers yesterday 5-2 as Doug Fister kept Detroit alive. But as good as that game was, there's even more important news going on right now. That report last night that Theo Epstein was on the verge of going to the Cubs? Yeah, it looks like it's close to a done deal. There's still the matter of ironing out who the Cubs send to Boston in compensation for Epstein, so this could still fall through, but it's looking all but done. And as Charlie Blackwell (Voodoo 5) notes, that can only be a good thing for the Rays.
In goofy news, the White Sox apparently considered Paul Konerko when doing their managerial search, figuring he could serve as a player-manager. I can't think of the last time there was a player-manager in baseball...anyone know? It would certainly be amazing to watch in action, if only for the novelty of it all. And I think the Rays currently have one of the best candidates to pull it off: Sam Fuld.
The Orioles are compiling a list of GM candidates, and it's quite a list so far:
This list includes former Diamondbacks GM and current Padres VP Josh Byrnes, former Astros GM and current Rays' senior VP Gerry Hunsicker, former Blue Jays GM and current Mets' assistant GM J.P Ricciardi, Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine, Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava and Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings.
Other sources have confirmed all the names except Gerry Hunsicker. I know we're going to lose him at some point, but hopefully it won't be soon.
Rays Talk
There are a large number of fan videos taken in the Trop during Game 162 of the regular season, and I've found myself flipping through those videos on YouTube recently. Here's one that one of our readers submitted to me to get you started.
I could read about Matt Moore for ages, and here's a take on him from Seedling to the Stars. They don't say anything too radical that we don't already know, but it's always fun to see others as impressed by Moore as us.
And then, there's this piece by Maury Brown on the amount of an population within a driving radius of a team's ballpark. If you read nothing else here, take a look at this one. It puts into stark contrast exactly how isolated the Trop currently is, and how much the Rays could stand to improve by moving to Tampa. And it supports my belief that the Rays would be better off in Tampa than moving to virtually any other market. So yeah, check it out.