There's lots of good stuff out there right now, so be sure and check out these great stories:
- Clay Buchholz Extension: A David Price Blueprint? If we could get Price to sign on to a long-term deal for around only $30 million guaranteed, I'm all for it. The guaranteed dollars will probably need to be higher for Price, as Tommy lays out, but Buchholz's extension is at least an interesting comparison for the Rays and Price.
- Similarly, Dave Cameron has a piece up on The Trend Toward Team Options. Since this relates directly toward the Rays' strategy when locking up players long-term, it's worth a read. The Rays made sure there were multiple team options on the tail end of the long-term extensions for Evan Longoria, James Shields, Ben Zobrist, and Wade Davis, and more and more teams are beginning to follow suit.
- Matt Joyce Is Fine He's had a rough beginning to the season, but Joyce is still showing some promising signs, as RJ fleshes out. Most importantly, he's hitting the ball hard - I feel like I've watched him hit a line drive in each game so far that went right at someone. At this point, we should just be patient and wait for him to come around.
- Manny Ramirez's Legacy, and the Fate of the Rays Jonah Keri breaks down the news about Manny, and it's as well-rounded a take as I've read anywhere. In short, the Rays are still strong, especially looking toward the future, but this does definitely hurt the team in the here and now.
- Sam Fuld Misses The Cycle, Becomes Trivia Answer. Okay, so I'm giving myself a hat tip (h/t!), which is weird. But I wrote up a brief blurb over at SBN Tampa Bay about how often a player misses the cycle by a single, so if you're interested, check it out.
- Joe Maddon Says Manny Called Him After Retiring I'm done and over the Manny news at this point, but in some ways, it's reassuring to hear that he called Maddon. Say what you will about Manny and his time elsewhere, but he I can't fault him for anything he did during his time with the Rays. He said all the right things, came to the batting cage early every day, actively wanted to go on road trips he wasn't scheduled for - I'm disappointed at what happened, but I have no ill feelings towards Manny.