The Rays Tank: Hideki Matsui? Hideki Matsui

If you haven't heard already, the Rays are planning to sign Hideki Matsui to a minor league contract. Steve's going to have a more extensive look at him later, but for now lets consider what the signing means. The answer is not a whole lot. He's coming off his worst season in the majors -- he had a .696 OPS. Simply put, he's insurance. If Luke Scott gets hurt or Brandon Allen doesn't work out the Rays have a veteran bat waiting to take over.

It's a no risk situation for the Rays. If he hits well, awesome. If he sucks, oh well. Matsui has played a total of five minor league games in his life, and those were just rehab stints. He's going to look awfully funny sporting the Durham Bulls D on his cap.

• Friend of the site Tommy Rancel has a nice take on James Shields' ever changing pitch selection over at ESPN1040. Without overpowering stuff he has to keep hitters off balance as much as possible.
• With the retirement of Pudge Rodriguez, Matt Klaassenn takes a look at the three biggest hits of his career according to Win Probability Added (WPA).
• The Always entertaining Sam Miller takes a look at Albert Pujols and tries to locate what has gone wrong, and what he's doing differently, this season.
  
• Hey, did you know Moneyball died again? Grant Bisbee tells us so.