The Rays Tank: Moderation Follow-Up; Stadium Meeting; Reunion with Luke Scott?

Before we get into Rays and baseball news, I want to first acknowledge that there was an incident in the comments of Cee Angi's guest post on DRaysBay yesterday. There were comments made by one user that were misogynistic and harassing, and although those comments were promptly removed from DRaysBay and the user banned, that user continued to follow up through Twitter after the incident to further escalate matters.

As a result of this incident (and prior incidents involving this user), SB Nation has stepped in and is banning the offending user from the platform. I'd additionally like to add that we at DRaysBay also feel strongly that this user's behavior was highly inappropriate and well across the line, and that it violated our Community Guidelines:

We'll be tightly moderating for tone, personal attacks, and any sort of slur (even when used in a joke). In short, don't be nasty toward one another. And we won't be tolerating any slurs or comments that could be construed as racist, misogynistic, homophobic, etc, even if they are meant to be taken in jest.

I'd suggest that all our users take another read through our Community Guidelines (here and here), as they are the standards you agree to when participating in our community. Above and beyond the one incident from yesterday, there was a general negative, demeaning tone to many comments in Cee's piece, and there were various personal attacks thrown about as well. We have dealt with as many of those comments as we were able, and our mod team is currently having discussions on how to best ensure something like this doesn't happen again.

(Along those lines, we are looking for other interested community members that would like to help with modding, so shoot me an email if interested.)

Going forward, I expect that all the comments in this piece and in every piece on DRB going forward will fall within our guidelines, and if not, users will be dealt with appropriately. Additionally, I am not interested in hearing people debate or defend the events that occurred yesterday; they have been dealt with, and anyone that attempts to defend that harassment incident or that particular user will also be dealt with accordingly either by our mod team or SB Nation.

And with that, moving on to baseball:

• The Tampa Bay Rays are meeting with the Hillsborough County Commission today, in the hopes of moving the stadium debate forward. As Noah Pransky notes on his blog, the Tampa Bay Times has been strongly pushing for a new stadium and for a regional approach to solving the problem, while mainly focusing their criticism on mayor Bill Foster. I personally don't have any issue with this editorial slant, as it lines up with my own opinions, but I do find it interesting that there's little dialogue on what else the Rays can do to help push the conversation forward. Are they already doing all they can, or is there more that could be done?
• According to a rumor from Marc Topkin yesterday, there has been mutual interest in Luke Scott returning to the Rays. While I'd ideally like the Rays to acquire a better slugger for DH, at this point in the offseason, there are few options remaining and Scott may be one of the best ones out there.
• On the 2014 ballot, Pinellas County is likely going to vote on a one-cent sales tax increase that would go towards funding an expanded bus service and light rail. Yes for public transportation! This is another one of the big issues holding back the Rays stadium debate, and increased public transportation around the Tampa Bay area should help improve regional travel and attendance.
  
  If you feel strongly about public transportation in the Tampa Bay area, I'd suggest following the group Connect Tampa Bay (@ConnectTB). They're a grassroots advocacy group that is trying to stir up enthusiasm for increased public transportation in the Tampa Bay area, and they could use all the support they can get.