The Rays Tank: The value of a win

For Rays fans the season is over, and the offseason has already begun, so I'll get to the important link first. What is the value of a win? Lewie Pollis of Beyond the Box Score disagrees with Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. Rather than place it at around $5 million per WAR, he figures it to be around $7 million.

And this was from a little while back, but it doesn't appear that the Rays (or Athletics) being in the postseason hurts TV ratings. Both the ALDS series' ratings were up over 30% from last season's. I suppose I can stop suspecting an MLB conspiracy every time a call doesn't go the Rays' way. Or maybe major league baseball can stop conspiring against the Rays now.

The Rays sent high-A pitcher Sean Bierman to Chicago as the first of two players to be named later in the Jess Crain deal. Bierman walked very few batters but didn't strike out enough to be considered a strong prospect.

Jose Lobaton served ice cream at a children's home.

Still In the Playoffs

The Red Sox beat the TIgers 1-0 to take the series lead, while the Cardinals extended their lead to three games to one over the Dodgers.

Jeff Sullivan talks about how a bad ball/strike call (Koji Uehara being given a 1-1 strike below the zone against Jhonny Peralta) changes the at bat beyond the run values from the count. Rays fans saw this over and over, as batters were forced to expand their zone to account for the umpire's mistake.

Boston and Detroit players and front office personnel talk about advance scouting. With David Laurila

MGL wondered why the Red Sox manager John Farrell uses Craig Breslow so often (particularly against righties). I'm not sure, either. His stats are not that impressive, but he sure did a number against the Rays.

Other Links

Chris St. John looks at the hardest and softest hit home runs of the year. The worst hit homer was off David Price, on a fly ball that wrapped around the Pesky Pole.