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Welcome to your Wednesday Tank!
Where the Rays make bad decisions and history is made
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December 2nd in Rays History!
In 2013, the Rays made an ill-fated signing as they signed Jose Molina to a two year deal. The signing originally happened two weeks prior, but took until the second for the deal to become official.
Molina's main value comes from his framing prowls, but his offense turned out to be inexcusable as he put up one of the worst seasons in baseball history during 2014, and would be released before 2015, leaving the Rays on the hook for his remaining salary.
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Trivia Time!
Yesterday's answer was Seth McClung!
Onto today's question:
Can you name this Rays prospect based on an excerpt from Baseball America?
[Player] is the complete package with outstanding athleticism, stuff and makeup. His fastball has great late life and armside run while sitting in the low 90s and touching 95 mph. He throws a plus-plus slider that reaches 87 mph and has a late, sharp bite.
Hint: He was named the Rays second top prospect following the 2007 season
The answer will be revealed in tomorrow's tank!
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There are 123 days until Opening Day!
That's the same number of games that Wade Boggs played for the Rays during their inaugural season in 1998. During which time, he hit the team's first ever home run!
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Links!
- Jeff Sullivan over at Fangraphs further breaks down what we know about the Red Sox signing David Price, who now owns the biggest pitching contract in baseball history.
- Jerry Dipoto got his chance to trade Mark Trumbo again, as the M's send Trumbo to Baltimore for Steve Clevenger.
- The San Diego Padres revealed new jerseys for 2016, including bringing back the Mustard and Brown and introducing a Navy camo uni.
- Russell A. Carleton at Baseball Prospectus investigates the question: what's the psychology behind bad managing choices?
- The Cleveland Indians signed formerly relevant pitcher Joba Chamberlain to a minor league contract (with the Indians' twitter apologizing for the midges that last time).
- With the Hot Stove burning strong and the Winter Meetings starting this Sunday, we are also in the midst of another great baseball off-season tradition: absolutely crazy fan trades! From last season, but well worth checking out if you haven't read it: Sam Miller's hilarious deconstruction of one Detroit fan's brilliant madness.
In case you were wondering who might dare use the headline pic.twitter.com/q65QBSWtVH
— Danny Russell (@d_russ) December 2, 2015