Rays Tank: MLB non-tender deadline sends Conger to the Rays

Welcome to your Thursday Tank!

Where There Are Franchise Firsts and Longo Has a Three Obsession

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December 3rd in Rays History!

In 1997, the team signed veteran pitcher, Wilson Alvarez, as well as a journeyman outfielder, Dave Martinez. Both players left lasting impressions with the team as Alvarez threw the first pitch in team history and Martinez notched the first hit.

Alvarez's best days were behind him as he labored through 1998 and 1999, then missed the next two years due to injuries. He finally returned in 2002, but pitched miserably and became a free agent following the season. Martinez was a respectable fourth outfielder for the team until he was traded in 2001. After retiring a few years later, Martinez would eventually become the Rays bench coach, a position he'd hold for over half a decade.

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Trivia Time!

The answer to yesterday's question was David Price!

Can you name this former Rays prospect based off an excerpt from Baseball America?

"Has the best overall stuff of anyone in the system not named Price. He has a lively low-90s fastball that touches 95 mph, a curveball he'll throw in any count and a solid changeup.  He also creates deception by using the same arm angle for his offspeed pitches. He throws inside consistently and rarely gets rattled."

Hint: was named the 8th best prospect in the system following the 2008 season

Answer will be revealed in tomorrow's tank!

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There are 122 days until Opening Day!

That's the same number of games, hits, & strikeouts that Evan Longoria had during his award winning rookie season 2008.

So, with him having three stats that are equal to 122, here's his three home run game!

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Links!

- Rays acquired catcher Hank Conger late last night for cash. Rays clearly value defense and pitch framing from their catchers, and to explore that more check out this great breakdown from Jeff Sullivan on Conger's pitch framing ability.

- The non-tender deadline was last night, with lots of intriguing names hitting the market, such as 1B Pedro Alvarez and Chris Carter, RP Steve Cishek and Yusmeiro Petit, and injured pitchers Henderson Alvarez and Greg Holland. We've talked about three players named Alvarez today! Do either of these fit the Rays?

- The White Sox have replaced Tyler Flowers with old-friend Dioner Novarro

- The San Diego Padres have officially hired Mark McGwire to be their new bench coach.

- Josh Donaldson has a new, strange braided mohawk haircut, probably to distract Blue Jays' fans from the fact they have replaced David Price with JA Happ.

- Mat Germain of RaysColoredGlasses takes a look back in review of the Rays-Padres-Nationals big three-team trade from last year.

- Eli Ben-Porat of The Hardball Times dives into an investigation and analysis of pitch location (accompanied by some stellar graph work!)

- Random Ray of the Day!

- Please, if you haven't already, take the time to sign our petition to help bring back the Rays original uniform during the 2016 season

- Need a baseball fix? Check out this piece of history from 2010,