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• The Draysbay Hall of Fame ballot is live
• The San Diego Padres added the new ace of their staff as they signed Jhoulys Chacin on a one year deal
• Brad Zielger finally signed, agreeing to a two year deal with the Miami Marlins
• Who will be the next great comeback story in baseball?
• Topkin has several tidbits in his weekly writeup, such as the Rays being interested in Nathan Eovaldi, and they could also bring back Logan Morrison
• Derby Lane might be the location of the Rays new stadium
• The Rays are set to release their annual ‘Players and Pooches’ calendar with Matt Duffy and his famous cat being featured

December 19th in Rays History:

Three Rays were born on this date; Rafael Soriano (1979), Andy Cannizaro (1978), & Russell Branyan (1975)

1999 - Adding to their new ‘Hit Show’ dynamic, the Rays signed outfielder Gerald Williams who homered 17 times the previous season. In 2000, he’d start the year off with bang, homering in the first plate appearance of the Rays season, but later on he landed one of the biggest hits in franchise history.

2005 - The Tampa Bay Rays acquired Josh Paul from the Los Angeles Angels for Travis Schlichting

2014 - The Rays make a massive three team deal that sends Wil Myers, Jose Castillo, Gerardo Reyes, and Ryan Hanigan to the San Diego Padres, while Jake Bauers, Rene Rivera, Burch Smith, Trea Turner, and Joe Ross will dealt to the Rays, with Ross and Turner being flipped to the Washington Nationals for Travis Ott and Steven Souza Jr.

Trivia

Name the former Rays players based on an excerpt from Baseball America

[Prospect’s] best pitch is a hard curveball that has been compared to those thrown by big leaguers Darryl Kile and Gregg Olson. [Prospect’s] big frame gives it an excellent angle, making it more difficult to hit and easier for him to throw it consistently for strikes. [Prospect’s] fastball registered only 86-88 mph when he was drafted but he has increased his velocity to the 90-93 range as he has matured. He added strength and ability to throw all his pitches for strikes has enabled him to consistently work late into games while maintaining his raw stuff. He has the potential to be a front-of-the-rotation workhorse.

Hint: Was named the number one prospect in his organization in the late 90’s and he was ranked in Baseball America’s top 100 three times