Tampa Bay Rays news and links: American League wins All Star Game 4-2

It's comforting to know that when the Rays mount their epic second half playoff push, they can look forward to home-Tropicana Field advantage once they inevitably reach the World Series. Good job rest of the AL, especially the Royals HRs!

The lone Rays representative, Alex Colome, did not pitch, but still got to take part in all the All Star weekend fun. And for as rough of a season as it has been, Colome absolutely deserves this fun weekend.

#Rays Colome from today's All-Star parade https://t.co/O4QnLfnLdH

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 13, 2016

In other Rays related/mentioned Tweets,

At BBWAA meeting, Commissioner Manfred says expansion won't be looked at until a) new CBA b) stadium situations resolved in TB/OAK. #désolé

— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) July 12, 2016

And from the Fangraphs chat, a little bit about Chih-Wei Hu:

Rick: Chih-Wei Hu looked great in his inning. His change or whatever that was looked scary. Without getting too worked up over 3 batters, how much should we take away from his appearance and what’s his future look like to you? Thanks!

Eric A Longenhagen: So, Hu calls that pitch the cat. And he grips it with his thumb and pinky at the 7 and 4 o clock spots on the baseball with his middle finger at the 12 and his index and ring finger at the 10 and the 2. Does that make sense to you guys, it’s an odd thing to describe.

Eric A Longenhagen: It has splitter action and I marked it as a splitter in my notes before learning how he grips it. It was yesterday’s only 70 secondary offering and it’s freaky as hell. The fastball is flat and plays below the velo so there’s some concern there.

Links:

— MiLB.com (@MiLB) July 12, 2016

- Jake Bauers' Twitter comeback tool looks to be at least a 70 already

#11 in your program #1 in your heart https://t.co/tn0mVCmpTe

— Jake Bauers (@JakeBauers11) July 13, 2016

- Dave Cameron continues his trade value list list with #30-21, with Chris Archer coming in at #21.

- While the Rays terrible last month has been truly grueling to endure, the Rays former manager Joe Maddon and his Chicago Cubs have just gone through their own month long slump.

- Beyond the Boxscore's Travis Sarandos makes the argument that the All Star game having real baseball implications is probably a fine thing.

- Over at Baseball Prospectus, Henry Druschel looks at how the only thing that can slow down the really rich teams is themselves.