Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Talking sliders with the master

David Laurila talked to Sergio Romo about Romo’s slider, and the interview is so good. Here’s a small snippet, but there’s much more there:

“I know I have to change speeds on my slider, though. I know I have to take some off and put some more on. That’s my… I mean, it’s like other guys throwing sinkers, cutters, four-seamers… they take something off to add movement. The four-seamer is right at you. These guys are throwing 95-100, and then they’ll come at you with a sinker that’s 92-94 and then a cutter that’s 90-92. You’re sitting there going, ‘dang.’ Me, I have three sliders. I have a slow big one, a short hard one, and one that goes down. I have to use all of them, because hitters are good.

Romo also implied, I think, that he threw more fastballs with the Rays (which is true, but a little hard to see).

Meanwhile, Steve Kinsella continued his series “tracking the Rays Rebuild,” with a look at the departures of Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon and how the organization replaced them. You can read the first article in the series, on the David Price trade, here.

Other Rays Links

• The Rays announced their minor league coaching staffs for next year. Adam detailed the changes, particularly coming in Durham, where both the hitting and pitching coaches are new (since Kyle Snyder and Ozzie Timmons will be in Tampa Bay this year).
• From a few days ago, but prospect Jake Bauers went on MLB Pipeline to discuss his plans for the spring.
• Bill Chastain discussed the bullpen.
• There’s a mystery team in the running for Yu Darvish. Is it the Rays?

Other Links

• Craig Edwards tried to evaluate Statcast defensive metrics against UZR. Worth your time.
• Kiley McDaniel gave a thoughtful article on the status of the “scouts vs. stats debate.”