Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Two men, one position?

Back when Lars Anderson played for the Red Sox, I was not a fan. Obvious reasons. Now that Lars Anderson plays for teams in far away places (first Japan, now Australia), and tells us stories about doing so, I am a huge fan.

On the Rays side, Steve Kinsella took a good, in-depth look at the Rays rebuild, which started way back in 2014.

Other Links

• Rays Radio examined the Rays depth at catcher.
• Bill Chastain examined the depth in the rotation.
• The Orioles have a situation. Manny Machado wants to play shortstop. Former-Ray Tim Beckham plays shortstop. Roch Kubatko of MASN wrote about Buck Showalter’s comments on the situation.
• Former-Ray Matt Garza will have shoulder surgery.
• Matt Kelly wrote about how Jose Altuve swung often at the first pitch (most times in baseball), and was very successful. There’s a Ray fifth on the list of most first-pitch swings. Do you know who?
• David Adler wrote about how Evan Longoria is adjusting to his new team.
• Patrick Dubuque on Rafael Palmeiro’s comeback.