Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Do they even hug in Arizona?

Amidst all the moves, Marc Topkin stopped to ask the most important question for Rays fans—what are the Rays going to do with the Souza hug dolls? Kind of gives a new meaning to #hugwatch

Topkin also asked the less important, baseball question—what if the Rays know what they’re doing?

Meanwhile, a day after saying he was frustrated and upset, Kevin Kiermaier took a different tack.

Speaking of putting some lipstick on the series of trades, Rays Radio has the office interviews with Rays manager Kevin Cash, talking about CJ Cron, Steven Souza, and the rest of these trades. The headline, if you want to call it that, is that Cron is impressive in batting practics.

And today’s Rays Radio profile is with pitcher Jason Coats.

Rays Links

• Rays Radio noted that Rays management told us they were going to do this.
• Jeff Sullivan compared Steven Souza and Carlos Gomez, calling Gomez “an older Steven Souza.”
• Colby Rasmus, who last year mysteriously walked away from the Rays and never came back, signed a minor league contract with the Orioles.
• Will Leitch counted down the players whose impact will shape the AL East this season.

Other Links

Sung Min Kim continued his excellent residency at FanGraphs, writing about the Asian baseball leagues.