Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Wild weekend and countdown to the trade deadline

Well, things are a bit different since we last chatted in a Catwalk article. The Rays took two out of three from the Blue Jays, but it was hardly as banal as it sounds, with the two teams becoming the first duo ever to trade seven-run comebacks in back-to-back games.

It would have been REALLY easy for the Rays to roll over on Sunday after Saturday’s devastating loss and the early, and hefty, deficit Sunday. It says a lot about the team that they stormed back, and if you’re a believer in narrative (sadly, I’m not really) this could be That Game that gets them going.

The Rays made a couple of trades since we last met, as well, with Eric Sogard coming to town, and Christian Arroyo and Hunter Wood headed out—though not in the same deals.

The Rays will likely make several more of these moves at the periphery of the roster over the course of the next three days, but expecting anything bigger might be a fool’s errand.

It’s nice to have another off day Monday to collect thoughts and give the team a bit more rest before another three-game set with Boston. Here’s to holding them off a bit longer.

Trade Reactions

• Eric Sogard takes Nerd Power to Tampa — Dan Szymborski’s take for FanGraphs.
• Indians acquire Hunter Wood, Christian Arroyo from Tampa Bay Rays — We’re becoming quite the trade bedfellows with the folks over at Let’s Go Tribe.
• Do you have enough faith in the 2019 Rays to mortgage the future?
• The player reaction:

Rays News and Links

• Tampa Bay Rays remain sport’s most baffling petri dish — A+ use of reference to petri dishes... Ted Berg is always excellent.
• Marc Topkin’s takeaway’s from Rays’ 10-9 win Sunday over Jays
• The Rays are in some trouble — Yes, yes they are, Craig. I may or may not have made an “emotional hedge” bet on the Rays missing the playoffs with a fellow DRB writer. Hopefully my reverse jinx game is still strong...
• Meet the Tampa Bay Rays farm system: Wander Franco — This should be a fun series to track for all you prospect hounds.

Tweet of the Weekend

This tweet aged so fucking well.