2022 Rays: Wander, Randy and The Baz

Lowrielicious

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Whats Baz going to look like this year? asking from a purely selfish reason.
Like his stuff, like his newfound control.
Question is how deep will he go into games. Hit 6 innings exactly once at all levels last year.
 

jon abbey

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I hope they trade Glasnow to the NL, would be nice to get him out of the division.
 

VORP Speed

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Glasnow unlikely to pitch this year, Rays have control for 2023 and then he’s a FA in 24. He’s making 6m this year. Wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him get traded.

Baz is going to be awesome and he’ll go 5 innings. This is the way.
 

VORP Speed

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View: https://twitter.com/jppetersonshow/status/1504881521580077058?s=21


An interview with one of the key Hillsborough County Commissioners around Rays stadium situation. The clip here is very long, but one of the most optimistic things I’ve heard around progress on finally getting something done….$700-800m stadium in Ybor, with some sort of roof or roof like structure, 50/50 public/private financing, public financing from user fees in the ballpark district + existing tourism taxes.

Reading between the lines, sounds like MLB shooting down Stu’s cash grab with the sister city plan has kicked everything into gear.

Medium spending here we come!
 

JoePoulson

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….$700-800m stadium in Ybor, with some sort of roof or roof like structure, 50/50 public/private financing, public financing from user fees in the ballpark district + existing tourism taxes.
Would be so awesome. I can't stand the Rays but it's mostly due to the Trop. Such a dump and in a terrible location. Putting them in Ybor / actual Tampa with a modern stadium would be rad and would do wonders for that franchise (always wondered if they considered the fairgrounds / Hard Rock area as well, would get a bunch more Orlando traffic there I presume. I know me and some buddies would be season ticket holders). I'm going to a game there in June with a friend who's never been, so I can't wait to share that warehouse feeling! Hopefully there won't be many more years of it.
 

jon abbey

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So how do you like your boys overall coming into the season? A full season of Wander has to be exciting.
 

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So how do you like your boys overall coming into the season? A full season of Wander has to be exciting.
I'm not thrilled with Harold Ramirez, the poor man's Yandy Diaz, as the big off-season RH bat addition, the pitcher injuries are concerning and I was hoping they'd move at least one of Meadows/Kiermaier and make room for J Lowe/Brujan. Will be great to have Wander for a full-season, Walls should slide in nicely to Wendle's spot, overall the line-up is very similar to how they ended last year and they have some good bullpen arms coming back from injury in Beeks/Poche/Springs. Should be a solid team, but clearly NOT the favorites in such a stacked division. I'm assuming they will add a big bat at some point, like they did with Cruz last year, but the playoff expansion maybe makes it a little easier to wait it out a bit and see what they have before making moves like that.
 

jon abbey

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So what's the rotation now? Are we getting back to opener territory?
 

VORP Speed

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Kluber, McClanahan and 13 somewhat interchangeable guys.

They called Tommy Romero up, so I guess Rasmussen, Yarbrough and Romero will fill out the starting/bulking rotation
 

jon abbey

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Kluber, McClanahan and 13 somewhat interchangeable guys.

They called Tommy Romero up, so I guess Rasmussen, Yarbrough and Romero will fill out the starting/bulking rotation
Yarbrough just went on the IL too.
 

Bread of Yaz

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Kluber, McClanahan and 13 somewhat interchangeable guys.

They called Tommy Romero up, so I guess Rasmussen, Yarbrough and Romero will fill out the starting/bulking rotation
What do you know about Romero? Doesn't seem too highly ranked on Rats prospect lists
 

LogansDad

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What do you know about Romero? Doesn't seem too highly ranked on Rats prospect lists
I haven't gotten a chance to watch him yet (we will today, though!), but from everything I've read his minor league numbers are great, but his stuff is middling. He was basically a nothing/fringe prospect back in 2019, then dropped a 1.88 ERA with a sub 1 WHIP to start the year in AA last season, before getting promoted to AAA and being really good there as well. His K:BB rates look great, but we will see how that translates into the Majors, because I haven't read anything to suggest his stuff is top end caliber.

Of course, it's the Rays, so he could end up being Greg Maddux for 4 innings every six days.
 

VORP Speed

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He’s got a funky, deceptive delivery and high spin efficiency leading to a ton of swing and misses on his fastball even though it’s not overpowering. No good secondary pitches, but he came out of nowhere in the minors and has been really good at AA and AAA. Seems like he could be a good one time thru the order guy. We’ll see.


View: https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/1462933918357897223?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1462933918357897223%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-8551844092407049949.ampproject.net%2F2203172113000%2Fframe.html
 

BigSoxFan

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Wander now has 4 multi hit games out of 5. When that power comes, you’re looking at a top 5 hitter.
 

VORP Speed

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I am the Rays fan and I have no idea who half the relievers they trot out there are. That shit works, though.

Josh Lowe got sent down to Durham the other day. My one quibble with the front office this year is dumping Meadows while holding onto to Kiermaier. They obviously were very high on JLowe and wanted to give him regular at bats and hard to do that if Meadows + KK still around, but Meadows is more valuable than KK and they should have just eaten whatever part of KK's contract they needed to move him. JLowe is the KK replacement, but they cheaped out on not wanting to have to eat, what, $5-7m of his salary this year? Boo.
 
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jon abbey

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TB going for their 4th straight win tonight, about to start a series in SEA after sweeping 3 in OAK. A win tonight would push them 1/2 game past TOR into 2nd.
 

VORP Speed

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TB going for their 4th straight win tonight, about to start a series in SEA after sweeping 3 in OAK. A win tonight would push them 1/2 game past TOR into 2nd.
Diabolical Yankee sabotage foiled. 2nd place. Only 2.5 back despite the early season Yankee onslaught.
 

jon abbey

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They really should be careful with Wander, this sounds like he should take the next nine days off.

"Standing in the quiet clubhouse more than 40 minutes after the marathon 8-6 loss to the Orioles, Wander Franco said there indeed was a reason he did not slide during a sequence in the 13th inning that could have put the Rays ahead.

And that might be more concerning than the disappointing outcome of Friday night’s game, as the star shortstop said he again felt something in the right quad that has sidelined him previously and limited his running.

“On the way to home when I rounded third, I felt a little discomfort in my leg,’' he said, via team interpreter Manny Navarro. “So that was the reason why the thought of not sliding came about.’’

Franco said he hasn’t felt right for a few days. No decision had been made yet if he would be able to play Saturday, and there had been no talk of placing him on the injured list."

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2022/05/20/rays-blow-three-leads-then-lose-to-orioles-in-13th/
 

BigSoxFan

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He’s definitely slumping hard right now and it looks like the injury may be playing a role here.
 

VORP Speed

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He's nasty. I cannot emotionally process somebody being at the level of busting onto the scene, early career Dwight Gooden, but it's an interesting comp. Shane actually has a higher K rate, but Doc threw 276!! innings in 1985. Plus Doc was 19 in his ROY 1984 season. Barely 2 years removed from Hillsborough High. Imagine if he was on the Rays pitching plan and not the 80's Mets Coke and Palladium plan?
 

LogansDad

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Man, every now and then his name pops up and I remember just how much I miss watching Jose Fernandez pitch.

I need to set aside more time to watch McLanahan, as I haven't seen a single game from him this year.
 

Van Everyman

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Can someone please explain to me how this shithole franchise and cheap-ass owner continues to turn unbelievable quality talent out year after year? A decade ago the story was that Andrew Friedman used a bunch of their high picks to set them up for success. But this team has been a playoff team for the most part for the last 15 years. And Friedman is long gone.

So what gives? I mean, I appreciate what Chaim Bloom is doing with the Red Sox, finding bargains and deepening Worcester. But this feels like a completely different ballgame. Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena, Shane McClanahan. How does this team keep doing it year after year?
 

jon abbey

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But this feels like a completely different ballgame. Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena, Shane McClanahan. How does this team keep doing it year after year?
Those three weren’t exactly hidden talents, Franco was the #1 international prospect for his year, Arozarena cost them top 100 prospect Liberatore, and McClanahan was a #1 pick.
 

E5 Yaz

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Those three weren’t exactly hidden talents, Franco was the #1 international prospect for his year, Arozarena cost them top 100 prospect Liberatore, and McClanahan was a #1 pick.
And, of course, Bloom was a huge part of their player development treadmill
 

VORP Speed

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Can someone please explain to me how this shithole franchise and cheap-ass owner continues to turn unbelievable quality talent out year after year? A decade ago the story was that Andrew Friedman used a bunch of their high picks to set them up for success. But this team has been a playoff team for the most part for the last 15 years. And Friedman is long gone.

So what gives? I mean, I appreciate what Chaim Bloom is doing with the Red Sox, finding bargains and deepening Worcester. But this feels like a completely different ballgame. Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena, Shane McClanahan. How does this team keep doing it year after year?
It’s amazing what a smart front office can do when unfettered by the mentality that spawns April “OMG, We’re Sellers!” threads