Comments on: Rays promote Desmond Jennings from Triple-A Durham

By: flpunx

flpunx — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:55:37 +0000

Yeah – it has definitely been a frustrating season thus far for us Rays fans. I haven’t thought BJ was worth the trouble for a few seasons now, and I’m tired of hearing every spring training how much Maddon believes in him and sees this tremendous upside. I mean, yes, I can’t argue with him offensively since he is leading the team in HR’s and RBI’s, but his consistency at the plate has ALWAYS been an issue. Even in the 08 postseason when he tricked a lot of people into believing in his future. Defensively, he is sick. If he just hustled 100% of the time instead of dogging it when he doesn’t feel like playing, he could be an all star center fielder.

That being said, I agree that we probably don’t deal him. As much as I don’t want to see Juego G sent packing, he is the player that would get the most in return right now. I would love to see a catcher that could actually hit as well as a more consistent BA out of a middle infield. All in all, I think they can still make a run at the wild card, but they have to do something NOW to spark this anemic offense. Longo, leave the gloves off. We need an actual lead off hitter (possibly Jennings) and DH, not Johnny Damon who has been occupying 2 separate roles. Don’t get me wrong I love Damon and what he has been doing this year, but we need a lead off hitter to get aboard and a DH to drive a couple of runs in a night. I just don’t see too many afordable options, and being a Rays fan, I know it all comes down to affordability.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:36:03 +0000

I am a fan of Kotchmann. Hell, he’s arguably the offesive MVP this season. My pointing out his 28 RBIs was a shot at this pathetic offense more than a shot at him. He has been a savior this year. If he goes down, Johnny Damon becomes our first baseman, because we have no one at any level. It was a cheap shot, but I couldn’t believe it when I saw it the other day. I wanted to know how man at bats Kotchmann needed to get into league leader categories, so I looked up his stats. .331 avg, .854 ops, 275 at bats…….29 rbis. I couldnt believe it. What a terrible offense we have that he doesnt have more. He has 25 extra base hits, which is below average for a first baseman, but not bad. His .850 ops is amazing for a guy with 4 hr. He definately is not the weak link in this offense.

With that said, we wont be able to upgrade in center, right, 2nd, or third. We have a ton of outfielders who are almost major league ready to upgrade left field next year. Our DH is our most expensive player. A well hitting, available SS and C are expensive. That leaves first base as the most reasonable choice. If I had my way, as slick of a fielder as Kotchmann is, I’d try him at second, Zobrist to the OF, and try to get Yonder Alonso for Niemann, or Alonzo and their top rated catcher for Shields. (Just an idea, I havent heard any buzz)

I dont think we move Upton. They have been saying it for years. If we do, it is because we acquired Rasmus+ for Shields. We won’t trot out an outfield of Sam Fuld, Desmond Jennings, and Matt Joyce 5.5 games out of the wild card.

Our best hitter has 29 rbis. ****ing pathetic!!!

Next time reply to my post so I know you responded to me

By: flpunx

flpunx — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:14:06 +0000

Hittfamily – be fair to Kotchman. The Rays stuck with Charlie Brown (Dan Johnson) far too long this season, and look at who Casey has been following in the lineup. I am not going to sit here and say 28 RBI’s is going to save us, but come on – anyone filling in at first can’t fill Pena’s shoes, even if he was hitting .180 the second half of last season. The catcher and shortstop – yes. Although I do have to say at least Johnson seems to be trying at the plate, and Brignac just looked lost this season. He seemed to be taking bating lessons from Upton. Be fair to Kotchman. He’s a hometown kid and I would personally love to see him stick around for a few years. The Rays really just need more consistent offense, and someone to help out Longo, since we;ve now seen for 2 years what happens to his head at the plate when he feels like he has to carry the team by himself.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:20:57 +0000

Sam Fuld is what they thought he was. A defensive replacement. The fact that he hit .360 and stole 11 bases for a month was a hell of a plus. The guy covers as much ground as anyone in the league, and has made spectacular catch after spectacular catch. As a 7th inning replacement, his value is vastly underrated.

By: entersandman42ny

entersandman42ny — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:32:12 +0000

Sam Fuld sucks. As much as ESPN and other networks have hyped Fuld for what he did in April, he is hitting in the low .200s. Yes they won the division the two years prior to this year, but that was before they started trading their top talent and how many rings did they win?

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:49:59 +0000

Both Fuld and Ruggiano would have to clear waivers, while Brignac won’t. He is the only one they could option to the minors without losing the player. I think people are over thinking this move. Desmond is ready for the show, and the Rays need a left fielder. If Upton is traded, I doubt it will come during the weakest 10 day stretch of season. If they have lost ground on the 31st, clean out your locker BJ.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:57:37 +0000

sub .200 shortstop. Sub .200 catcher. First baseman with 28 RBI. We need help Friedman. Pull the trigger.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:50:39 +0000

They replaced an infielder with an outfielder because they only carry 4 outfielders. Joyce is banged up. Zobrist will likely just play second now, not platoon right/second.

Jennings is a welcome sight for a Rays fan. I was wondering how long they would plug along with the Sam Fuld/Ruggiano experiment.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:50:31 +0000

The replaced an infielder with an outfielder because they only carry 4 outfielders. Joyce is banged up. Zobrist will likely just play second now, not platoon right/second.

Jennings is a welcome sight for a Rays fan. I was wondering how long they would plug along with the Sam Fuld/Ruggiano experiment.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:43:00 +0000

The Rays have won the division 2 of the last three years. That’s more than the Sox and Yanks combined. Do a google search next time before you talk about what the Rays are and arent content with. And Garza was replaced with Hellickson, not a plug in, a stud. That trade netted 3 top 50 players plus super Sam Fuld. It was a great move.

By: killabri

killabri — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 04:33:38 +0000

No edit feature, so to clarify one part of my above comment… the Nationals were heavily rumored to be a destination for BJ Upton.

By: killabri

killabri — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 04:32:02 +0000

Yeah, the Rays’ roster right now has 5 actual outfielders on it (Upton, Fuld, Ruggiano, Joyce, and now Jennings) and, if you include Damon and Zobrist, they have a total of 7 people who could play in the outfield. That is obviously way too many and in any case another roster move has to be made. Moving Upton would accommodate that and give the Rays some roster flexibility.

As to why Upton was yanked, nobody has a real clear answer on that yet. The Nationals are still involved in their ballgame with the Dodgers, so perhaps the clubs are waiting for the Nats game to end to announce a deal? Even if that were the case, you’d think BJ Upton would have been told he was traded.

Whether it happens tonight or in the coming days, BJ Upton will be moved. It’s just a matter of where he goes. And for God sake, hopefully he brings us back a shortstop who can play a little ball.

By: drmonkeyarmy

drmonkeyarmy — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 04:12:10 +0000

Why was Upton pulled then? Seems quite suspicious. Something is definitely up. A deal with somebody must be close.

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:57:38 +0000

the Rays are losing money- fans don’t even come to their games. They play in the worst ballpark in the MLB and perhaps the worst venue in North American professional sports. I know it sounds crazy, but those players ARE too expensive for them. Which is a shame, because they have put together some really talented squads the last few years.

By: drmonkeyarmy

drmonkeyarmy — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:51:05 +0000

Nice reporting. Thanks.

By: killabri

killabri — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:48:45 +0000

Per Marc Topkins (Rays beat writer) Twitter…

#Rays Upton just said he has NOT been traded. No word on move yet, but Brignac was in Maddon’s office

And it appears now as I type this that the Rays have optioned Reid Brignac to Durham and called up Desmond Jennings. However, that said… optioning a shortstop and replacing him with an outfield doesn’t make sense. The Rays could very well have pulled Upton from the game if they got close enough to trading him that they felt like a deal was going to occur soon. The other team could have demanded it.

Upton remains with the Rays, for now.

By: macjacmccoy

macjacmccoy — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:47:10 +0000

i dunno there are other teams looking for outfield help. Giants, Phillies, Braves to name a few.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:41:11 +0000

I say something nice about Desmond’s defense, and he makes 2 errors in one inning.

By: entersandman42ny

entersandman42ny — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:27:26 +0000

BJ Upton had that big playoff run a couple of years ago when he hit the cover off the ball but hasn’t lived up to the hype since. He has great speed and is a very good defensive center fielder, but he strikes out a lot and doesn’t hit for an average. I do like his power/speed combination but I wouldn’t give up the farm to trade for him. I guess the Rays are content with being the third best team in the AL East because they keep trading guys like Garza & Upton because they are “too expensive” approaching their arbitration or contract years. They think they can just keep plugging less experienced, less talented players to fill the holes left behind, but eventually it will catch up to them because they will keep trading away top talent.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:25:30 +0000

Those of us in NL-only leagues with outfield needs would respectfully disagree.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:23:44 +0000

Bill Ladson, MLB.com’s Nats reporter, suggests Rizzo would love to have Upton. Ian Desmond is mentioned as someone the Rays might want.
http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110722&content_id=22146344&notebook_id=22160026&vkey=notebook_was&c_id=was

Don’t know about that; Desmond has been playing some good defense. In any event, he’s playing tonight. Of course, no announcement yet, and none likely until the Nats-Dodgers game ends. That is, if the deal is Upton to the Nats.

By: drmonkeyarmy

drmonkeyarmy — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:18:17 +0000

Interesting. His brother seems to be panning out a tad more that BJ, but loads of potential non the less.

By: largebill

largebill — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:14:41 +0000

Those of us with Upton in AL only leagues are not liking the sound of that potential move. Keep him in the AL!