Running 2011 Baseball Thread, Vol. I: Dedicated to spnited

And where did this Rays pitcher come from? Only his second major league start and he has a shutout through 5 of a playoff game on the road.

 

he's the best pitching prospect in the minors. No shock.

 

What Della said.

When I saw they were starting Moore in Game 1 I was a bit worried (justified now).

Last year, neither of these teams won at home in their ALDS series. Hopefully the Rangers can figure out James Shields tomorrow night.

 

Great analysis.

 

Joe Buck would be proud.

 

Moore is a monster. If he and Jennings were up earlier, the Rays probably would have been jostling with the Yankees for the division, as opposed to the Red Sox for the wild card. The Rays payroll management almost bit them in the ass this year.

 

Monsoon conditions in New York. It wouldn't surprise me if we have a delay here, which will be interesting, since it's so early in the game. Do you keep Sabathia or Verlander in after a long delay?

 

I can't prove this of course, but I'd guess the only reason Jennings stayed on the farm as long as he did was so the Rays could punish him for hiring Boras as his agent (last year, I believe). I mean, it made NO sense to keep that guy in the minors beyond Memorial Day, never mind until the week before the trade deadline. And you're right: They would have had ample reason to kick themselves in the ass if they missed the playoffs by a game.

 

I don't think it's because Boras is his agent, although Boras being his agent means it's more likely that the Rays only get him through his arbitration years, and no longer. The Rays pulled the same thing with Longoria - Jonah Keri writes about it in his book on them, that part of the reason he got brought up early-ish is that they thought they could work out a long-term deal with him.

Jennings was hurt part of the year, and there was some talk that the Rays wanted him to prove that he was healthy before finally bringing him up. But I thought him getting hurt was more of a convenient accident for the Rays to keep him down without having to deal with any sort of grievance.

 

Final Elias rankings for free agent and arbitration designations.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/09/2010-11-reverse-engineered-elias-rankings.html

Scioscia probably didn't see Napoli earning Type A.

 

As a journalist, it bothers me to see Verducci interview Torre.

 

And we are postponed. Resume suspended game tomorrow at 8:30.

Game 2 Sunday at 3 p.m.


No off days the rest of the series.