Sheridan #9 Position Prospect, Vote For #10

You have voted Michael Sheridan the #9 position prospect in the Rays organization with 63% of the vote. Ryan Royster was 2nd with 11%. Replacing Sheridan in the vote for #10 is Jason Corder. Voting results for pitchers and position prospects are on the sidebar under "Fan Voting Top Prospects".

#8 Jacob Jefferies Statistics

Statistics for Jacob Jefferies:

Year	Age	Level	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Avg	OBP	SLG
2008	20	A-	238	32	75	16	3	2	41	21	22	.315	.379	.433

Year	Age	Level	OPS	ISOP	BB%	K%	BABIP	GB%	LD%	wOBA
2008	20	A-	.812	.118	8.0	8.3	.341	49	21	.358

Splits in A- in 2008:

Split	AB	ISOP	BB%	K%	BABIP	GB%	LD%	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
June	37	.054	9.8	14.6	.323	55	35	.270	.341	.324	.289
July	86	.163	11.0	8.0	.299	52	20	.279	.380	.442	.365
August	94	.085	5.9	7.8	.360	43	18	.330	.373	.415	.350
September	21	.191	0.0	0.0	.450	53	10	.476	.476	.667	.495
AWAY	130	.108	3.6	8.0	.381	49	22	.354	.384	.462	.372
HOME	108	.129	12.7	8.7	.292	49	20	.269	.373	.398	.342

Top 15 Hitters: #8 Jake Jefferies

Jake Jefferies
6'2'' 200 lbs DOB: 10/30/1987
Catcher
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
2008: Hudson Valley
Acquired: 2008 Draft, Round 3, 78th overall

Jake Jefferies had a bit of a similar profile to Rays' 5th rounder Mike Sheridan: the two were among the toughest college hitters to strike out over the past few seasons. Jefferies struck out just 30 times in 499 at-bats over three seasons as the backstop for UC-Davis.

Jefferies hit .387 his junior year, and carried his good contact skills over to pro ball, hitting .315/.379/.433 in 66 games for the Renegades. He only actually caught in 20 games and was primarily serving as the DH as Mark Thomas got the majority of the starts behind the plate.

A left-handed hitter, Jefferies' best tool is clearly his contact, and he lacks a glaring weakness. He's more of a gap-to-gap hitter than a homerun threat, and while he could develop more power in the future, it could come at the expense of his contact. He'll occasionally chase a bad pitch, but has good control of the strike zone and should continue to draw an average number of walks. Defensively, Jefferies is a nice strong target behind the plate, but he's also an above-average athlete for a catcher and features clean footwork. The one drawback to his defense is arm. His throws can get loopy at times, but the arm should be at least adequate.

The key for Jefferies as he progresses through the system will be keeping up the batting average while providing decent defense. At this point, any real homerun power he develops would have to be considered a bonus. As a 3rd-round pick, it's tough to imagine the Rays limiting him to DH in 2009. Instead, he's likely ticketed for low-A Bowling Green, where he'll catch a talented pitching staff.

Minor League Signings

According to Matt Eddy, the Rays have signed RHP Doug Salinas, SS Ray Olmedo, OF Ray Sadler, and re-signed OF Jon Weber, all to minor league contracts. Salinas, who just turned 20 on December 5th, spent the past three seasons in the Seattle Mariners organization after signing as a non-drafted free agent on July 11, 2005, out of Venezuela. Last year he had a 5.53 ERA in 57.0 IP with a 55/29 SO/BB ratio for the Mariners short-season A affiliate in the Northwest League.

Olmedo is a 27 year old SS who played for the Washington Nationals AAA affiliate in 2008, putting up a line of .252/.292/.340 in 353 AB. Also a Venezuelan, he was originally signed by the Cincinnati Reds as a non-drafted free agent on January 21, 1999, and has accumulated 403 major league at-bats over five seasons for the Reds and Toronto Blue Jays.

Sadler is a 28 year old outfielder originally selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 30th round of the 1999 draft. He has played in the Cubs, Pirates, and Astros organizations. In 2008 he split time between the Astros AA and AAA affiliates, going .290/.366/.514 in 107 AB in AA and .267/.315/.530 in 345 AB in AAA. He had eight major league at-bats over three games for the Pirates in 2005.

Weber is a 30 year old outfielder who spent all of last season with the Durham Bulls, putting up a line of .265/.334/.447 in 389 AB. Since originally signing as a non-drafted free agent with the Cincinnati Reds on August 2, 1999, he has played in the Reds, Oakland A's, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, and Rays organizations and in the independent Frontier and Northern leagues.

Rays in the Liga Paralela (Venezuela)

We've talked quite a bit about the Venezuelan Winter League, which is made up of current and former major leaguers and upper-level minor league players. But there is another winter league in Venezuela for younger, lower-level players called the Liga Paralela. Tampa Bay has a team in the league made up of players from their Venezuelan Summer League team, the Princeton Rays, and recent international signings.

The league ended December 19th with the Tampa Bay team finishing 19-32, good for 12th out of 15 teams. Here is the Tampa Bay roster and final statistics. Some notable performances include Julio Cedeno (.300/.380/.550 in 140 AB), Omar Bencomo (2.25 ERA in 32.0 IP, 33/6 SO/BB), Wilking Rodriguez (0.66 ERA in 27.1 IP, 36/3 SO/BB), and Albert Suarez (1.15 ERA in 15.2 IP, 15/2 SO/BB).

Perhaps the most impressive performance was turned in by SS Hector Guevara, who the Rays signed last summer for $200,000. Despite just turning 17 on October 7th, he put up a line of .313/.376/.398 in 166 AB. Ben Badler had this to say about Guevara at Baseball America:

Guevara made a strong impression this winter by showing off what he does best: hit. Guevara should be a power hitter in the future, but he displayed excellent hands at the plate and contact-hitting skills in the Liga Paralela, giving him an intriguing package of a player who could hit for both batting average and power. Guevara signed as a shortstop and is a 55 runner on the 20-80 scouting scale, but his defense is raw and he could end up sliding down the defensive spectrum. He gave a preview of his defense this winter by committing 17 errors in 47 games mixed between shortstop, third base and second base, but it’s his bat that the Rays are banking on carrying him to the big leagues.

Jefferies #8 Position Prospect, Vote For #9

You have voted Jacob Jefferies the #8 position prospect in the Rays organization with 27% of the vote. Kyeong Kang was 2nd with 16%. Replacing Jefferies in the vote for #9 is Stephen Vogt. Voting results for pitchers and position prospects are on the sidebar under "Fan Voting Top Prospects".

Looking at Our Pitchers: 2008 Rays Organization

This is a summary of team pitching by level from last year. First, here are the definitions of the stats used from the StatCorner Glossary:

tRA: "tRA involves assigning run and out values to all events under a pitcher's control and coming up with an expected number of runs allowed and outs generated in a defense and park neutral environment. tRA is on a R/9 scale and does not involve any regression of the rates so while it should be more useful at determining a pitcher's true talent level, the best method for pitching projection is to use tRA*, the regressed version of tRA." This is how well they pitched.

pRAA: "Stands for pitching runs above average. Using tRA as the benchmark, the formula is (lgTRA * xOuts / 27) - xRuns." This is how much 'value' they added (or cost) their team based on the quality and quantity of their pitching.

Rays Organization Pitching

Team	Age	Level	tRA	pRAA
Tampa Bay Rays SP	27.5	MLB	4.49	40.2
Tampa Bay Rays RP	27.5	MLB	4.58	-5.6
Durham Bulls SP	26.4	AAA	4.60	19.2
Durham Bulls RP	26.4	AAA	4.80	-24.7
Montgomery Biscuits SP	25.1	AA	5.01	-15.9
Montgomery Biscuits RP	25.1	AA	5.42	-27.4
Vero Beach Devil Rays SP	24.3	A+	4.37	16.5
Vero Beach Devil Rays RP	24.3	A+	4.23	-4.9
Columbus Catfish SP	22.5	A	5.62	-50.5
Columbus Catfish RP	22.5	A	5.03	-26.2

Notes: Age is the average age of all pitchers on the team. SP is starting pitchers and RP is relief pitchers. StatCorner only covers down to full-season A ball, so Hudson Valley, Princeton, DSL and VSL are not included.

Looking at Our Hitters: 2008 Rays Organization

This is a summary of team batting by level from last year. First, here are the definitions of the stats used from the StatCorner Glossary:

wOBA: "wOBA or weighted on base average is a statistic developed by and used with the permission of Tom Tango. In a nutshell, wOBA uses linear weights on certain batting events to come up with a metric that is more statistically sound than OPS and is scaled onto an OBP scale. According to Tango "An average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300." This is how well they hit.

bRAA: "Stands for batting runs above average. It is computed by taking the hitter's RV/PA (Run value per PA above average = (wOBA for player - wOBA for league) / 1.15.) and multiplying by the number of plate appearances he has had that season." This is how much 'value' they added (or cost) their team based on the quality and quantity of their hitting.

Rays Organization Batting

Team	Age	Level	wOBA	bRAA
Tampa Bay Rays	27.0	MLB	.344	40.8
Durham Bulls	27.4	AAA	.344	40.5
Montgomery Biscuits	25.3	AA	.349	30.9
Vero Beach Devil Rays	23.3	A+	.310	-83.4
Columbus Catfish	22.3	A	.340	28.4

Notes: Age is the average age of all batters. StatCorner only covers down to full-season A ball, so Hudson Valley, Princeton, DSL and VSL are not included.

Looking at Our Hitters: 2008 Tampa Bay Rays (MLB)

The last team in our look at batters-by-level from last year is the Tampa Bay Rays. First, here are the definitions of the stats used from the StatCorner Glossary:

PA: Plate Appearances. This is how much they hit.

wOBA: "wOBA or weighted on base average is a statistic developed by and used with the permission of Tom Tango. In a nutshell, wOBA uses linear weights on certain batting events to come up with a metric that is more statistically sound than OPS and is scaled onto an OBP scale. According to Tango "An average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300." This is how well they hit.

bRAA: "Stands for batting runs above average. It is computed by taking the hitter's RV/PA (Run value per PA above average = (wOBA for player - wOBA for league) / 1.15.) and multiplying by the number of plate appearances he has had that season." This is how much 'value' they added (or cost) their team based on the quality and quantity of their hitting.

Tampa Bay Rays (MLB)

Batter	Age	Level	PA	wOBA	bRAA
Pena, Carlos	30.6	MLB	606	.386	25.3
Longoria, Evan	23.2	MLB	508	.374	16.4
Upton, B.J.	24.3	MLB	639	.356	10.8
Zobrist, Ben	27.5	MLB	227	.367	5.9
Floyd, Cliff	36.0	MLB	284	.360	5.7
Navarro, Dioner	24.8	MLB	470	.348	5.2
Hinske, Eric	31.3	MLB	432	.347	3.8
Gross, Gabe	29.2	MLB	344	.348	3.3
Baldelli, Rocco	27.2	MLB	90	.377	3.1
Iwamura, Akinori	29.8	MLB	706	.338	1.1
Perez, Fernando	25.6	MLB	72	.340	0.2
Aybar, Willy	25.8	MLB	362	.332	-1.4
Crawford, Carl	27.3	MLB	479	.330	-2.7
Ruggiano, Justin	26.7	MLB	81	.266	-5.0
Gomes, Jonny	28.0	MLB	176	.304	-5.4
Bartlett, Jason	29.1	MLB	494	.318	-8.0

Comments: The big league Rays have been discussed extensively at other sites so I'll just add a couple of comments. Picking up Pena off the scrap heap was truly a stroke of genius by the front office. Looking forward to a full, healthy season from Longoria. Zobrist is a surprisingly valuable utility player off the bench. And of course, Baldelli, Floyd, Gomes, and Hinske are currently free agents.

Notes: Age is as of today. Hitters are listed by level, so some appear in other posts. I only included those who had many plate appearances or are high profile (top prospect, ex-prospect, in the news lately). StatCorner only covers down to full-season A ball, so no Hudson Valley, Princeton, DSL or VSL players are included in these summaries.

Looking at Our Hitters: 2008 Durham Bulls (AAA)

The next team in our look at batters-by-level from last year is the Durham Bulls. First, here are the definitions of the stats used from the StatCorner Glossary:

PA: Plate Appearances. This is how much they hit.

wOBA: "wOBA or weighted on base average is a statistic developed by and used with the permission of Tom Tango. In a nutshell, wOBA uses linear weights on certain batting events to come up with a metric that is more statistically sound than OPS and is scaled onto an OBP scale. According to Tango "An average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300." This is how well they hit.

bRAA: "Stands for batting runs above average. It is computed by taking the hitter's RV/PA (Run value per PA above average = (wOBA for player - wOBA for league) / 1.15.) and multiplying by the number of plate appearances he has had that season." This is how much 'value' they added (or cost) their team based on the quality and quantity of their hitting.

Durham Bulls (AAA)

Batter	Age	Level	PA	wOBA	bRAA
Johnson, Dan	29.3	AAA	484	.427	38.4
Richard, Chris	34.5	AAA	539	.395	27.7
Ruggiano, Justin	26.7	AAA	287	.399	15.8
Zobrist, Ben	27.5	AAA	88	.453	8.9
Weber, Jon	30.9	AAA	439	.352	6.2
Perez, Fernando	25.6	AAA	578	.347	5.4
Jaso, John	25.3	AAA	118	.370	3.5
Nowak, Chris	25.8	AAA	61	.360	1.3
Johnson, Elliot	24.8	AAA	427	.339	1.1
Guzman, Joel	24.0	AAA	463	.327	-3.4
Brignac, Reid	22.9	AAA	386	.315	-7.0
Gimenez, Hector	26.2	AAA	156	.276	-8.0
Haynes, Nathan	29.3	AAA	296	.289	-11.8

Comments: Dan Johnson simply dominated AAA pitching last year and has been sold to the Yokohama BayStars of Japan’s Central League (Jonathan Papelbon fist pumps). Richard, who became a minor league free agent after the season, has re-signed with the Rays and should be at 1B for the Bulls next year. Ruggiano continued to hit AAA pitching but doesn't seem destined for the big leagues with the Rays, for whatever reason. Zobrist was surprisingly productive with the bat at both AAA and MLB last year and will once again provide middle infield insurance. Weber is a minor league free agent.

Perez (7th round 2004) and Jaso (12th round 2003) each could make the Rays out of spring training or return to AAA. Nowak continues to hit minor league pitching and should be Durham's regular 3B in '09. Elliot Johnson provides insurance at 2B and probably spends the majority of next year with the Bulls. Guzman became a minor league free agent after the season and has signed with the Washington Nationals. Brignac (2nd round 2004) has the glove and is still young, but he needs a solid offensive year after two disappointing seasons. Expect him to repeat AAA in '09. Gimenez is a minor league free agent.

Notes: Age is as of today. Hitters are listed by level, so some appear in other posts. I only included those who had many plate appearances or are high profile (top prospect, ex-prospect, in the news lately). StatCorner only covers down to full-season A ball, so no Hudson Valley, Princeton, DSL or VSL players are included in these summaries.

Looking at Our Hitters: 2008 Montgomery Biscuits (AA)

The next team in our look at batters-by-level from last year is the Montgomery Biscuits. First, here are the definitions of the stats used from the StatCorner Glossary:

PA: Plate Appearances. This is how much they hit.

wOBA: "wOBA or weighted on base average is a statistic developed by and used with the permission of Tom Tango. In a nutshell, wOBA uses linear weights on certain batting events to come up with a metric that is more statistically sound than OPS and is scaled onto an OBP scale. According to Tango "An average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300." This is how well they hit.

bRAA: "Stands for batting runs above average. It is computed by taking the hitter's RV/PA (Run value per PA above average = (wOBA for player - wOBA for league) / 1.15.) and multiplying by the number of plate appearances he has had that season." This is how much 'value' they added (or cost) their team based on the quality and quantity of their hitting.

Montgomery Biscuits (AA)

Batter	Age	Level	PA	wOBA	bRAA
Nowak, Chris	25.8	AA	533	.397	25.3
Eldridge, Rashad	27.2	AA	512	.375	14.1
Jaso, John	25.3	AA	354	.382	12.0
Hughes, Rhyne	25.3	AA	450	.363	7.9
Martinez, Gabriel	25.6	AA	567	.357	6.7
Merrill, Ronnie	30.1	AA	451	.348	2.0
Asanovich, Josh	25.8	AA	348	.347	1.1
Spring, Matt	24.1	AA	273	.341	-0.4
Hall, J.T.	24.6	AA	216	.335	-1.5
Pedroza, Sergio	24.8	AA	342	.334	-2.7
Andrus, Erold	24.4	AA	528	.333	-4.5
Cottrell, Patrick	26.8	AA	222	.284	-11.3
Raburn, John	29.8	AA	392	.280	-21.2

Comments: Nowak (drafted in the 19th round in 2004) was one of the best hitters in the organization and continued to hold his own after being promoted to AAA. Expect him in AAA in '09. His future with the Rays is questionable due to age and being blocked at the big league level (Longoria/Pena) unless he can play a corner OF position (6 games in LF and 1 in RF in '08). Eldridge was productive but looks to be minor league filler at this point. Jaso (12th round 2003) continues to impress with the bat and will either back up Navarro or return to AAA next year.

Hughes (8th round 2004) was good with Montgomery and great in the AFL. As with others the question is his future, he's already 25 and Chris Richard will be back at AAA and Pena in MLB in '09. Martinez (27th round 2001), Merrill, and Andrus are all minor league free agents. Spring (4th round 2004) wasn't bad for a catcher in AA but had a rough time in the AFL. Hall (41st round 2004) struggled a bit after being promoted to AA but the organization thought enough of him to send him to the AFL.

Notes: Age is as of today. Hitters are listed by level, so some appear in other posts. I only included those who had many plate appearances or are high profile (top prospect, ex-prospect, in the news lately). StatCorner only covers down to full-season A ball, so no Hudson Valley, Princeton, DSL or VSL players are included in these summaries.

Winter League Stats

Rays players Winter League statistics through Thursday's games:

Batter	Lg	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Avg	OBP	SLG
Andrus, Erold	VWL	54	12	19	3	1	2	10	7	14	.352	.419	.556
Aybar, Willy	DWL	56	11	16	4	0	0	9	5	15	.286	.355	.357
Gimenez, Hector	VWL	183	41	63	15	0	6	36	23	35	.344	.414	.525
Hall, J.T.	AFL	76	9	18	2	2	0	12	9	22	.237	.314	.316
Hughes, Rhyne	AFL	109	20	43	12	3	5	27	7	33	.394	.432	.697
Jaso, John	VWL	48	7	13	2	0	1	7	15	7	.271	.444	.375
Jennings, Desmond	AFL	39	7	9	2	0	1	7	4	10	.231	.326	.359
Joyce, Matt	MPL	122	18	36	11	0	8	28	14	32	.295	.362	.582
Martinez, Gabriel	PRL	83	10	19	6	0	2	11	15	19	.229	.366	.373
Perez, Fernando	VWL	73	15	22	2	4	2	7	3	19	.301	.338	.521
Spring, Matt	AFL	57	4	10	1	0	2	9	6	17	.175	.250	.298
Suarez, Cesar	VWL	68	15	18	2	1	3	9	3	10	.265	.324	.456
Weber, Jon	MPL	170	20	48	13	0	3	16	16	37	.282	.344	.412

Pitcher	Lg	G	GS	IP	ERA	FIP	DIPS	SO/9	BB/9	H/9	HR/9
Childers, Jason	MPL	9	0	7.0	11.57	3.06	3.22	9.0	0.0	19.3	1.3
Hendrickson, Ben	VWL	3	2	10.1	6.10	4.55	4.46	8.7	6.1	12.2	0.9
Hernandez, Carlos	VWL	8	0	13.0	6.23	3.82	3.68	9.0	4.2	6.9	0.7
Kelly, Chris	PRL	19	0	26.0	3.12	4.39	4.01	5.2	4.2	10.4	0.3
Mason, Chris	AFL	13	0	13.0	10.38	4.74	4.65	2.8	3.5	14.5	0.7
Reid, Ryan	AFL	10	0	14.0	6.43	4.20	3.97	11.6	4.5	10.3	1.3
Rodriguez, Derek	AFL	13	0	12.2	4.26	2.65	2.65	9.9	4.3	9.2	0.0
Salas, Juan	DWL	9	0	6.1	5.68	4.15	4.15	8.5	8.5	11.4	0.0
Thayer, Dale	MPL	17	0	17.1	6.23	5.80	5.71	7.3	3.6	9.9	2.1
Townsend, Wade	AFL	3	3	10.2	8.44	5.54	5.38	6.8	4.2	11.8	1.7
Wlodarczyk, Mike	AFL	12	0	13.0	7.62	5.97	5.19	12.5	6.2	12.5	2.1

AFL = Arizona Fall League, MPL = Mexican Pacific League, DWL = Dominican Winter League, VWL = Venezuelan Winter League, PRL = Puerto Rican League.

Note: Regular season games will be wrapping up soon in the winter leagues. The AFL is over, the MPL, DWL, and VWL end December 30th, and the PRL ends January 5th. Expect one more weekly update and then a post with all of the final stats.

Hughes #7 Position Prospect, Vote For #8

You have voted Rhyne Hughes the #7 position prospect in the Rays organization with 47% of the vote. Jacob Jefferies was 2nd with 18% and Michael Sheridan was 3rd with 12%. Replacing Hughes in the vote for #8 is Gregory Sexton. Voting results for pitchers and position prospects are on the sidebar under "Fan Voting Top Prospects".

Rays named Organization of the Year by BaseballAmerica

The Tampa Bay Rays were named Organization of the Year by BaseballAmerica:

For an organization steeped in failure during its first 10 seasons, with its follies on the field paired with a lack of interest in the community and an embarrassing reputation within the game, the accomplishments of 2008 were a treasured starting—or starting over—point.

"Where we have come from and where we arrived at this particular point is almost unthinkable," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "To get it done this quickly, it's powerful what we have done this year. And I know from my perspective, it's just the beginning."

The article, written by St. Pete Times beat writer Marc Topkin, is free to read.

Looking at Our Hitters: 2008 Vero Beach Devil Rays (A+)

The next team in our look at batters-by-level from last year is the Vero Beach Devil Rays (high-A ball, which will be the Charlotte County Stone Crabs in 2009). First, here are the definitions of the stats used from the StatCorner Glossary:

PA: Plate Appearances. This is how much they hit.

wOBA: "wOBA or weighted on base average is a statistic developed by and used with the permission of Tom Tango. In a nutshell, wOBA uses linear weights on certain batting events to come up with a metric that is more statistically sound than OPS and is scaled onto an OBP scale. According to Tango "An average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300." This is how well they hit.

bRAA: "Stands for batting runs above average. It is computed by taking the hitter's RV/PA (Run value per PA above average = (wOBA for player - wOBA for league) / 1.15.) and multiplying by the number of plate appearances he has had that season." This is how much 'value' they added (or cost) their team based on the quality and quantity of their hitting.

Vero Beach Devil Rays (A+)

Batter	Age	Level	PA	wOBA	bRAA
Hall, J.T.	24.6	A+	253	.381	11.2
Matulia, John	22.3	A+	331	.342	3.3
Jennings, Desmond	22.1	A+	102	.362	2.8
Powell, Pedro	24.6	A+	153	.351	2.8
Ashley, Nevin	24.3	A+	385	.330	0.3
Royster, Ryan	22.3	A+	462	.323	-2.5
Stewart, Quinn	25.3	A+	150	.300	-3.8
Fields, Matthew	23.4	A+	530	.319	-5.0
Gimenez, Hector	26.2	A+	152	.272	-7.5
Walton, Neil	24.8	A+	296	.293	-9.5
Groce, Garrett	25.6	A+	403	.301	-10.1
Suarez, Cesar	25.3	A+	512	.296	-14.9
Callender, Joey	25.0	A+	301	.258	-18.5

Comments: Hall (drafted in the 41st round in 2004) played well and was sent to the Arizona Fall League, but was too old for high-A ball and didn't do as well after being promoted to AA. Matulia (10th round in 2005) has decent on-base skills (.343 OBP) but little power (.357 SLG). Jennings (10th round 2006) is one of our top position prospects and will receive a full write-up here soon, staying healthy next year is the key. Powell (18th round in 2003 by Pittsburgh) is a speedy CF (29 SB in 84 G), but again, too old for high-A. Ashley (6th round 2006) gets a bit of a pass on age and production since he's a catcher. He gets on (.348 OBP) but has little power (.315 SLG).

Royster is still young but was a disappointment last year after an '07 in low-A where he put up a .329/.380/.601 line and was named the MLB.com Class A Offensive Player of the Year and a Baseball America Low Class A All-Star. Stewart (non-drafted free agent signed on 5/29/06) struggled after a promotion from Columbus and at his age is minor league filler. Fields (44th round in 2004) didn't impress but will get another chance next year. Gimenez is a minor league free agent, Walton (16th round in 2005) actually hit better after a promotion to AA, and Groce (41st round in 2005) was released and is a free agent. Suarez (signed as a minor league free agent on 6/3/05) and Callender (21st round in 2006) were not impressive but should fill slots somewhere in '09.

Notes: Age is as of today. Hitters are listed by level, so some appear in other posts. I only included those who had many plate appearances or are high profile (top prospect, ex-prospect, in the news lately). StatCorner only covers down to full-season A ball, so no Hudson Valley, Princeton, DSL or VSL players are included in these summaries.

A Tale of Two Franchises: Astros and Rays

There was a recent article in Baseball America by Brian McTaggart that involved both the Astros and Rays organizations. To summarize the article, the Astros are closing their academy in Venezuela after 20 years. The tie to the Rays is that Andres Reiner was the architect of the Astros' Venezuelan academy when they became the first team to open an academy in Venezuela. Reiner left the Astros in August of 2005 to become a special assistant for the Rays and recently spearheaded our opening of an academy in Brazil. This got me thinking about the differences between the Astros and the Rays organizations.

The Present
Astros: Parlayed an $88.9 million payroll into a 3rd place finish in the mediocre NL Central, 11.0 games behind the Cubs and 0.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. Star SP Roy Oswalt recently offered to restructure his contract to give the team payroll flexibility to sign a free agent, which ownership politely declined.
Rays: Won the highly-competitive AL East with a payroll of $43.8 million. Advanced to the World Series with a roster dominated by young players with upside.

The Near Future
Astros: BA's recent organizational report card: "Houston has no help coming from the farm system." BA minor league talent ranking (preseason/last 5 years): 29th/29th.
Rays: BA's recent organizational report card: "With the talent already in place and continuing to flow through the farm system, no reason Rays shouldn't be in playoff contention for years to come." BA minor league talent ranking (preseason/last 5 years): 1st/3rd.

The Distant Future
Astros: Disbanding Venezuelan academy, adding Gulf Coast League affiliate.
Rays: Maintaining Venezuelan and Dominican academies, adding Brazilian academy, and adding Gulf Coast League affiliate.

It's good to be a Rays fan.

Looking at Our Hitters: 2008 Columbus Catfish (A)

We've already looked at the Rays pitching throughout the organization from many different angles. Today let's start to look at our batters by level using their 2008 StatCorner numbers, beginning with the Columbus Catfish (low A ball, which will be the Bowling Green Hot Rods in 2009). First, here are the definitions of the stats used from the StatCorner Glossary:

PA: Plate Appearances. This is how much they hit.

wOBA: "wOBA or weighted on base average is a statistic developed by and used with the permission of Tom Tango. In a nutshell, wOBA uses linear weights on certain batting events to come up with a metric that is more statistically sound than OPS and is scaled onto an OBP scale. According to Tango "An average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300." This is how well they hit.

bRAA: "Stands for batting runs above average. It is computed by taking the hitter's RV/PA (Run value per PA above average = (wOBA for player - wOBA for league) / 1.15.) and multiplying by the number of plate appearances he has had that season." This is how much 'value' they added (or cost) their team based on the quality and quantity of their hitting.

Columbus Catfish (A)

Batter	Age	Level	PA	wOBA	bRAA
Fronk, Reid	22.4	A	527	.398	29.3
Sexton, Gregory	23.8	A	528	.365	14.5
Vogt, Stephen	24.1	A	448	.369	14.0
Stewart, Quinn	25.3	A	261	.379	10.3
Loyola, Maiko	23.4	A	542	.355	10.2
Salem, Emeel	23.8	A	170	.381	7.0
Fontaine, Chase	23.1	A	227	.367	6.5
Cipriano, Cody	23.9	A	178	.340	1.1
O'Malley, Shawn	20.9	A	390	.333	-0.2
Wrigley, Henry	22.3	A	439	.311	-8.4
McCormick, Mike	22.3	A	415	.298	-12.6
Dhaenens, Seth	24.6	A	168	.241	-13.1
Luna, Omar	22.0	A	415	.292	-14.5

Comments: Fronk (drafted in the 7th round in 2007), Sexton (10th round in 2007), and Vogt (12th round in 2007) had nice full-season debuts in '08 after playing in Hudson Valley in '07. Stewart (5th year Sr. sign in 2006) was too old for A-ball, but put up decent numbers. Loyola has signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a minor league free agent. Salem (6th, 2007) broke his elbow on May 14th and needs to move up due to age. Cipriano (9th in 2007), O'Malley (5th in 2006), Wrigley (14th in 2005), and McCormick (5th in 2005) were disappointments last year, but could still bounce back in '09. Dhaenens was released and is a minor league free agent.

Kevin and Andy are more knowledgable about our position prospects, so I'll defer to their comments. Other notes: Age is as of today. Hitters are listed by level, so some appear in other posts. I only included those who had many plate appearances or are high profile (top prospect, ex-prospect, in the news lately). StatCorner only covers down to full-season A ball, so no Hudson Valley, Princeton, DSL or VSL players are included in these summaries.

Top 15 Hitters: #9 Justin Ruggiano

Justin Ruggiano
6’2’’ 205 lbs DOB: 04/12/1982
Outfield
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
2008: Durham/Tampa Bay
Acquired: 2006 Trade from Dodgers

Aquired from the Dodgers in the 2006 deal that also netted Dioner Navarro, Justin Ruggiano has been among the Rays most productive minor league hitters since his acquisition. Even though he will be 27 for most of 2009, the quality of Ruggiano’s bat is tough to ignore despite having not established himself as a major leaguer yet.

Ruggiano again found himself in AAA Durham for most of 2008 where he proved that his 2007 season was no fluke. In 2007 his 20 homers and 26 steals made him the league’s only 20/20 player as he posted a vital line of .309/.386/.502. This earned him a September callup where he saw limited action, just 14 at bats. Ruggiano’s 2008 season in Durham produced similar results with 11 HR and 20 steals to go along with a .315/.374/.537 vital. During several callups with the Rays, Ruggiano again saw limited action, posting a .197/.247/.329 line in 76 at bats. Strikeouts have been Ruggiano’s primary weakness during his time in AAA as he has struck out in over 27% of his plate appearances.

From a tools perspective Ruggiano is average to slightly above average in all aspects. He has a good arm, above average speed, and can play all three outfield spots although he is best suited for a corner. As his minor league numbers suggest, he should be able to at least hold his own as a major league reserve at the plate.

One also has to wonder if he has fallen out of favor with Rays management as he has never had much of a chance to prove himself in the majors despite extended success in AAA. Even though Ruggiano will probably never make it as a regular with the Rays, there is no reason to think that he can not be a very capable fourth outfielder next year or perhaps part of a RF platoon with Matt Joyce.

Jaso #6 Position Prospect, Vote For #7

You have chosen John Jaso as the #6 position prospect in the Rays organization with 49% of the vote. Michael Sheridan was 2nd with 12%. Replacing Jaso in the vote for #7 is Kyeong Kang. Voting results for pitchers and position prospects are on the sidebar under "Fan Voting Top Prospects".

Rays Winter League Totals

Rays players Winter League statistics through Thursday's games:

Batter	Lg	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Avg	OBP	SLG
Andrus, Erold	VWL	41	9	15	2	1	2	9	5	11	.366	.426	.610
Aybar, Willy	DWL	48	10	13	3	0	0	8	5	13	.271	.352	.333
Gimenez, Hector	VWL	161	38	57	14	0	4	30	22	30	.354	.428	.516
Hall, J.T.	AFL	76	9	18	2	2	0	12	9	22	.237	.314	.316
Hughes, Rhyne	AFL	109	20	43	12	3	5	27	7	33	.394	.432	.697
Jaso, John	VWL	46	6	12	2	0	1	7	12	7	.261	.414	.370
Jennings, Desmond	AFL	39	7	9	2	0	1	7	4	10	.231	.326	.359
Joyce, Matt	MPL	122	18	36	11	0	8	28	14	32	.295	.362	.582
Martinez, Gabriel	PRL	73	9	17	5	0	2	10	14	19	.233	.371	.384
Perez, Fernando	VWL	55	10	16	1	3	2	7	3	11	.291	.339	.527
Spring, Matt	AFL	57	4	10	1	0	2	9	6	17	.175	.250	.298
Suarez, Cesar	VWL	63	13	16	2	1	2	7	3	9	.254	.309	.413
Weber, Jon	MPL	162	20	47	13	0	3	16	16	33	.290	.354	.426

Pitcher	Lg	G	GS	IP	ERA	FIP	DIPS	SO/9	BB/9	H/9	HR/9
Childers, Jason	MPL	9	0	7.0	11.57	3.06	3.22	9.0	0.0	19.3	1.3
Hendrickson, Ben	VWL	3	2	10.1	6.10	4.55	4.46	8.7	6.1	12.2	0.9
Hernandez, Carlos	VWL	6	0	8.2	5.19	2.97	2.78	7.3	3.1	6.2	0.0
Kelly, Chris	PRL	17	0	22.2	3.57	4.52	4.06	5.6	4.4	10.7	0.4
Mason, Chris	AFL	13	0	13.0	10.38	4.74	4.65	2.8	3.5	14.5	0.7
Reid, Ryan	AFL	10	0	14.0	6.43	4.20	3.97	11.6	4.5	10.3	1.3
Rodriguez, Derek	AFL	13	0	12.2	4.26	2.65	2.65	9.9	4.3	9.2	0.0
Salas, Juan	DWL	9	0	6.1	5.68	4.15	4.15	8.5	8.5	11.4	0.0
Thayer, Dale	MPL	17	0	17.1	6.23	5.80	5.71	7.3	3.6	9.9	2.1
Townsend, Wade	AFL	3	3	10.2	8.44	5.54	5.38	6.8	4.2	11.8	1.7
Wlodarczyk, Mike	AFL	12	0	13.0	7.62	5.97	5.19	12.5	6.2	12.5	2.1

AFL = Arizona Fall League, MPL = Mexican Pacific League, DWL = Dominican Winter League, VWL = Venezuelan Winter League, PRL = Puerto Rican League.

Summary of Rays 2009 Field Staff and Coordinators

Minor League Coordinators
Field Coordinator -- Jim Hoff
Pitching Coordinator -- Dick Bosman
Hitting Coordinator -- Steve Livesey
Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator -- Skeeter Barnes
Catching Coordinator -- Jamie Nelson
Medical Training Coordinator -- Mark Vinson
Rehabilitation and Athletic Training Coordinator -- Joel Smith
Strength and Conditioning Coordinator -- Trung Cao
Equipment Manager -- Tim McKechney
Assistant Equipment Manager -- Shane Rossetti

Durham Bulls (AAA)
Manager -- Charlie Montoyo
Pitching Coach -- Xavier Hernandez
Coach -- Dave Myers
Trainer -- Rodger Fleming

Montgomery Biscuits (AA)
Manager -- Billy Gardner, Jr.
Pitching Coach -- Neil Allen
Coach -- Ozzie Timmons
Trainer -- Lee Slagle

Charlotte Stone Crabs (A+)
Manager -- Jim Morrison
Pitching Coach -- Bill Moloney
Coach -- Joe Szekely
Trainer -- Chris Tomashoff

Princeton Rays (Rookie Advanced)
Manager -- Jared Sandberg
Pitching Coach -- Marty DeMerritt
Coach -- Rafael Deleon
Coach -- Dan DeMent
Trainer -- Andrew Hauser

Gulf Coast League Rays (Rookie)
Manager -- Joe Alvarez
Pitching Coach -- Darwin Peguero
Coach -- Ben Oglivie
Coach -- Reinaldo Ruiz
Trainer -- Jorge Vargas

The coaching staffs for the Bowling Green Hot Rods (A) and Hudson Valley Renegades (Short-Season A) will be announced at a later date. It is known that the Rays will appoint Brady Williams as the manager at Hudson Valley.

Rays Announce Minor League Coordinators

The Tampa Bay Rays announced today that Jim Hoff will return to his post as Minor League Field Coordinator for an eighth straight season. Joining Hoff's staff will be Rehabilitation and Athletic Training Coordinator Joel Smith, who has served the last five years as a trainer in the Rays organization and spent 2008 with Montgomery (AA).

Hitting Coordinator Steve Livesey returns to Hoff's staff for a fourth year, Pitching Coordinator Dick Bosman and Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator Skeeter Barnes each return for a third season, and Catching Coordinator Jamie Nelson will return for a second year. Medical Training Coordinator Mark Vinson returns to his post for a second season and his fourth with the Rays. Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Trung Cao is entering his fourth season in his role. Tim McKechney will serve as Minor League Equipment Manager for a seventh year, and Shane Rossetti returns for his second season as Assistant Equipment Manager.

Gulf Coast League Rays (R) Announce Staff

The Gulf Coast League Rays, our new affiliate that will play at the Rays training facility in Charlotte County, will be managed by Joe Alvarez. Alvarez joined the Rays organization in 2008 as the manager for Hudson Valley. Darwin Peguero will serve as the Pitching Coach in his first stateside coaching assignment, having spent the last three years as the Dominican Summer League Rays Pitching Coach.

Coach Ben Oglivie begins his third year in the Rays system after coaching at Montgomery in 2008. Reinaldo Ruiz joins the GCL staff after coaching the Venezuelan Summer League Rays for the last two years. Jorge Vargas, who earned his Master's in athletic training from Seton Hall University, has been named the trainer and will begin his first full-time job in professional baseball. The GCL Rays also existed from 1996-98 and played at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg.

Charlotte Stone Crabs (A+) Announce 2009 Coaching Staff

Two days after unveiling their logo and jersey designs, the Charlotte Stone Crabs announced the first members of the new team that will wear them on the field. Jim Morrison will remain in his spot as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays’ Class-A Advanced affiliate as he makes the move from Vero Beach to Port Charlotte. Joining him in the dugout will be pitching coach Bill Moloney, hitting coach Joe Szekely and trainer Chris Tomashoff.

Morrison enters his 25th season in professional baseball and third season in the Rays’ organization after managing the Vero Beach Devil Rays last year and the Class-A Columbus Catfish the season prior when he led the Catfish to the 2007 South Atlantic League title. He also served stints as a roving infield instructor, coach and manager in the Philadelphia Phillies organization for seven years (2000-06).

Before entering the coaching ranks in 2000, Morrison enjoyed a 15-year playing career as an infielder, including 12 major league seasons with the Phillies, White Sox, Pirates, Tigers and Braves before retiring in 1988. In 1,089 career games, he batted .260 with 112 home runs and 371 RBIs. He currently resides in Bradenton, Fla.

Bill Moloney enter his third season as a pitching coach in the Rays’ organization after spending the previous two seasons with the Class-A Columbus Catfish. His 23-year coaching career includes stints with the Cincinnati Reds (2001-06) and Boston Red Sox (1995-2000). In 2002, his Class-A Stockton staff led the California League with a 3.20 ERA and 12 shutouts.

Prior to coaching, Moloney pitched in the Red Sox minor league system from 1979-1984 and reached Triple-A Pawtucket before suffering a significant finger injury that ended his playing career. He spent the next 11 years as the Red Sox batting practice pitcher before making his coaching debut in 1995 with Class-A Michigan. Moloney played baseball at Lowell High School in Massachusetts where he led the nation with a 1.00 ERA his senior year.

Joe Szekely will join the club as hitting coach after managing the Rookie-level Princeton Devil Rays last year. He enters his fifth season in the Rays’ organization with the previous four years spent as a manager with four different teams. He previously managed at the Class A-Advanced level in 2007 when he led Vero Beach to a 59-79 record. He also managed Class A-Visalia in 2006 and Class-A Southwestern Michigan in 2005.

Szekely spent six seasons with the Kansas City Royals organization before joining the Rays in 2005. Before coaching, he played 11 Minor League seasons for four different organizations.

Rounding out the coaching staff is trainer Chris Tomashoff who enters his 14th year in the Rays’ organization. Tomashoff spent the previous three seasons as the assistant athletic training coordinator for the Rays’ minor league system. In 2004, he was named the California League Trainer of the Year by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. He studied sports medicine at the University of Washington and has sung the National Anthem at both spring training and regular season Rays games the past four seasons.

Durham Bulls (AAA) Announce 2009 Staff

The Durham Bulls today announced Charlie Montoyo will return to manage Durham for a third season after leading the Bulls to back-to-back International League South Division Titles and Governors' Cup Finals. Montoyo will be joined by his longtime pitching coach Xavier Hernandez, but has a new hitting coach in former Buffalo Bisons coach Dave Myers and trainer Rodger Fleming.

“We have really been blessed with very successful managers in Durham,” Bulls General Manager Mike Birling said, “It’s such a pleasure to work with Charlie. He understands what the Bulls mean to the Triangle Community while continuing to produce winning teams.”

Montoyo is also happy to be returning to the Bull City. “It feels great to be going back to Durham,” Montoyo said, “I love the ownership, love the front office and love the community. It has been a great first two years and I am looking forward to another good year.”

Montoyo’s return is his 13th year as a manager in the Rays organization and third with the Durham Bulls. In 2008, he took the Bulls to their second consecutive Governor’s Cup Finals, losing in four games to the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. In 2007, his Durham team made up a 10-game deficit to win the South Division and came within a game of winning the Governors' Cup Championship. He has a career winning percentage of .504 (780-767) with five postseason appearances (1998-Hudson Valley, 2001-Bakersfield, 2006-Montgomery). Montoyo spent 10 years as an infielder in the Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos and Philadelphia Phillies organizations, reaching the major leagues for 27 games in 1993 with the Expos. He and his wife, Samantha live in Arizona with their two children, Tyson and Alex.

Xavier Hernandez will mark his eighth season as a pitching coach in the Rays organization in his third season in Durham. Several of his pitchers went on to help the Tampa Bay Rays make their run to the World Series, including Andy Sonnanstine, J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour and David Price. He played 10 seasons in the major leagues for the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers compiling a career 40-35 record with a 3.90 ERA. Hernandez and his wife, Deborah reside in Sugar Land, Texas with their four children: Danielle, Michael, Sarah, and Stephen.

New Bulls hitting coach Dave Myers joins the Durham Bulls after spending the last two seasons as hitting coach of the Buffalo Bisons (Cleveland Indians). Prior to joining the Bisons in 2007, Myers spent 18 seasons in the Seattle Mariners organization. As a minor league manager, he compiled an overall mark of 732-645 (.532) in 12 seasons, including four division titles and a league championship. He spent five seasons (1996-2000) as manager of the Triple-A Tacoma Rainers, one season with Double-A Port City (1995), two seasons with Class-A Riverside (1993-94), two with Class-A Bellingham (1991-1992) and two years with Tempe in the Arizona League (1989-90). He began his coaching career as a player/coach for the Mariners Double-A Vermont affiliate in 1988. Myers signed as the Mariners 13th round selection in the 1981 June Draft and spent eight seasons in their farm system. He graduated from Temple University in 1981 with a degree in physical education, is married (Christine) with two children (D.J. and Chelsea).

Fleming is in his second season in the Rays organization spending last season as trainer for the Vero Beach Devil Rays. Prior to 2008, he spent seven seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. In 2004, he was named Texas League Trainer of the Year and Minor League Trainer of the Year while serving with the El Paso Diablos (AA). He also served as head trainer for the Arizona Fall League champion Phoenix Desert Dogs in 2005 and the Venezuelan Winter League in 2006-07. Fleming graduated from the University of Toledo with a degree in interdisciplinary studies/athletic training. He lives in Kodak, Tennessee with his girlfriend, Amy, and son, Chandler.

Montgomery Biscuits (AA) Announce 2009 Field Staff

Billy Gardner, Jr. will return in 2009 for his third season as the Montgomery Biscuits’ manager, according to the Tampa Bay Rays announcement of minor league coaching staffs today.

Gardner, who guided last year’s Biscuits to a 69-70 mark, will be back at the helm, joined by fellow returning coach Neil Allen, who will be leading Montgomery’s pitching staff for a third consecutive season. Sixteen-year major league veteran Ozzie Timmons will take over Ben Oglivie’s spot as coach and Auburn alumnus Lea Slagle will join the team as the Biscuits’ trainer.

For Gardner, 2009 will be his sixteenth season in professional baseball, fourteenth as a minor league manager. The native of Connecticut carries a career mark of 915-903, and a 150-129 record as the skipper for the Biscuits. In his debut season in butter and blue Gardner led the Biscuits to a league-best 81-59 record and their second consecutive Southern League Championship. He was also awarded with Southern League Manager of the Year honors following that season.

Gardner, 42, is the son of former major leaguer Billy Gardner, Sr., who managed the Twins from 1981-85 and the Royals for part of the 1987 season. Prior to his 2007 debut with the Biscuits, he (Jr.) previously managed the Dayton Dragons (Midwest League, 2006), High Desert Mavericks (California League, 2005), Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League, 2003-4), Sarasota Reds (Florida State League, 2002), Trenton Thunder (Eastern League, 2000-1), Augusta GreenJackets (South Atlantic League, 1999), Michigan Battle Cats (Midwest League, 1997-8) and coached the Lowell Spinners (New York-Penn, 1996) and Butte Copper Kings (Pioneer, 1995).

Allen, 50, returns to lead a pitching staff that under his tutelage finished the 2008 season with a 4.28 ERA. Allen is a former bench coach for the New York Yankees and is entering his 29th year of professional baseball. During his 11-year major league career, he pitched 434 games and accumulated a 58-70 record with a 3.88 ERA for the Mets, Cardinals, Yankees, White Sox and Indians.

Timmons, 38, spent last season as coach with the Columbus Catfish (Class-A) in his second season in the Rays’ organization. His hitters ranked third in the 16-team South Atlantic League with a .261 batting average. The club finished with an overall record of 67-69 after finishing the second half with an impressive 40-26 mark.

Timmons is a veteran of 18 years, including 16 in the player ranks. Selected by the Chicago Cubs in the fifth round of the 1991 June Draft, he played 16 seasons with the Cubs, Reds, Mariners, Rays, Braves, Diamondbacks and Mets organizations as well as the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Baseball League, the Mexican League and Atlantic City of the independent Atlantic League. During his major league career as an outfielder he batted .235 with 20 doubles and 20 home runs in 186 games.

Slagle, a resident of Montgomery, begins his first season as a trainer in the Rays organization after spending three seasons as a trainer in the Texas organization. Prior to the Rangers he spent two seasons in the Boston Red Sox minor league system. He served one season each as head athletic trainer for the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Portland Sea Dogs. In 2003, before his time with the Red Sox, he served as head athletic trainer for the Kinston Indians. Lee began his career as trainer in the Montreal Expos organization from 1991-95. He is also a certified athletic trainer with the National Athletic Trainer’s Association and an associate member of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers’ Society.

Princeton Rays (R+) Announce 2009 Coaches

Jared Sandberg, who was the Most Valuable Player of the Appalachian League in 1997 as an infielder for the Princeton Rays, will be returning to Princeton this coming summer as manager of the P-Rays. This was made known on Friday, December 19, through an announcement issued by P-Rays' General Manager Jim Holland.

Joining Sandberg on the team's four-man coaching staff will be pitching coach Marty DeMerritt and hitting coach Rafael Deleon along with another former P-Rays' All-Star from the 2000 Appy League season, Dan DeMent, as infield coach. This coming season will be DeMerritt's third straight summer in Princeton and Deleon's fourth consecutive season. The 2009 season will be the first in a coaching capacity for DeMent. Also, Andrew Hauser was named as the team's athletic trainer.

Although this will be Sandberg's first season as a manager in the professional ranks, it will be his second in coaching as he filled the role of hitting instructor last year at Tampa Bay's Hudson Valley (NY) affiliate.

He had a 12-year professional playing career, including three major league seasons (2001-2003), all spent with Tampa Bay. The 30-year old native of Olympia, WA was drafted by the Rays in the 16th round of the 1996 draft, and following his debut summer in the Gulf Coast League, proceeded in 1997 here to feast on Appalachian League pitching enroute to helping spark the P-Rays to a 39-30 record. He led the league in runs batted in with 68 and complimented that with .302 batting average to go along with 17 homers, 61 runs scored, 81 hits, 157 total bases, and a .586 slugging percentage in 67 games. His most significant major league season came as a member of the 2002 Tampa Bay Rays, primarily as a third baseman, when he smashed 18 homers and drove home 54 runners in 102 games. He finished his playing career by playing from 2005-2007 in the Red Sox, Astros, Indians, and Royals organizations. He and his wife Julie have a two-year old son Evan. He is the nephew of Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.

"I know our fans always looked at Jared as a leader when he played here and he has a great baseball background so I feel confident this will be a good step for him as he moves deeper into the coaching side of the game," said Holland.

2009 will mark the ninth season in the Tampa Bay organization for Demerritt. Prior to his arrival in Princeton in 2007, his previous seasons for Tampa Bay were spent as a pitching coach at Bakersfield (2001-2003), Charleston, SC (2004), and Visalia (2005-2006). This will be his 33rd year in professional baseball and his 25th as either a manager or coach. He pitched eight minor league seasons in the Cardinals, Brewers, and Astros organizations. Prior to Tampa Bay, he tutored pitchers in the Pirates, Cubs, Giants, and Marlins organizations.

The 55-year old native of San Francisco, CA was a major league pitching coach with the Giants in both 1987 and 1989 and also with the Cubs in 1999. Both Giants' squads qualified for postseason play with the 1989 team playing in the World Series versus the Oakland Athletic in what has become commonly known as "the Earthquake Series."

"Marty has really helped launch the careers of a lot of good young pitchers here over the past two seasons. Being around someone with his background this early in their careers has probably helped accelerate the development of several of Tampa Bay's young pitching prospects that have come through here," commented Holland.

Deleon, who will turn 35 on Christmas Day, returns as hitting coach at Princeton for the fourth straight season. He played professionally for three seasons as a member of the Tigers, A's, and Cubs in the Dominican Summer League from 1986-1988. Deleon served as a manager,coach, and scout with Tampa Bay's Dominican Republic operations between 1996-2001.

He previously also worked as a coach for the Dominican Summer League entries of the Yankees (1993-1995) and the Mets (1992) and also served as a scout in the Dominican Republic for the Montreal Expos from 1990-1991.

"Sweet Pea (Deleon)" has always been a big help with the transition our Latin players have to make and he always will go out of his way to work even longer than normal with the hitters," said Holland. DeMent, 30, joins the coaching ranks after spending 2008 out of baseball.

A scrappy middle infielder as a player, DeMent donned the Princeton colors shortly after being signed as a free agent on June 19, 2000. His professional debut season of 2000 was a successful one, hitting .301 62-for-206) for the P-Rays in 60 games while also clubbing seven homers and 39 RBI to go along with 48 runs scored. Enroute to his selection to the 2000 Appalachian League All-Star team, he saw time at three infield positions (2B, 3B, & SS) for the P-Rays.He played in the Tampa Bay organization through the conclusion of the 2004 season before playing his final three seasons (2005-2007) in the Washington Nationals' organization.

During those three seasons, he bounced between the Nationals' AA and AAA teams at Harrisburg, PA, where he played for former Princeton Reds' manager John Stearns, and New Orleans, LA. His best minor league season was in 2005 when he logged a .324 batting average along with 14 homers and 52 RBI in 127 games.

His final career totals saw him hit .268 in 864 professional games. DeMent and his wife Krista currently make their home in Birmingham, AL and are parents of two young daughters: McNally,4, and Fallon, 16 months.

"One thing about Dan DeMent and that was he always gave 110 percent as a player when he was here in 2000 and got the most out of his abilities every time he stepped on the field. That is certainly the type of work ethic I predict he will be showing our young rookies here," said Holland.

Hauser, who will turn 24 years old in about two weeks, will be spending his first year in the Rays organization after spending last season as the strength and conditioning coach of the Clearwater (FL) Thrashers, a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate that plays in the Class-A Florida State League. He received his degree in Athletic Training from the University of Kansas and currently resides in Farmington, NM.

The P-Rays are tentatively scheduled to arrive in Princeton on June 19, 2009 with the 2009 season opener to follow on June 23 at home in a 7:00 p.m. game versus the Burlington Royals.

#10 Ty Morrison Statistics

Statistics for Ty Morrison:

Year	Age	Level	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Avg	OBP	SLG
2008	17	R+	34	2	9	0	0	0	1	2	12	.265	.297	.265

Year	Age	Level	OPS	ISOP	BB%	K%	BABIP	GB%	LD%	wOBA
2008	17	R+	.562	.000	5.4	32.4	.409	62	12	.258

Splits in R+ in 2008:

Split	AB	ISOP	BB%	K%	BABIP	GB%	LD%	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
August	34	.000	5.4	32.4	.409	62	12	.265	.297	.265	.258
AWAY	16	.000	0.0	25.0	.333	67	8	.250	.250	.250	.225
HOME	18	.000	9.5	38.1	.500	58	17	.278	.333	.278	.283

Top 15 Hitters: #10 Ty Morrison

Ty Morrison
6'2'' 170 lbs DOB: 07/22/1990
Outfield
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
2008: Princeton
Acquired: 2008 Draft, Round 4, 113th overall

Tall and thin, Morrison is what you'd call a project and ranks here almost solely on his upside. Morrison was drafted in the 4th round of an Oregon high school, but only played in 10 games with the P-Rays after signing, hitting an uninspiring 9-34 with no extra base hits.

Morrison's best present tool is his speed, which rates as above-average and, alongside his decent arm, helps him profile as a centerfielder down the line. Morrison has a pretty clean swing and is a good athlete, but he'll definitely need to get stronger as he comes through the system. He'll never hit for a ton of power or anything, and it might take a while for whatever power he has to develop, but he's not just a slap hitter.

The best-case scenario, keeping in mind he's only in rookie ball, is that Morrison becomes a .300 hitter with good centerfield defense, 10-15 HR power, and average plate discipline. The worst case scenario? Well, just look at other toolsy northwestern high scool players drafted by the Rays in the same range: Dustin Biell(5-2007), Shawn O'Malley(5-2006), Mike McCormick(5-2005).

Morrison will only be 18 on Opening Day, and will almost certainly be back in Princeton. He'll probably move through the system, but he's athletic enough that the reward would be worth it if he develops like the Rays imagine he will.

Rays 2009 Spring Training Schedule (Updated)

Wednesday, February 25 Cincinnati vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Thursday, February 26 Tampa Bay vs. New York Yankees @ Tampa 1:15
Friday, February 27 Boston vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Saturday, February 28 Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia @ Clearwater 1:05
Sunday, March 1 Toronto vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Monday, March 2 Tampa Bay vs. St. Louis @ Jupiter TBA
Tuesday, March 3 Houston vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Wednesday, March 4 Puerto Rico vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 7:05
Friday, March 6 Tampa Bay vs. Pittsburgh @ Bradenton 1:05
Saturday, March 7 Boston vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Sunday, March 8 Tampa Bay vs. Boston @ Fort Myers 1:15
Monday, March 9 Minnesota vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Tuesday, March 10 Toronto vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Thursday, March 12 Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Friday, March 13 Tampa Bay vs. Toronto @ Dunedin 1:05
Saturday, March 14 Tampa Bay vs. Cincinnati @ Sarasota 1:05
Sunday, March 15 Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Monday, March 16 Tampa Bay vs. Pittsburgh @ Bradenton 7:05
Wednesday, March 18 Cincinnati vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Thursday, March 19 St. Louis vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Friday, March 20 Tampa Bay vs. Toronto @ Dunedin 1:05
Saturday, March 21 Tampa Bay vs. Baltimore @ Fort Lauderdale 1:05
Sunday, March 22 NY Yankees vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Monday, March 23 Tampa Bay vs. Pittsburgh @ Bradenton 1:05
Wednesday, March 25 Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 7:05
Thursday, March 26 Tampa Bay vs. Detroit @ Lakeland 6:05
Friday, March 27 Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota @ Lee County 1:05
Saturday, March 28 Cincinnati vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Sunday, March 29 Tampa Bay vs. Cincinnati @ Sarasota 1:05
Monday, March 30 Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota @ Lee County 1:05
Tuesday, March 31 Tampa Bay vs. Boston @ Fort Myers 1:05
Wednesday, April 1 Minnesota vs. Tampa Bay @ Port Charlotte 1:05
Friday, April 3 Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia @ Philadelphia 7:05
Saturday, April 4 Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia @ Philadelphia 1:05

From MLB and The Biz of Baseball.

Charlotte Stone Crabs Unveil Logo and Jerseys

The Charlotte Stone Crabs (A+) unveiled their logo and jersey designs tonight with some help from members of the Charlotte County Boys and Girls Club at the Port Charlotte Town Center mall in Port Charlotte. The newest member of the Florida State League showed off their new logo to a crowd of more than 350 fans as members of the Boys and Girls Club helped model t-shirts and hats. “We continue to have big milestones every week, and this is certainly our biggest,” said Joe Hart, general manager of the Stone Crabs. “After seeing the success of the unveiling event and the tremendous response from the Charlotte County community, this just adds to the excitement and momentum heading into 2009.”

The team’s primary logo features the local stone crab with its signature large, crusher claw and the familiar sunburst that was part of the Tampa Bay Rays new logo at the start of the 2008 season. The Stone Crabs home and road jerseys and home team hats also resemble their major league counterparts’ in design and color scheme.

Since the Stone Crabs announcement as the third Minor League team owned by Ripken Baseball in late August, the team has sold more than 800 full season seats. “Unveiling our logo was another big step for our organization, and we know it will be a big help in promoting our family fun atmosphere at the Charlotte Sports Park next year,” said Cal Ripken, Jr., founder of Ripken Baseball.

The logos were created by Studio Simon, a design company based out of Kentucky that has worked with more than 60 minor league baseball teams across the country. In addition to designing logos for Minor League Baseball teams like the Trenton Thunder, Toledo Mud Hens and the Ripken-owned Augusta GreenJackets, Studio Simon has also worked with Major League Baseball and the National Football League. “Our goal was to create an identity that captured both the professional baseball and family entertainment components that are unique to the minor league baseball experience,” said Dan Simon, creative director for Studio Simon.

I like it a lot. The alternate logos and jerseys are nice too, maybe I'll post them later. Great job by the Ripken/Port Charlotte folks.

Phillips Signs With Royals

Matt Eddy reports that Rays minor league free agent LHP Heath Phillips has signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals with an invite to Major League Spring Training. Phillips began 2008 with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (AAA) until his release on July 19th. Durham signed him as a free agent on July 29th and he went on to pitch in 9 games (3 starts) putting up a 2.86 ERA over 22 innings.

He was originally drafted by the White Sox in the 10th round of the 2000 draft and was named the International League Most Valuable Pitcher in 2006. You may also remember that he and three relievers combined on a no-hitter on October 13th in the Mexican Pacific League. Phillips pitched five innings, struck out two and walked five. He'll be 27 on opening day and had no shot to make the Rays out of spring training. Best of luck to him in the Royals organization.

Winter League Shakeup

The Hawaii Winter Baseball league will no longer include players from MLB or the minor leagues according to the league: “It was a grand experience bringing the thrill of pro baseball back to the islands,” said Hawaii Winter Baseball league owner Duane Kurisu, in announcing the completion of the league’s three-year contract with Major League Baseball. General managers from each MLB organization, gathered in Las Vegas last week for the Baseball Winter Meetings, voted, “for logistical reasons,” to consolidate their minor league fall and winter off-season developmental leagues to one location—Arizona, the current home of the Arizona Fall League and Spring Training’s Cactus League. The decision essentially ends any participation in HWB by players from the MLB and its minor league affiliates.

BA believes this will lead to the formation of a new winter league in the Phoenix area for younger minor leaguers: The junior circuit, not yet given an official name, would in essence shift the format of Hawaii Winter Baseball to the Phoenix area and coincide with the AFL, which next season will be in its 18th year. HWB owner Duane Kurisu said general managers of major league teams voted for the move at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. The AFL has become thought of as a finishing school and is comprised of Triple-A and Double-A players, with each of its six teams allotted only one player from the Class A level. The HWB allowed less experienced players to get winter league experience...

The Rays sent no players to Hawaii this year. Travel costs for players and scouts seemed to be the primary drawback to the Hawaii league. The new Phoenix-area league should allow some of the Rays younger minor leaguers to participate in winter league baseball here in the U.S. next year.