Gardner said McGee's spot in the rotation may be taken by someone in the bullpen. He's less certain about replacing Anderson after adding several position players recently either by promotion or trade because of injuries, reducing the number of available players.The Montgomery Biscuits have placed Shawn O'Malley on the 7-day disabled list.
As we anticipated yesterday, newly acquired IF Mike Folli was assigned to the Montgomery Biscuits by the Rays.
Matt Fields has been assigned back to the Montgomery Biscuits after a rehab stint with the GCL Rays.
Darwin Maldonado has been assigned to the DSL Rays. The 21 year-old outfielder out of Colombia played for the VSL Rays the past 2 seasons, batting .297/.375/.500 in 148 ABs in 2009.
Mcgee as Pen or starter? ANd any word on where they will start Anderson position wise?
ReplyDeleteCurious if Moore is now promoted. He needs one.
ReplyDeleteI know they are consevative when it comes to promoting, but does Bortnick have anything left to prove at BG? He is near the top in average, on base %, doubles, and stolen bases. And from what I've read with pretty good D. Whats keeping him from taking matt hall's spot in Charrlotte.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - thank you for the kind words regarding my son. He is using all this as fuel for the fire. I'll be honest, I am frustrated for him.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, everyone here will support your son. He is a fine baseball player. I am mad the Rays keep so many fillers and don't promote guys. Right now, your son (imo) should be in A+ and close to moving to AA. Who cares about Hall? Dietrich or Price could take his spot at BG if he is promoted. Your son is great. I wish the Rays would notice it more.
ReplyDeleteBortnick deserves to be in Charlotte. Hall should be released, it has played itself out that there is nothing he can provide for the organization. This is his second year at Charlotte, he struggled with the fill-ins they had him do last year at the higher levels. He isn't even an every day second baseman for the Crabs, splitting time with Scelfo. And Scelfo is another story, defensivly stagnent at second base. So why Bortnick has not been promoted yet is beyond me. Looking at the overall big picture, I don't see the reasoning.
ReplyDeleteBut look at the organization as a whole. From a player development level, someone is dropping the ball big time. Players sitting at a level that deserve promotions (Wrigley, Bortnick, Moore) and players that have gotten promoted that should have stayed where they were for a little while to sharpen their skills (Sweeney, Luna). Not to mention the over abundance of pitchers at Hudson Valley that keeps anyone from getting regular work. There has been some crappy decisions made from a development standpoint.
There is a lot of talent in the Rays organiztion in the minor league system, a problem that most clubs don't have. But if you can't get that talent regular playing time at a level that provides a challenge to them, you are doing yourself a dis-service. Some tough decisions need to be made at the top level and if it means cutting players, then break out the pink slips cause we need to be moving this organization forward.
Hall wont be going anywhere. He was drafted in 2008 in the 10th round and recieved a 75,000 bonus. they will keep him to get their moneys worth. its too bad for Tyler, he is an excellent player
ReplyDeleteI was down at Port Charlotte for a week of spring training early on.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed they had "stuck it" to Bortnick at that point in time. They actually had him in the lowest group during some parts of that week. It didn't make sense then and it sure doesn't now.
On another note, take a look at the Outfielders in Hudson Valley. Absolutely no production at all from that group.
They have no average, no power and can't run. How does this happen in a professional organization.
It has been painful to watch up here.
I think all of these comments are rather hilarious about the Rays minor league system.
ReplyDeleteBased on the flow of top prospects, I think they know what they are doing!
I am glad many of you are not in the front office. You would be moving players around like your fantasy leagues.
Go Rays.
I've pretty much said the same thing as anon above regarding Bortnick being blocked by Hall and Scelfo. Bortnick, both this season and last, has consistently been good at the plate and in the field. Hall is a versatile fielder, but has never hit well professionally. Scelfo has struggled defensively at 2B this year.
ReplyDeleteWith Montgomery having so many holes to fill lately I was hoping they would promote Hall, since they seem to like him so much. Then Bortnick could have taken his spot. But instead they traded for Folli from the Cardinals, a career .232/.298/.349 hitter, even worse this season at .212/.287/.338. He's pretty much Hall.
The only thing I disagree on is that the signing bonuses are the reason. Hall (10th round, 2008) and Scelfo (8th round, 2008) were drafted a little higher than Bortnick (16th round, 2009). But Hall only received a $75,000 bonus and Scelfo $107,000, which is nothing to the Rays. The guy playing SS in Charlotte got a bonus over 33 times as much as Hall and Scelfo combined.
While I don't think the draft signing bonus is the reason, I don't know why Bortnick hasn't moved up. I guess the simplest explanation is they may just want to give Hall and Scelfo a full season of regular work before making any decisions on their futures, since they were fairly high picks (meaning the Rays really liked them). And it's not like Bortnick is riding the bench, he gets to play everyday. The drawback is he isn't facing more advanced pitching, which may hurt his development a little. But, at this point, a promotion really wouldn't matter that much anyway, there are less than a month of games left. It should have happened a month ago. At this point the only reason to do it would be to give Tyler a reward for his hard work and performance, which I think he deserves. But I don't think we'll see it, absent more injuries up the chain.
Hope I'm wrong and he gets the reward.
Lets be honest, whether or not a 16th rounder is promoted does not affect the price of rice in China nor does it affect whether or not the Tampa Bay Rays win the AL East this year.
ReplyDeleteIMHO, the reason you might promote a guy like Bortnick is not for the message you send to Bortnick per se but the message you send to the rest of the minor league organizations.
I can share some things about Tyler. To the Rays credit, they have treated him like a prospect. He has batted in the 2 hole or 3hole all year and I am grateful for that. He had some shoulder tenderness in the spring that forced the move to 2nd base but the Rays have been excellent in their medical/therapy treatment for him. Tyler played his first game at shorstop last night and it was exciting for our family.
We pray he can stay healthy and get the chance. We are thankful the Rays have given him a chance thus far.
It has been a blessing for our family that he has played in the Midwest League as these are the most games we have seen him play in summer since high school. Almost all of the ballparks in the Midwest league - like the ballpark jewel in Bowling Green, are some of the very nicest in the country.
First of all, considering the Rays' ability to remain one of the top farm systems around, I struggle to question their decisions when they obviously have their legitimate ways of going about things.
ReplyDeleteYes we would all like to see players promoted when they have had a good season thus far, but it works both ways. When a player is struggling at A+ for example, the last option you want to choose is to demote him. That can crush confidence and it's not unusual for a player to be struggling for half a season to then pick it up for the 2nd half (like T. Beckham).
The Rays very rarely promote out of A ball to A+ anyway because they like players to have a full season with one team. This is understandable for development and stability. In the case of Bortnick, yes he deserves promotion now, but will it really hamper his development going forward staying with one team this year when he's doing so well. As mentioned, he is now getting a chance to play back at SS now so that's another good reason.
With Bortnick's consistency too, the Rays must appreciate the impact he has with fellow players at BG right now. Batting prowess is important, but team leadership is a valuable skill to develop also. Once in A+ ball, hitters will rise quickly with success. Not so much A ball.
The only thing im questioning about the rays is how come Bortnick isnt in charlotte seeing how well he is hiting. other than that I agree with their moves. I mean I think you would want a prospect to hit pitching that actually challenges him. And also seeing as besides jennings and wrigley, we dont really have any top level bats tha are prospects. Most are in the lower levels out of high school.
ReplyDeletethe outfield in Hudson Valley has FINALLY started to produce and the pitching staff in HV has stabilized. I am actually enjoying games again. The Rays are very conservative moving people up. I agree. But as stated above they obviously are doing something right.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you smoking, the entire OF has one lousy HR. BA less than their weight. Last night they were hitless, did have some walks.
ReplyDeleteThey are striking out almost 1 in 3 AB.
"FINALLY started to produce"??? They must have other jobs than playing the OF for Hudson Valley.
Bortnick needs to move to Charlotte. The Stone Crabs are weak at second both offensivly and defensivly. Last few games I have attended, Scelfo was at second and his defense is horrible. Good ole hometown scoring has kept him from having more errors added to his stats. He may never get a gold glove but an academy award may be in his future. He is great at missing the ball then springing to his feet to throw a ball that doesn't exist. Looks good though. So front office, if your listening...bring Bortnick to Charlotte.
ReplyDelete