Category Archives: tampa bay rays

The Padres Making Huge Moves for 2021 Season

San-Diego-Padres-Blake-Snell-Yu-Darvish-trade-MLBThis MLB offseason has been far from a ‘Hot Stove’ as teams took a financial beating from the COVID-19 shortened season. Teams have been looking to cut payroll, but many haven’t found any takers.

The Padres made two huge moves this week when they traded for Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell and then pulled the trigger on a trade for Cubs starting pitcher Yu Darvish. They managed to complete both trades without giving up their best pitching prospect, starter MacKenzie Gore.

The Rays will receive a nice load of prospects in return for Snell. The package is headlined by pitcher Luis Patino, with catcher Blake Hunt, pitcher Cole Wilcox and the former highly-touted prospect (and now possible reclamation project) catcher Francisco Mejia rounding out the deal. Patino is a steep price, but the Padres still have some great pitching prospects in their farm system.

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20 Baseball Hall of Famers Who Ended Their Careers On Weird Teams

Sports teams are nothing without their players. You tend to associate sports teams with an iconic player or two for long periods of time, especially back when players would spend all or most of their careers with one team.

That time is long gone, but there will always be guys like Derek Jeter, who spent his entire playing career with the New York Yankees and would just look weird in another team’s uniform.

After a baseball player’s skills start to decline, it’s easy to lose track of them in the day-to-day business of baseball. There are hundreds of players who unceremoniously retire every year because they didn’t receive an offer from a team…but if a player has a long track record of being very good, those players will probably get a few extra contracts at the tail end of their careers. Hall of Fame-level players will almost always get that treatment if they are still healthy enough to suit up.

Here are twenty Baseball Hall of Famers that ended their careers on weird teams.

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Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F/M/K – July 1st

We are now thirteen weeks into the 2018 fantasy baseball season.

There are some elite bats on the disabled list. Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa, Josh Donaldson and A.J. Pollock still occupy many fantasy owners’ DL spot. It could be time to make a few tough decisions on long-term DL guys.

Which hot hitters are we suggesting to pick up this week?

We look at some players who started out hot, some who are struggling and maybe a couple young guys who should be targeted in your free agent pool on July 1st, 2018.

I’ll be posting a weekly fantasy baseball F/M/K every Sunday this baseball season…so keep coming back!

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Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F/M/K – June 24th

We are now twelve weeks into the 2018 fantasy baseball season.

It was a rough week for the disabled list. Some elite fantasy players are due to spend a few weeks nursing injuries. On the flip side, there are some guys like Kevin Kiermaier who are getting back after healing injuries.

Which hot hitters are we suggesting to pick up this week?

We look at some players who started out hot, some who are struggling and maybe a couple young guys who should be targeted in your free agent pool on June 24th, 2018.

I’ll be posting a weekly fantasy baseball F/M/K every Sunday this baseball season…so keep coming back!

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Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F/M/K – June 17th

We are now eleven weeks into the 2018 fantasy baseball season.

This week saw some fantasy mainstays hit the disabled list and some standout performances from some promising young pitchers.

Which under-the-radar players are we suggesting to pick up this week?

We look at some players who started out hot, some who are struggling and maybe a couple young guys who should be targeted in your free agent pool on June 17th, 2018.

I’ll be posting a weekly fantasy baseball F/M/K every Sunday this baseball season…so keep coming back!

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Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F/M/K – May 20th

We are now seven weeks into the 2018 baseball season.

Some impact players like Paul DeJong and A.J. Pollock landed on the disabled list this week…and Robinson Cano got busted for PEDS. You are probably in the market for some player to help you bridge the gap until they return.

We look at some players who started out hot, some who are struggling and maybe some guys who should be targeted in your free agent pool on May 20th, 2018.

I’ll be posting a weekly fantasy baseball F/M/K every Sunday this baseball season…so keep coming back!

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Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F/M/K – April 15th

We are just over two weeks into the 2018 baseball season.

You’re just starting to really get your lineup dialed in, but recent injuries probably threw a wrench into things. Middle infielders will start to be scarce on the waiver wire if they keep getting injured at this rate. Recent injuries to Rougned Odor, Jonathan Schoop and Elvis Andrus have left fantasy owners hurting for solid replacements. 

We look at some players who started out hot, some who are struggling and maybe some guys who should be targeted in your free agent pool on April 15th, 2018.

I’ll be posting a weekly fantasy baseball F/M/K every Sunday this baseball season…so keep coming back!

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Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F/M/K – April 1st

We are just a few days into the 2018 baseball season. If you’re playing fantasy baseball, you’re still trying to figure out your roster. Should I cut bait with injured guys? Should I pick up someone who started out red hot?

We look at some players who started out hot, some who are struggling and maybe some guys who should be targeted in your free agent pool on April 1st, 2018.

I’ll be posting a weekly fantasy baseball F/M/K every Sunday this baseball season…so keep coming back!

Before I begin, let’s go over the F/M/K terminology. The guys that I list under “F*ck” are guys that are currently hot and you need to pick them up. “Marry”, are guys that you need to stick with the whole season, even if they are struggling a bit. “Kill”, are guys that need to be dropped for better players in the free agent pool.

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2018 MLB Season Preview: Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays have been busy shipping talent all over the country. The deals haven’t always made sense, but they just started a full rebuild, so not everything will make immediate sense. They are now playing the long game.

The Rays have a nice run with all the homegrown talent they matured. Even though it was a tough decision, it was time to trade franchise star Evan Longoria. The same could be said for ace Chris Archer. Tampa Bay should receive a nice haul of prospects for the flamethrower.

Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Tampa Bay Rays.

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What are the Tampa Bay Rays Doing?

As the Miami Marlins are getting all the press for blowing up their team, the Rays quietly are doing the same.

Today, the Rays traded All-Star outfielder Corey Dickerson to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Daniel Hudson, a low-tier prospect and around $1 million to off-set the contracts. This is on top of all the moves they’ve made since the Winter Meetings.

The Rays made a huge splash this offseason by trading franchise star Evan Longoria to the San Francisco Giants for young infielder Christian Arroyo, veteran outfielder Denard Span, and two young pitchers with upside. It looks like an ‘okay’ deal on paper, but then you add in the $14.5 million that is spread out over a few seasons and also some deferred payments. Also, they are on the hook for the entire contract of Span, which is an additional $13 million.

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2017 MLB Season Preview: Tampa Bay Rays

2017-MLB-Season-Team-Preview-Tampa-Bay-Rays-Colby-Rasmus-funnyThe Tampa Bay Rays are stuck in the wrong division. They are clearly just trying to get younger and rebuild, but the rest of the AL East are stocking up for possible a playoff run. The Rays are the odd team out.

The Rays have a roster that will make them competitive in most games, but they should probably start moving some assets and stock up on young players. They could get a nice return for flamethrower Chris Archer. I doubt they would move Evan Longoria, but they could get the biggest return with him since he has team-friendly contract. Probably another reason why the Rays will never move him.

Will the Rays be sellers at the deadline this season or will they keep adding role players?

Here is the 2017 MLB season preview for the Tampa Bay Rays.

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2016 MLB Season Preview: Tampa Bay Rays

logan-morrison-tampa-bay-rays-2016-mlb-season-preview-americas-white-boyThe Tampa Bay Rays flew under the radar last season after losing their general manager and manager to other teams before last season.

The Rays made some small moves this offseason to shore up some areas in which they lost players due to free agency. They acquired Logan Morrison, infielder Brad Miller and reliever Danny Farquhar in a deal with Seattle. All three will play vital roles for the team this season.

The AL East is full of teams with a lot of offense. Can the Rays hang with only average offense, but really good defense?

Here is the 2016 MLB season preview for the Tampa Bay Rays.

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