The Buccaneer cornerback situation isn’t pretty. We have one solid starter, a 13 year veteran thought to be done before last season, and a regressing two year undrafted free agent as our third guy. There’s zero depth, and one starter is needed. Who are the options in the draft?

Here are my rankings and thoughts on each one.

continue reading "2010 Draft Prospects – Cornerback"

Leading up to February 19th where the Rays pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training I will be posting articles about the Rays projected starters and primary backups, position by position. To kick off the series this first article is focusing on first base.

continue reading "Rays 2010: 1B"

As I continue to jinx our guest spot hit ratio, we have word that one Stylez G. White may be in attendance this evening. If so, I am sure we will have a good time learning more about how our defensive line is going to be more effective next year amongst other things. As for the rest of the show, big news out of 1 Buc is the signing of a new QB Coach. A young leader of men to learn under the watchful eye of Greg Olson. Alex Van Pelt (former OC of the Buffalo Bills) has been inked in a move to sure up our staff and give the young Josh Freemen much needed guidance.

Tonight we will be reviewing the following and looking for your feedback, so put the drinks down and use your email people!

1. Introduction – Reminder about the Jessica Rose Foundation fundraiser Saturday
2. News from around the league – Hey Cincy…looks like something is in the water again. WHAT UP?!
3. Probowl discussion (Short) – Nothing like a scrimmage with no contact
4. Superbowl Chat – Screw the Saints…just sayin
5. Discussion topics

1. Is it stressful being a multi-millionaire college coach? Is complaining about it whining or being a bad example?
2. What happens to you, as a fan, if there IS a work stoppage in 2012?
3. Is there ANYTHING that the Glazers could do, short of selling the team, that would make you believe they care about winning again?
4. What are your plans for supporting the Bucs next year? You a season ticket holder? Giving up your tickets? Coming to the RIDICULOUS tailgates?

It is the offseason and it sucks. No movement but a Senior Bowl that showed a few interesting things. Tebow showed the weaknesses we all knew he had (not the end of the world people but not a surprise either). More chat about Mr. Dansby from Arizona is swirling, but does the FO care? Most of all, we have a reason to congregate and talk about our Bucs and other sports related and therefore not life threatening topics. So grab a drink and join us at 7:00 PM Eastern.

Tonight on our broadcast we were fortunate enough (through the work of Captain Bones) to be joined by former Buccaneer, Shelton Quarles. WE also covered news and did our normal things (including an excellent call by Chainlink) but the last half hour was really about what Shelton has been up to since leaving the game as well as some background you may not have known. Give a listen and let us know what you think. Additionally, if you are willing and able to donate anything (money, time, gifts), please contact Shelton’s IMPACT Foundation at info@prolanthropy.net.

This off season the Rays had four players who were eligible for arbitration hearings. In the end they managed to sign with three of the players before it got that far. Jason Bartlett signed on for $4 mio., Garza gets $3.35 mio. and J.P. Howell signed for $1.8 mio. All are one year contracts and all more than doubled their salaries from 2009. But especially Bartlett and Garza are key members of the team who deserve to get paid.

My only problem with those deals is the fact that Bartlett is only signed for one year. A really good defensive short stop is not easy to find and Bartlett has said that he was looking for a long term deal but it was the Rays that didn’t want to talk about it. Hopefully it is because they are confident that 2008 1st overall draft pick Tim Beckham is getting ready to get into the majors.

The one player they couldn’t sign with was B.J. Upton even though they were close. The Rays offered a contract worth $3 mio. and Upton asked for $3.3 mio. Bizofbaseball.com has put together a report that collects the 2008 and 2009 salaries of all the players who went into arbitration in 2009. According to the list of outfielders in the report the $3 mio. range seems fair. The best comparison is Shane Victorino who signed for $3.125 mio.

continue reading "The Rays and B.J. Upton entering arbitration"

Last week’s scores:

Saints 45-14 (my prediction Cardinals 34-27)

Colts 20-3 (my prediction Colts 23-17)

Vikings 34-3 (my prediction Vikings 20-17)

Jets 17-14 (my prediction Chargers 30-20)

Alright, another 2-2 week.  The Saints crushed the Cardinals, a team who learned it’s pretty damn tough to slow down Drew Brees and company when you’re without Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Antrel Rolle for most of the game.  Kurt Warner almost got knocked out, and for the first time in 13 playoff games, he did not throw a touchdown.  The Colts held off the Ravens and advanced to the AFC Title game.  Baltimore had their chances, but Ed Reed fumbled while returning an INT deep into Indy territory, and another near pick 6 was called back due to a penalty.  In what was thought by most to be the best game of the week, Minnesota steamrolled Dallas thanks to four Favre TDs, three of them to Sidney Rice.  Tony Romo had no time to throw, and the Cowboys, like the Cardinals, got rolled.  Interestingly, both NFC games were had the home teams winning by 31 points.  The last game of the week saw the Chargers crap their pants against the Jets and find yet another way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  Shonn Green ran for more yards than Mark Sanchez threw, but it was Philip Rivers who committed the costly and untimely turnovers.  The Jets-Chargers game was competitive, but to me all they were all yawners.  New week, new drama.

continue reading "Conference Championship Predictions"

NFL playoffs are well underway and spring is just around the corner. Almost exactly a month from now, on February 19, the pitchers and catchers of the Tampa Bay Rays will report to spring training.

It is never going to be easy playing in the AL East and the Yankees and Red Sox both seem to once again have gotten stronger during the offseason. But even though the Rays haven’t had a real busy offseason, the moves that they have made can have a big impact on the team if they pan out.

Here are the three big moves the Rays made so far this offseason:

Trading 2B Akinori Iwamura to the Pirates

For three seasons Aki brought some life and a spark to the Tampa Bay clubhouse with his bright smile, crocodile gloves and always positive attitude. He never complained when he was asked to switch from 3^rd to 2^nd base to make room for golden boy Evan Longoria and made the switch look easy.

But for the past two seasons Ben Zobrist has been a rising star for the Rays and when Iwamura was out with a knee injury during this past season Zobrist stepped in and played very well. It would seem like Joe Maddon decided during the season that Zobrist was ready to become the future starter at 2^nd base and shortly after the season ended Iwamura was traded to the Pirates for young pitcher Jesse Chavez.

continue reading "The Rays’ biggest offseason transactions"

We have been looking for some assistance with new content and specifically, content around the Tampa Bay Rays. As many of you know, I hate baseball. I also know that other people think it is the greatest thing since Lingerie Football (they are wrong!). So, in an effort to broaden our horizons, our long time listener and friend of the program, Anita, is stepping up! Get to know her in this article and then enjoy her first entry!

“Born and raised in a small town in Denmark sports played a big role in my life from an early age. I’ve never played anything at an elite level but name a sport and there is a good chance I played competitively for at least a couple of years. Soccer, handball and badminton among others when I was a kid and stuff like kickboxing, basketball and fastpitch softball the past eight years. When I’m not playing I love watching sports on TV or talking about and analyzing sports.

I was first able to watch football every Sunday from around the 2001 season and instantly fell in love with the 2002 Buccaneers. That love quickly spread to the Lightning and Rays as well and after having watched baseball a couple of years I wanted to play myself and joined the local softball team in 2006. This past summer I was in Belgium playing for the Danish national team in the B European Championships and hopefully one of these days we can bring home a national championship to my team again. I will do my best to keep you updated on everything going on with the Tampa Bay Rays here on the site.

I’m still in college, three semesters away from a masters degree in accounting. In the fall of 2008 I spent four of the best months of my life as an exchange student in West Lafayette, Indiana and is proud to call myself a Purdue University alum. Got to love the Midwest and the great people living there.”

News today is that former Bucs 4th pick overall, Gaines Adams, died today of cardiac arrest. Too young to pass for any reason, our thoughts are with the family and friends. If the chatter on Facebook is any indication, Gaines was an exceptionally loved friend and teammate.

ESPN.COM has a good and thorough report.