With a newly minted, nine-year deal in hand, Evan Longoria will be part of the core that the Rays build their dynasty around.

There is one team in the American League that I believe is going to sneak up on everyone to become the next dynasty in baseball.  It may not happen this season, but I believe that by this time next season we will all be talking about the Tampa Bay Rays as contenders in the AL East, with a good chance of making the playoffs and perhaps running away with it all.  Nonsense, you say?   Well, let’s take a look at the talent they have put together.  At first base is Carlos Pena, whom they signed to a multi-year deal this spring.  He bashed 46 home runs last season, and was the comeback player of the year in the AL.  This season, though he is off to a slow start, batting just .179, Pena has already hit 6 home runs, and driven in 13.  At second base is Akinori Iwamura, and while he is not a superstar type player, he is more than serviceable at the keystone with solid defensive skills and good enough offensive numbers.  Iwamura provides a little pop now and then, and can steal when needed.  Jason Bartlett, who is plenty quick, occupies shortstop and is capable of double-digit steals, along with a solid batting average that will push .300.  He needs to improve his defense some to cut down on the errors, but is otherwise does a fine job turning the double play and manning his position.  At third, the team just locked up Evan Longoria with an unprecedented nine-year deal that solidifies his position as one of the core players around which the Rays will build their dynasty.  The guy can flat out rake, and will give the Rays a power-hitting third baseman in the same mold as David Wright of the Mets. Longoria is a superstar waiting to happen, and the Rays have now ensured he will be playing for them for many years to come.  The outfield has Carl Crawford, B.J Upton, and Johnny Gomes, as its’ current squad, and the Rays have even more talent in their minor league system for the outfield.  But the current group, especially Upton and Gomes, will be with them for several more years, and they are working on a long-term deal for Crawford.  This group may be the most talented core of outfielders in the game today, except for perhaps, the Angels.  Dioner Navarro and Shawn Riggans are their catchers.  Both are solid backstops with excellent skills at the plate.  Those are the position players that the team will build around, and the vast majority of them are now signed to long-term deals that will keep them in Rays uniforms.  The pitching staff is also coming into its own around a core of Scott Kazmir, James Shields, and Matt Garza.  Add in Edwin Jackson, who appears to have turned a corner in his development, and Andy Sonnastine, who looks to be another year away from reaching his full potential, and you have a starting rotation as good as any in MLB.  The bullpen still needs a closer who can be relied on to be dominant, and a couple more reliable middle innings pitchers to bridge the gap from starter to closer.  If the Rays can put together the missing pieces on the pitching staff, and add some depth to the positional roster, they have the makings of a winning team.  The Yankees and Red Sox ought to watch their backs, because the Rays will be breathing down their collective necks in the months and years ahead.  Remember that you heard it here first!

Now, on to the box scores from yesterday’s games:

It’s a good thing the Indians have Cliff Lee. He has taken on the role as stopper for the team, as evidenced by yesterday’s two hit blanking of the Twins in which he struck out 8 and walked just one.  Lee (3-0) lowered his ERA to a microscopic 0.40 and has supplanted C.C. Sabathia as the ace of the staff. 

By the way, the Tribe’s pitching coach, Carl Willis, believes that C.C.Sabathia is tipping his pitches because he can’t find anything else wrong. Willis has been studying film of Sabathia’s outings, and supposedly discovered something that is tipping hitters off to the fastball.  However, Josh Kalk, who posts pitch f/x data for all to use and see, notes that Sabathia is throwing a significantly lower percentage of sliders over his last few outings.  Actually, he is throwing about 50% fewer sliders per outing than he has in the last two years.  So what does that mean?  Well, it could be that he has an injury that bothers him when he throws the slider, though that is pure speculation. (Actually, this is all speculation, isn’t it?) Or, it could be that he has lost confidence in his ability to throw the slider.  Although, if it’s the fastball that he freely admits he has trouble locating, wouldn’t that prompt him to throw more sliders instead of less?  Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were hiding an injury in this, his walk year.  Or maybe he’ll turn it around and we’ll all be laughing about this stretch of bad luck later.

I wonder if the Yankees are getting concerned about Philip Hughes yet.  Yesterday, he gave up 5 runs on 9 hits, walked 2 and struck out just one in 5 1/3 innings against the lowly Orioles. What’s worse is that is took him 97 pitches to get that far.  Overall, his ERA is 8.82, and he’s walked as many batters as he’s struck out (10) in 16 innings over 4 starts.  About the only positive thing is that he has not been giving up home runs.  We could be seeing Joba Chamberlain starting sooner rather than later if Hughes doesn’t come around soon.

Conor Jackson of the Diamondbacks had himself a hell of a game yesterday, going 4 for 5, and just a double short of hitting for the cycle.  He drove in 4 runs, scored another 3, and went yard to the deepest part of Petco Park off Greg Maddux.  Jackson is batting .364 and looks to be fulfilling the promise he has shown since his arrival in the bigs back in 2005.

Speaking of Greg Maddux – he stayed in the game yesterday for 8 innings, despite getting shelled, making his fantasy owner cringe in the process.  If you are a Maddux owner, and had him active yesterday, you were treated to 9 earned runs on 13 hits, 3 walks and 4 Ks.

Ouch!

OK, that’s all for me today.  Shake it easy!