Maddon's best move?

[Troll Daddy]

Joe gave the team three days off batting practice for this series against the Angels ... during a close division race which finds them in the hole a few games.  Players were also allowed to come to the ball park late ... which most of them obliged.

 

What do you think?

 

 

[Angel Oracle]

Their offense wasn't horrible, scoring 9 runs in the first 2 games.

Today was not pretty for the Rays' offense, though.

 

Losing this series is all on Fraudney.

[sneaky_flute]

Maddon is a pretty overrated manager. People like him because he's laid back but he makes stupid moves fairly often.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

Tampa Bay's offense isn't very good, but I still didn't like his decision to put S. Rod 5th in the batting order in two of the games (even against LHP's).

[Angel Oracle]

Despite no fan support and no dollars, Maddon has kept them as a constant contender since 2008.

What's not to like about that?

Granted, having Super GM (Andrew Friedman) helps some.

And we can't use the high draft selections excuse anymore, as they haven't had a real high pick since 2008.

 

 

Friedman >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dipoto and Reagins.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Angel Oracle

[Lifetime]

Who on their team was drafted after 2008 and not a high draft pick

[Docwaukee]

Who on their team was drafted after 2008 and not a high draft pick

facts are a false start. 

[m0nkey]

They bring in a bunch of schmucks and win

[DMVol]

...Losing this series is all on Fraudney.

Jennings dropping the fly ball in the OF in game 1 didn't help crooked hat...

[rageous]

They had lot of busts or players that didn't fulfill their potential from their high draft picks.

2001 Dewon Brazelton drafted 3rd overall

2002 BJ Upton drafted 2nd overall

2003 Delmon Young drated 1st overall

2004 Jeff Niemann drafted 4th overall

2005 Wade Townsend drafted 8th overall

2006 Evan Longoria drafted 3rd overall

2007 David Price drafted 1st overall

2008 Tim Beckham drafted 1st overall

 

So out of 8 very high draft picks and 3 number 1's they have produced 2 all star type of players, 3 below average players, and 3 that never made the majors.

[Mark68]

They're not in the hole by a few games. They came into the series down by a whopping one and a half

games in the division, and in possession of the first wild card slot. They're not going to be more than three and a half back (depending on whether the Red Sox win tonight), and they are still in possession of the first wild card slot.

 

Sometimes the players need a breather. Some managers do it differently. Scioscia allows his teams to take the entire month of April off so that they will be "well rested" by stretch time.

[Angel Oracle]

When was the last good April that this team had?

[Mark68]

Who on their team was drafted after 2008 and not a high draft pick

Position Players By WAR:

 

Evan Longoria (5.1), drafted by the Devil Rays in 2006 (1st round).

Ben Zobrist (3.4), drafted by the Astros in 2004 (6th round), traded to the Devil Rays with Mitch Talbot on July 12, 2006 for Aubrey Huff and cash.

Yunel Escobar (2.9), drafted by the Braves in 2005 (2nd round), traded to the Blue Jays in 2010, traded by the Blue Jays to the Marlins in Novemeber 2012, and traded to the Rays on December 4, 2012 for Derek Dietrich.

Desmond Jennings (2.1), drafted by the Devil Rays (10th round) in 2006.

James Loney (1.9), drafted by the Dodgers in 2002 (1st round). Signed by the Rays as a free agent, December 6, 2012.

Kelly Johnson (1.6), drafted by the Braves in 2000 (1st round). Signed by the Rays as a free agent, February 5, 2013.

Matthew Joyce (1.6), drafted by the Tigers in 2005 (12th round), traded to the Rays December 2008 for Edwin Jackson.

Jose Lobaton (1.4), signed by the Padres as an amateur free agent in 2002. Selected off waivers by the Rays July 30, 2009.

Wil Myers (1.1), drafted by the Royals in 2009 (3rd round), traded to the Rays December 9, 2012 with Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and Patrick Leonard for James Shields, Wade Davis, and PTBNL (Elliot Johnson).

 

Pitchers By WAR:

 

Alex Cobb (2.6), drafted by the Devil Rays in 2006 (4th round).

Chris Archer (2.5), drafted by the Indians in 2006 (5th round), traded to the Cubs on December 31, 2008. Traded to the Rays January 8, 2011 with Hak-Ju Lee, Robinson Chirinos, Sam Fuld, and Brandon Guyer for Zach Rosscup, Matt Garza, and Fernando Perez.

Matt More (2.1), drafted by the Devil Rays in 2007 (8th round).

David Price (1.9), drafted by the Devil Rays in 2007 (1st round).

Alex Torres (1.7), signed by the Angels as an amateur free agent in 2005, traded to the Rays August 29, 2009 with Matt Sweeney and a PTBNL (Sean Rodriguez) for Scott Kazmir.

 

So, out of 14 players currently with at least one win above replacement, only five were actually drafted by the Rays and only two of those were in the first round.

 

 

EDIT: Oh, and here's the link: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TBR/2013.shtml

 

Welcome back, LT.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Mark68

[Troll Daddy]

I guess it's safe to say that Scioscia out managed Maddon in St. Petersburg.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Troll Daddy

[tomsred]

I guess it's safe to say that Scioscia out managed Maddon in St. Petersburg.

Definitely, despite the fact that the bile in Frieri's stomach was about throat level by the end of the game.

[Lifetime]

LOL I did? I asked a question. No pretense. I didn't know the answer. So someone posts the info and I got served? Interesting. 

[FireThemAll]

LOL I did? I asked a question. No pretense. I didn't know the answer. So someone posts the info and I got served? Interesting. 

 

My fault...I read your post wrong. Apologies.

[Mark68]

The point was not to "serve" LT or anyone else. My point was to answer his question.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

facts are a false start. 

 

Five yard penalty, repeat second down.