Power Pros Forum

July 11th, 2015

Scherzer improved to 8-2 on the year after beating the Blue Jays. Cano's 2-run HR in the 5th inning provided a comfortable lead as the Blue Jays might've tied the game the half-inning after if the Rays never got any of those 3 runs. Now the Rays are primed to claim the division title.

July 29th, 2015

Kershaw was masterful against the O's allowing almost .5 hits per inning. The Rays only need 1 run in this game to win but tacked on 2 more runs in the 7th to add closure. Even with Guerrier's mid 4 ERA, he's been execellent in save situations going 27 for 28.

August 12th, 2015

A couple of late game rallies gave the Rays the win over the Tigers, 7-3. Bannister hasn't been as effective when he was traded to the Rays but he showed some of his best stuff in this game, going 8 IP with 3 hits allowed. Lee struggled to close out the game and couldn't finish the 9th inning. With thin pitching depth, it looks like the Rays will have to keep their bullpen as is.

August 28th, 2015

The Rays were shutout by the King Felix and the Mariners, 5-0. The game was 2-0 when Jaramillo exited, but Bruney wasn't able to keep it together on the mound and surrendered 3 more runs.

September 10th, 2015

After giving up back-to-back HR to Varitek and Pena, it looked like Volquez was going to get the loss; A-Gon took the lead back the inning after with a HR of his own. Now that the Rays have a sizable lead, it seems that the division title is their's to lose.

September 25th, 2015

A day after winning the division title, the Rays showed no signs of a 'victory' hangover. Kazmir earned his 15th win of the season after they won 6-2. Some nice rounded stat numbers in this game are Cano's 30th HR and Guerrier's 40th save.
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The next post will be the regular season stats and the postseason roster alignment.

October 1st, 2015

The Rays have released their postseason roster. Scherzer will start game 1 against the Cleveland Indians.
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Some statistical anomalies is that Terrero has 0 (zero) home runs this season despite having 516 AB. Even with the minimal amount, he finished with a high SLG than Gemoll and was close to beating Conti - who has 24 HR this season.

October 9th, 2015

Bannister tossed a CG SO against the Indians which advanced the Rays to the ALCS. The hit that put the first run on the board for the Rays came off the bat of Terrero. He hit his first HR in 2015 off of one of the better pitchers in the league, Verlander.
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Scherzer looks to take the mound for Game 1 against the Angels.

October 17th, 2015

Bannister comes in clutch against and delivered a masterful outing to help the Rays advance once again. Almost went the distance but the Rays didn't want to cause any injury. Look for the rotation to reset for the World Series against the Rockies.

October 27th, 2015

Crawford had the hit of his career by getting the walk off against the Rockies to win the World Series; unfortunately former-Ray, Affeldt, was the one that gave up the hit but the loss was handed to Francis.

Bannister made a big case for himself to win the WS MVP after pitching 3 games with 8+ IP in the postseason; even though it may be most likely awarded to a hitter.

Well, isn’t that ironic.

Also, what a postseason from Bannister.

literally the only pitch he threw and it ended the game

November 1st, 2015

No retirements have been announced so the Rays' roster remains the same for now.
As for awards, the Rays have a total of 6:

Stolen Base title - Carl Crawford (4th)
ERA title - Max Scherzer
AL Rookie of the Year - Robert Conti
Silver Slugger (2B) - Robinson Cano (3rd) .... 1st with the Yankees & 2nd with the Rangers
Silver Slugger (OF) - Carl Crawford (4th)
World Series MVP - Carl Crawford
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Former Ray players also took home some hardware:
Gary Majewski with the Saves title for the AL and the Mariano Rivera award
Michael Bourn with the stolen base title for the NL,
and Yamato Koga with the NL rookie of the year title
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FA negotiations start soon. The 3 biggest names that can declare FA are:

Scott Kazmir
Max Scherzer
Tyler Gemoll


The new payroll limit has been established. 92500 --> 96500 (+2000 from inflation, +2000 from team performance)

April 1st, 2016

A lot of moves went down over the past few months, we'll cover them now.
The Rays lost 5 players, 2 (two) to FA and 3 unsigned:
FA Negotiations

BJ Ryan - 2y/6500 deal with the Orioles
Matt Guerrier - 2y/5000 deal with the Mets
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Corey Patterson, Morgan Ensberg and Mark Prior were not resigned
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The big re-signings that the Rays made were:

Scott Kazmir - 5y/26000
Max Scherzer - 3y/9500
Tyler Gemoll - 3y/10000
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The Rays also signed 2 players in FA:

AJ Burnett - 5y/390
Eric Patterson - 1y/390
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Trade
Before spring training started, the Rays completed a trade with the Cubs:

Rays acquired Jeff Mathis (1y/440)
Cubs acquired Ryan Hanigan (4y/460) and Omar Quintanilla (1y/470)
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FA acq.
Finally, the Rays acquired 2 players from the FA pool:

Aaron Hill - 2y/440
Boone Logan - 4y/460
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Recap:
After losing their top two short relief arms, the attempted to mend it by signing Burnett and Logan. Burnett's absurd contract duration isn't much of an issue for the Rays as they easily have the funds to release him if AJ performs poorly; this is mainly a search to see if he still has gas left in the tank.
Acquiring Patterson, Mathis and Hill was to add depth to their roster.
With Miller returning from TJS, he looks to take the team's closer role for the future unless he still needs work.
And with Chiasson performing well in his long relief appearances, he managed to catch the eye of the coaching staff and earned the 6th spot in the rotation.
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Rays' off-season trades allowed/use - 1/1 (Maxed out for 2016)
Rays' FA acquisitions used/allowed - 2/3
Rays' payroll/cap - 96380/96500

April 2nd, 2016

The Rays opened up the season with a win over the Orioles, 3-2. Kazmir pitched 8 strong; Miller made his first regular season appearance since 2014 and unfortunately gave up 1 ER but got the save. With a couple new faces in the bullpen, Miller should have a longer leash with remaining as the closer.