Hot-Stove: Helly Expected to Miss 6-to-8 Weeks of the Season, Rays Sign Three to Minor League Contracts

Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow last week and is expected to be sidelined until mid-to-late May, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Hot-Stove: The Big News About Grant Balfour, As A Series of Tweets

Most of you are familiar with Thursday’s big news by now. If not, allow me to quickly sum things up: right handed closer Grant Balfour is once again a Ray! Balfour signed a two-year, $12MM contract — $3MM less than the Orioles offered. Allow me to be presumptuous for a moment. Since most of you are already familiar with the acquisition, I decided to do something other than the typical summary. Behold, a summary of today’s big event in the form of a series of tweets.

Hot-Stove: Rays Acquire Five In Seven-Player Trade

The Rays finalized a seven-player trade with the Padres Wednesday, sending LHP Alex Torres to San Diego, along with right-handed pitching prospect Jesse Hahn. In return, Tampa Bay will receive five players: utility infielder Logan Forsythe, RHP Brad Boxberger, infielder Maxx Tissenbaum, and right-handers Matt Andriese and Matt Lollis.

Consternation Station: On Articles About the Rays and St. Petersburg

A number of St. Petersburg, and Rays, centric articles have been published in the last 10 days. Some of those articles painted St. Petersburg in an incredibly flattering light. Others have tread that familiar ground, where the tired, clichéd, “Tampa is only legitimate home for the Rays,” opinion has been espoused. Let’s review a few of those articles, and I’ll briefly discuss them.