Hot-Stove: BJ Upton to sign with the Braves, Jeff Keppinger rumors, and the Rays sign Mike Fontenot and re-sign Rich Thompson to minor league deals (updated)

FYI, this piece has been updated below. Thanks for everything BJ, you’ll be missed! Upton’s tenure with the Rays officially came to an end today, as news broke that he’s signed a 5-year, $75.25 MM contract with the Atlanta Braves. His windfall (of sorts) does not include any options for 2018 or beyond. With news …

Rays vs. Braves, 5/20/12 (Starting Lineup Included)

Talk about a good game yesterday! Matt Joyce had grand slam to dead center (cough, I guess that was because 25,000+ fans were in the stands) and Sean-Rod smacked a one run dinger to left field. Both homer’s accounted for the five Ray runs. I’m still not a fan of a five spot in the …

Looking Backward While Moving Forward, AKA A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words Rays vs. Braves 5/19/12 (Starting Lineup Included)

Update: Will Rhymes and sean Rod are back in the starting lineup (below) today. Let’s Go Rays! Tampa Bay Rays: Zobrist RF Upton CF Joyce LF Pena 1B Scott DH Rodriguez 3B Rhymes 2B Johnson SS Gimenez C Cobb RHP In front of 19,000+ attendees, Tampa Bay dropped to the first game of a three …