Hot-Stove: Rays Trade Cesar Ramos, Acquire RHP Mark Sappington

On Wednesday afternoon the Rays announced a trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, of LHRP Cesar Ramos for RHP Mark Sappington.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall 11-3 — A Recap as a Series of Tweets

You may call it lazy journalism, however the last thing I wanted to do was relive Wednesday night’s UGLY 11-3 loss to the Red Sox. Instead, I decided to recap the game as a series of tweets from Marc Topkin and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Hellickson, Rays Fall 4-3

I’m not certain if the headline to ESPN’s piece on the Rays 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox is funny, ironic, or a combination of the two. It reads, “White Sox eliminate Rays from playoff contention,” and while the four runs put up by Chicago nailed the coffin shut, the Rays sealed their own fate a long time ago. But fine, I’ll take the bait and argue that if we’re looking at Tampa Bay’s elimination from the postseason on the micro level, then it was the lackluster performance by Jeremy Hellickson that sealed the teams fate, not the White Sox. After all, he’s the one who delivered the very hittable pitches.

The New What Next: Rays vs. White Sox — the Final Home Stand

Tampa Bay is set to start its final home series of the 2014 season, a three game set against the Chicago White Sox, starting Friday. The Rays’ meager three-game winning streak was snapped in the 3-2 loss against the Yankees, Wednesday. And while they won’t play the role of spoilers against Chicago, the Rays still need to win at least eight games to end the season with a plus .500 record.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall to Blue Jays 6-3, Expected Roster Moves, Etc

After facing RA Dickey 10 times over the last three seasons, while averaging just 2.4 runs per game in each of those starts, one thing has become certain: if you’re lucky enough to take a lead against the knuckleballer, then you’d better try your damnedest to hold it. The Rays did both Saturday. They were able to take a lead against Dickey, yet they gave it up in one fateful — error filled — inning. Despite a game tying sixth inning solo shot to left off the bat of Evan Longoria (his 21st homer of the year), the typically dependable Brad Boxberger gave up three runs an inning later, giving Toronto a 6-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. We in the blogosphere have deemed this the stereotypical (and clichéd) Rays loss.