No Rays for Curt?

Earlier this year, RHP Curt Schilling talked openly - on his radio show - about considering coming to the Rays in 2008 if he wasn't resigned by the Red Sox. He mentioned his admiration for manager Joe Maddon and the attraction of working with a young pitching staff in what would be his final season.

But after filing for free agency on Tuesday, Schilling wrote on his blog - 38pitches.com - about the teams he would consider going to, and the Rays were not among them, apparently because he doesn't think they have a "legitimate shot" to make the playoffs.

Schilling's delivery:

"The list of teams that our family has talked over, that we think would be a fit for next year, should we not come back, are pretty much teams in cities we agree would be ok for our last year, and teams I think have a legitimate shot at being in the post season and/or World Series. Teams we didn’t include aren’t for any one reason. There are a million little things that go into this from stadiums to school districts to travel to spring training to etc. etc. etc. but the list represents the teams after Boston that have some of the off the field things that are big to us, plus the potential to go into October next year.

"Cleveland, Detroit, Anaheim, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A., S.D., Arizona, Chicago Cubs,  St. Louis, Milwaukee."

Comments

[shrinkie shrinkie]

What a complete shock...only to the miserable SPT sports staff!!

Imagine! Schilling not wanting to go to the worst team with the lowest payroll in the worst facility with the fewest fans. Wow! Now I suppose you're going to tell us the sun will rise tomorrow.

[Nadie]

Shrinkie, you're pretty nutso yourself. You make comments on all these SPT stories about how much you dislike the team. You might want to evaluate the reasons you choose to spend your time wallowing in disdain for an organization that you have no part in. You're not a fan? Fine, find something to spend your time on that you do like. Let it go.

[Dave Pritchard]

Lets face it Shilling is a good big game pitcher for the most part . But he is also two faced and likes to hear himself talk . Says one thing one week another thing the next week . Remember how he blasted Lou for being a lousy manager for the Rays? Now he wants to play for him . The Cubs made the list !

[patti]

Hey Nadie, some of us care about the team but the management sucks. Who are you to tell bloggers how to react and what to post? Why don't you take your censorship elsewhere?

[Bob R.]

But patti, how credible can your views be if you are so totally inaccurate when presenting them? In another post, you stated the Rays had no talent in the system at shortstop, 2B or catcher, a patently false claim, yet rather than own up to your error, you insulted the person who corrected you. Now you claim the Rays' management sucks as if the statement alone is enough to make the point. It is not a matter of censorship but of challenging people who make such claims to back them up with data and logic, to engage in conversation, not insults and cliched rants.

[Nils]

Data?

Look at the final standings of the last 10 years, jerk off. Look at the next to last attendance record, a s s wipe. Look at your sorry paycheck from Sternberg, you retard.

[Bob R.]

We are discussing baseball. Let's try to remember that. If you are angry, it seems inappropriate to manifest it here.

The current Rays' management is in place for 2 years, not 10, and inherited a team that was badly mismanaged and generally disdained throughout the sport. In its two years, they have not improved the record, and that is a significant mark against them. The attendance has improved slightly, but not enough to credit them with any real progress.

The issue is whether there are any perceptible trends in their actions and whether we can see progress in the team we now have to encourage legitimate hope and to credit the new management with a solid plan and implementation. On that score, I agree with the numerous analysts who think there is, and who generally project the Rays being contenders in 2009 and thereafter for quite a while.

We may be wrong, of course, but the optimism about the Rays is pretty universal throughout baseball except among frustrated and in my view short-sighted fans. When I ponder a lineup of Navarro, Pena, Iwamura, Longoria, Brignac, Crawford, Upton and Young with possibly Alvarez on board and a rotation of Kazmir, Shields, Price, Davis and Sonnanstine, with McGee, Niemann, Talbot and others available as well, I see more than simply hope. I see a team that is not a guaranteed juggernaut, but one that has a chance to be a real power. You may quarrel with the talent of some-Navarro for example, or the unproven Brignac. But you can do that with any team. This lineup has serious potential and enough performance so far to consider it likely to produce.

Naturally, in a year or two, there will be other changes, If they are along the lines of the ones in the last two years, that will mean even more talent. And before someone asserts that the "expensive" stars will be let go, I remind you again that not only has that never happened, but on the contrary, the new management has extended its stars and is in the process of negotiating an extension with Kazmir.