OF Desmond Jennings promoted to Triple-A

Outfielder Desmond Jennings, one of the Rays top prospects, has been promoted to Triple-A Durham.

Jennings was hitting .316 with eight homers, 45 RBI and 35 steals for Double-A Montgomery.

- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Rays reliever Joe Nelson optioned to Triple-A Durham

RHP Joe Nelson said he was optioned to Triple-A Durham after Friday’s game.
The Rays are expected to announce a corresponding move Saturday.
Nelson was acquired as a free agent in the offseason
“It isn’t the first time,” Nelson, 34, said. “Hopefully, I’ll be back in September, and see what happens. You’re never happy about it, but it’s a business. It’s how the game is. It's not (manager Joe Maddon's) fault. Pitch better if you want to stay in the big leagues, that’s all it comes down to."

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Tampa Bay Rays confident after standing pat at deadline

Rays manager Joe Maddon and executive VP Andrew Friedman both said they are confident they can return to the postseason with the players they have and didn't feel the need to make a trade before Friday's 4 p.m. deadline.

"After hour upon hours of internal and external conversations we just ultimately didn't find a fit,'' Friedman said.

Asked about fans being frustrated that they didn't make any moves when competitors did, Friedman said he understood that may be the case but they had to stick to their philosophy and plan. "It’s something that it’s hard to factor into your thought process because ultimately it’s when you start making bad decisions when you do things for the  wrong reasons,'' he said. "I think we’ve demonstrated we’ll make aggressive moves and we’ll do certain things when it’s in the best interest of this organization. When you  do things to placate anyone and not do things for the right reasons is when ultimately you start getting yourself in a lot more trouble then it’s worth.’’

Friedman said they had one potential type deal that was "fairly close" at the deadline that didn't work out.

Both acknowledge the offense has to improve for them to challenge for a playoff spot, but said they feel they have enough depth, and looked more at improving their pitching and defense.

"The run prevention side of things was an area that we were probably a little more focused on,'' Friedman said. "We have faith in this offense, we have faith in the guys we have. Ultimately for us to get back these guys are going to have to click and get going, and I would absolutely bet on it before I would bet against it. These guys have a track record and they’ve demonstrated it over a long period of time in some cases. I’d say we’re pretty bullish on our offense and what we expect out of the last two months.’’
 
He also said they will "scour" the waiver wire to continue seeking ways to improve the team in August, and being behind the Yankees and Red Sox could work to their advantage.

"I think the only benefit to being in third place right now is the fact that we have waiver priority over the Red Sox and Yankees,'' Friedman said. "Hopefully we don’t have waiver priority over them all the month. It's certainly the only good thing about it, and something that we'll take advantage of.''

Said Maddon: "I'm good. I really believe we have all the components in place; I thought that from day one. Obviously we have to get more production out of some folks that I think they're very capable of. We have to play at a more consistent level overall. ... We definitely have the folks in house that are very capable of making up the ground on both the Red Sox and the Yankees. So I'm comfortable with it, and I really mean that.''

As for the Red Sox getting Victor Martinez, Maddon said: "The guy's a good hitter, man. ... He makes them better offensively, there's no question.''

Tampa Bay Rays RHP Matt Garza fined, but avoids MLB suspension

Major League Baseball has fined, but will not suspend Rays RHP Matt Garza following his comments that he hit Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira intentionally Wednesday as retaliation for the Yankees brushing back (and hitting) Evan Longoria.

Garza declined to comment Friday afternoon.

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

For starters, Rays vs Royals

The Rays open a four-game series with the last-place Royals tonight at the Trop - with a Flo Rida post-game concert to follow.

LHP David Price takes the mound tonight, with the Royals sending RHP Sidney Ponson.

The lineup:

Upton, cf
Crawford, lf
Longoria, 3b
Zobrist, 2b
Pena, 1b
Burrell, dh
Gross, rf
Navarro, c
Bartlett, ss
Price, p

ROYALS

DeJesus, lf
Bloomquist, cf
Butler, 1b
Teahen, rf
Callaspo, 2b
Olivo, dh
Pena, c
Gordon, 3b
Betancourt, ss
Ponson, p

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

 

Trade deadline update: No deals for Rays; V. Martinez, C. Kotchman reportedly headed to Boston

UPDATE, 4:04: No deals for Rays at deadline, they'll go forward with what they have.

UPDATE, 4:00: Things can trickle out after the deadline, but the Rays don't appeared to be huddled in any kind of last-minute frenzy as manager Joe Maddon just came out on the field for early batting practice.

UPDATE, 3:53: All key persons accounted for in Rays lineup for tonight if you were wondering.

UPDATE, 3:45: Heading into the final 15 minutes (or so, since the deals only have to be agreed to by 4 p.m., not announced), sounds like at the most the Rays might have something minor working.

UPDATE, 3:31: Here's an interesting twist, NESN reports that Seminole High's Casey Kotchman is going from the Braves to the Red Sox for Adam LaRoche.

UPDATE, 3:27: All seems normal here at the Trop - some Royals taking early batting practice, Akinori Iwamura getting ready to do his rehab work on the Rays side of the field.

UPDATE, 3:14: Various reports that the Victor Martinez to the Red Sox deal is done, with Boston giving up three pitchers: Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price.

UPDATE, 2:14: The Red Sox are about to acquire the big bat they sought, getting Victor Martinez from the Indians, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

DEVELOPING: With less than three hours until the 4 p.m. deadline for nonwaiver deals, the Rays appear to be at status quo - talking about a number of situations but unlikely to make any kind of major deal.

Here's ESPN's Jayson Stark's take on the situation as well:
"The Rays continued to talk with Cleveland about Martinez Friday afternoon, but clubs they've spoken with say they're more focused on "under-the-radar" bullpen arms."  San Diego closer Heath Bell is among those names, but the Rays didn't like the price."

Not sure Bell counts as "under-the-radar" anymore, but do know the Rays have liked him for a while.

C Jose Lobaton claimed on waivers from Padres

C Jose Lobaton was claimed on waivers from San Diego, adding a 24-year-old switch-hitter with big-league experience to the organization.

Lobaton, who is 6-0, 195 and a native of Venezuela, will join Double-A Montgomery.

He was designated for assignment on Monday by the Padres, having played in seven games, going 3-for-17, helping fill in for injured Henry Blanco. In 39 games at Triple-A Portland, Lobaton hit .241 with 3 homers and 8 RBIs. He spent last season at Double-A San Antonio, hitting .259 with 9 homers and 45 RBIs.

Baseball America ranked him the Padres' top defensive catching prospect, but he was not among the organization's top 30 prospects.

The Rays made room on the 40-man roster by moving RHP Troy Percival - who has been out since late May - to the 60-day DL.

Friedman: Tampa Bay Rays will continue 'creative' thoughts

The Rays had a quiet day on the trade front, but will continue talking and thinking right up until Friday's 4 p.m. deadline for nonwaiver deals.

Executive VP Andrew Friedman said Thursday night: "The final hours before the deadline often breed creative thoughts, and we expect to be in the middle of that brainstorming.  Whether anything happens, major or minor, is impossible to predict.”

Rumors and speculation keep flying around the Internet involving the Rays, but all indications we have gotten are that they are talking primarily about smaller deals - either adding or moving complementary- type pieces.

The biggest deal they could make would be acquiring Toronto ace Roy Halladay, but Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said in a text message to the Times that there was “nothing” going with the Rays.

What else could the Rays do? Hard to say - maybe upgrade the bullpen, or improve the catching position?

"The only certainty,'' Friedman said, "is that that there will continue to be more rumors and speculation than actual news.''

Still quiet on Tampa Bay Rays trade scene

With the deadline for nonwaiver trades now less than 24 hours away, it appears things are still relatively quiet involving the Rays. As we reported this morning, they are looking at a number of scenarios, but it still seems unlikely they are going to be involved in any big deals.

More likely, they are working on some smaller things, possibly to add an arm to the bullpen, and maybe to shuffle things up a bit and ship one out.

Manager Joe Maddon said after Wednesday's game: "I don't anticipate a whole lot of stuff. I honestly do not.''

 

Tampa Bay Rays RHP Matt Garza stands up for teammate Evan Longoria

  Tampa Bay Rays RHP Matt Garza acknowledged it was more than coincidence than he hit Mark Teixeira the inning after Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain threw a pitch at the head of Evan Longoria, and noted the Yankees threw inside to Longoria and hit him Monday too.
   “I just kind of got tired of people brushing him back,’’ Garza said. “It’s about time someone made a statement. They did it on Monday night and we didn’t do anything, they didn’t do it too much (Tuesday) and (Chamberlain) did it again tonight.
   “I hate to be that guy, but someone had to take a stand and say, “You know, we’re tired of it.” You can go after our best guy, well, we’ll make some noise too, and that’s what happened.’’