hat tip, pinstripe alley. what a game that was.. lets go yankees....

jen AT nosenseworrying DOT com

On the pitching side, you have the emergence of a bullpen comprised of older relievers and retreads complementing a strong group of starters.

When you really think about it, only the starting trio of Kazmir, Garza and Shields stands out as the beginning of a likely long-term trend. On offense, I could easily see a fall back among the veterans mentioned above, while in the pen, it wouldn't shock me if the whole thing imploded. I guess my point is that even if the Rays sustain their success this season, I am not sure they have cemented their position among the elite, unless guys like Price are the real deal.

I'm excited, I've been waiting for this game since March!

4 You left out the defense. Last year, Tampa Bay had the worst defensive efficiency for a team in the last 48 years (BP's database goes back to only 1959), at .662.

This year, their DefEff is at .722, tied for best in MLB with the A's.

Joe Sheehan detailed it very nicely at BP last week (subscriber only I'm afraid): http://tinyurl.com/5ncfpz

Nate Silver covered it from a related angle here (this one's free): http://tinyurl.com/6mspju

The Rays worry me a lot. OTOH, it will be fun to (finally) watch another (real) competitor in the division that isn't the Red Sox.

9 I obviously hope the Yanks win this series, and eventually the division, but I've never been as jazzed (for lack of a better word) about another AL team's success, let alone a division rival's, as I am about the Rays.
They're a great story, and a fun team to watch.

That said, I truly hope the Yanks crush them tonight, and tomorrow.

4 i'll agree, elite takes a couple of year. take the indians of last year for example; they should have been in the world series, now they're reduced tohaving a garage sale in july.

that being said, i'm expecting the rays to be a pain in the ass for a while to come, they're smart and well run and they've got the consensus (BA/BP) best farm system in the game.

Yup. AND I fully expect them to use that system in the next 3 weeks to get better for this year with a deal or two. Milwaukee's CC move feels very much a rental but a defensible one (this is their shot and they are deep in areas where LaPorta would matter). I can see the Rays making moves where they keep the guys they get. I also expect Crawford to be a killer in the 2nd half and Pena can hit much better, and Upton has WAY more power. They should improve as a team, actually. Boston's season, like ours, turns on getting veterans back, Cleveland is done because they WON'T get them back. Tampa Bay has an entirely legit open door and I do agree that it is solidly in the 'good for the game' category. (Evil Angels will be getting better too, though, in next 2 weeks.)

Interestingly, I'm not sure the team has suffered measurable from Wang's absence. They may feel the blow as the season progresses and Ponson runs out of magic dust, but for now his injury has not been the issue.

http://tinyurl.com/6nqcgf

"In their never-ending quest to find starting pitching, the Yankees plan to send a scout to watch the free-agent righty throw sometime this week, according to a source.

Zambrano is infamous for being the pitcher the Mets got when they shipped highly touted prospect Kazmir to Tampa at the trading deadline in 2004.

Zambrano, who went 10-14 over three seasons with the Mets, pitched for Toronto and Baltimore last season, but hasn't pitched in the majors this year. After being designated for assignment by Colorado at the end of spring training, Zambrano went 0-6 with a 9.45 ERA for the Rockies' Triple-A club."

I agree with your sentiments, while adding that the BoSox need RP help to get to Papelbonbon.

"This degree of improvement is literally without precedent. The Rays have improved their DER by 58 points this year, which is the largest year-over-year improvement that we've ever tracked." (Of interest - second is Billy Martin's '80 A's team, +.049.)

And I'm summarizing Sheehan here, but, its not that the personnel are all that different, its where they're playing that makes the difference.

I was surprised that Girardi was letting Ponson pitch to Tampa Bay. Then again, Rassner has not been much better, as he has not pitched well since his hard-luck loss to KC on June 6 (even in his win against San Diego, he walked 5 in 5 innings). Perhaps pitching to Toronto will restore his confidence.

As for the competition for the 4-and-5 spots post-ASG, Kennedy got a bad break by being washed out after 2 innings last Thursday with SWB. I would have thought that he would be in line to start tonight at Toledo, but MiLB.com lists tonight's starter as TBD.

Speaking of Toledo, they beat up on Karstens yesterday and hit Ohlendorf pretty well on Sunday. McCutchen, on the other hand, was brilliant on Saturday, throwing a complete-game shutout against Syracuse with 10 Ks.

And they've got more on the way: Brignac; Jennings; more pitchers than you can shake a stick at; oh, and Tim Beckham.

My guess is that they don't trade for anyone this year, but that Price comes up in a Joba-like bullpen role in late August. Which might fix their one weak spot, the end of the pen.

Rasner has been the bigger problem over his last few starts. One could make the case the real damage caused by the Wang injury is that it has forced the Yankees to stick with Rasner longer. But I am not sure the Yankees could have demoted Rasner even if Wang were healthy. Hwo would they have replaced him with? Giese, probably, since Ponson would never have been signed.

check out the link above. It is amazing to see how the Yanks rank compared to the other teams. Cubs have highest VORP in baseball but also surprisingly good pitching.

Meanwhile Mets have about the same VORP as the yanks in terms of offense.

You could probably replace Horne in that sentence with Karstens, FWIW. My guess is that's why McCutchens and Alfredo Aceves has been moved up. Karstens and Horne were supposed to be the next backup guys (after Rasner), and when they went down, Giese stepped in but clearly more help is needed . . .