It’s that time again, it’s time for the week 2 polls. The week 2 polls will feature 1 vs. 8 and 2 vs. 7 in both brackets. Before I release the polls, here is the updated bracket from last week:

Now, Here are the polls.

From the Hitter’s Bracket:

From the Pitchers Bracket:

Merry Christmas to all. Happy Hannukah as well and all the other holidays. This is our first holiday here on Rise of the Rays, and I would like to extend season’s greetings to all of you who are just finding out about us or have read since the beginning. It is a joyous Christmas season for the Rays, as it is the first that will be spent after a playoff year and our first as defending American League Champions. Rays Fans have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. Here is my wish list for the Rays this Christmas:

Milton Bradley/ Pat Burrell

Another playoff run

to beat up on the Yankees and Red Sox

What are your holiday wishes for the Rays? Post them in a comment.

The Rays have gotten to put their first gift under the tree. The Rays have signed 34 year old righty Joe Nelson, formerly with the Marlins, to a one year deal worth 1.3 Million. A pretty good add in my opinion. This will just help bolster an already strong bullpen from last season. He will not replace Trever Miller, who  right now is the only bullpen guy we have lost. Nelson will not dominate against lefties as well as Miller, but can hold his own. Nelson is known for his “vulcan grip” which could be entertaining.

Another guy the Rays could pick up to fill the lefty specialist role would be Will Ohman. He would fit perfectly with our pen.

Milton Bradley still appears to top both the Rays and Cubs Christmas wish lists. If the Rays lose out on Bradley to the Cubs, the Rays have Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, and Pat Burrell. IMO, Burrell is a close second on our wish list to Bradley. It will be interesting to see who else the Rays could add. The Rays have already met with Giambi and the agents of Abreu, Bradley and Burrell.

Look for the next four polls to come out this weekend.

So, the Yankees have signed CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixiera.  They now have the four largest contracts in MLB history.

Now the Yankees and their merry band of prima donnas is the favorite to win the American League East, or so the experts claim and the fans drone in echo.  That’s okay.  Keep the Rays under the radar.  We’ll continue to ball on a budget, and the Steinbrenners (who are out-George-ing dear old dad) will come to regret encumbering one billion dollars on four players.

(Not to mention it increases the money we get in luxury taxes from them.)

Here are the first four polls for the tournament. We will have 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 in both the pitchers and hitters brackets. Next week’s polls will feature the 1 and 2 seeds of both brackets.

From the hitters bracket:

From The Pitchers Bracket:

We did an article earlier in the year telling you who our key players for 2009 are. Now it is your turn. I have created the 2009 Key players tournament. It is a tournament to determine who Rays fans think will be the key player for 2009. Each week, I will post four new polls for matchups, two from each side of the bracket.

The week 1 bracket:

 To get a better view to read it better, click on the image, it will open in another window.

Now, Later today I will post the first four polls so be sure to check back and vote!!

Have any comments? Leave them below. I always read and respond.

Updating a previous post, the preliminary agreement that was reached with Rafael Furcal has been dropped. Furcal will now be in Dodger blue next season, making Braves fans unhappy.

In news that actually relates to our team, the Rays, the Red Sox owner says the Sox will likely not be a factor in the final bidding for Mark Texiera, a relief for me. If they do not sign him, the Sox will most likely be putting out the same lineup they did against us in the ALCS, the lineup we beat. The only difference would be the catcher.

The Cubs have signed former Rays OF Joey Gathright. The Cubs also have Milton Bradley high on their list.

The Braves have inked up a deal to get Rafael Furcal back. He was with the team before he went to the Dodgers. It is a three year deal.

So, our RF situation has begun to take shape as we shipped Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for corner outfielder Matt Joyce.  At least we know E-Jac will be able to beat out Dontrelle Willis for a starting job.

While this leaves the fate of Gabe Gross uncertain (do we keep him to platoon with Joyce, do we dump him for a Joyce/Perez platoon, or do we just play Joyce full time?), it solidifies our RF situation.  Joyce had four errors all year in 85 games in the corners, with a .970 (3 E in 60 games) in left and a .977 (1 E in 25 games) in right.  And last year was his rookie season, so he has plenty of development room at age 24.

It also solidifies our rotation.  Look for it to be Shields, Garza, Kazmir, Price and Sonnanstine (or some other order) next year.

This opens up some money for our other hole: Designated Hitter.  And currently, we are looking at three options: Jason Giambi, Milton Bradley and Bobby Abreu.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Rays have traded Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for Matt Joyce. I know what your thinking, WHO? Well, in Matt Joyce’s rookie year last year, he hit .242 and had 12 homers in 242 AB’s. He is a Tampa native who will likely start at right. On the Rays side, the trade makes room for David Price and frees up about 3 million in salary, assuming we non-tender Gabe Gross. The extra money will allow for the signing of a DH.