digiblader

With the 15K at the Trop last night, Tampa Bay once again has the worst attendance in baseball--and yet they are near the top of MLB in the standings! Why bother keeping a team in Tampa if no one will attend the games? They're averaging JUST 18,202--even Oakland, a troubled market but contending, outdraws them! Bet Bud Selig starts making the same threats to move or cut off the Rays from funding if they don't see progress on a new stadium soon. They had 20K+ last year.. where the heck are the Rays fans? Expect the Rays to trade David Price, Ben Zobrist, and possibly others this offseason, regardless how far they get in the playoffs--this market is not sustainable at its current pace. Not helping is the fact the Rays have a lot of free agents this offseason..

Most likely. Guess the Royals knew Tejada was going to be suspended. Let's just hope Carroll and Boni can help lead the Royals to the playoffs--and they have a good shot with a weak schedule(along with games with the Tigers, which they play well against). They'll have an even better chance if Boston, Texas/Oakland or Tampa melts down.. although Boston and Texas are most likely to have a swoon, due to Boston's difficult sked and inconsistent play since the Iglesias trade(bad trade, BTW.

Miguel Tejada has been suspended 105 games for amphetamines. Just came off the wire according to Jeff Passan. Good thing the Royals added Carroll and Bonifacio.. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-suspending-miguel-tejada-105-games-for-positive-amphetamine-tests-175113691.html

Rays now only 1 back of Boston, who are about to lose to the Yankees. Now let's see what Cleveland/Oakland does... Kansas City swept the double-header.

Brewers are a bad team again--and will be bad for many years.

D'Arnaud making MLB debut tonight--Buck left for paternity leave. However, D'Arnaud won't start--Recker is getting the start tonight while D'Arnaud gets to the ballpark.

Alfonso Soriano hits ANOTHER HR... and the Sox are trying to destroy their playoff hopes themselves by pitching poorly vs. the Yankees. Worse, the Red Sox have 9 left with the Yanks after this.. the Yankees could actually determine whether the Red Sox win the East, end up in the wild card, or out of the postseason altogether.

Here's a opinion piece regarding how to save the Rays--sounds a lot like Olympic Stadium--if you think the Trop is a dump now, wait until the next few years! http://www.wtsp.com/sports/article/329550/4/Opinion-How-to-Keep-the-Rays-in-Tampa-Bay One note I found interesting: Tropicana Field is now reaching a point where major building systems repair and replacement is looming, including needing a new fabric roof covering, air conditioning replacements and electrical and plumbing work. Basically, that stadium is due to fall apart soon..just like what happened at Rogers Centre(pre-2005 before renovations, where they covered the concrete, fixed the water, improved concessions and took out Windows), Olympic Stadium, the O.co, and Fenway before John Henry bought the team. FYI, the Rays had 13,294 at the Trop last night--if the Rays finish last in attendance, those relocation/contraction rumors will more than likely increase--Bud Selig won't let the Rays stay in St. Pete with such lousy attendance numbers--he'll try to get the team elsewhere(Charlotte? Indianapolis? Montreal?) Another possibility is in the Tampa area: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130809&content_id=56402398&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb But it makes no sense--these Rays should be moved out of Florida as soon as possible--no taxpayer is going to give anymore taxpayer dollars for a new stadium when cities are going bankrupt, like Detroit.

And note to Tampa Bay fans---get your butts to the games! They're barely ahead of Miami in attendance--and that's sad for a contending team. Poor numbers like this will result in their stars being traded, starting with David Price this offseason. However, their TV ratings are strong-- better hope the TV rights bubble doesn't burst!

What a dive by Pillar! Why didn't we call him up sooner?

Wow, do the Angels suck..

That had to be the worst defense I've seen Boston play all year..

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/23152041/minor-league-team-loses-thanks-to-walkoff-intentional-walk Can you believe this? And to think, Alan Farina was a top prospect for the Jays at one time..

Bet Thole would've blocked that ball better...

According to AA, Izturis will see his playing time cut significantly--Kawasaki stands to see more playing time, along with DeRosa. And we'll likely see Goins in September(on 40 man)

Does Kansas City even want to make the playoffs? They can't even beat Miami, losing 5-2. Better hope OAK/TB lose.. Meanwhile, Cleveland and Minnesota are tied at 8--Chris Perez and Glen Perkins, each team's closers, gave up HRs to their opposing catchers, Carlos Santana and Joe Mauer. Mauer's got a 5 hit day(so far).

Oakland losing 4-0 to Houston.. not a good time to be losing, especially with Baltimore, Cleveland and KC surging.

Remember how big Dellin Betances was supposed to be for the Yankees right now? Well, he's blowing up in mop-up duty--giving up 4 ERs in 0.2 IP of work.. so much for him being a top prospect.

Look, they're likely going to have to trade Trout, Trumbo or Bourjos eventually--the Angels farm is the worst in the game, and no help is in sight. Pujols and Hamilton have zero trade value(and horrid contracts).. this is a huge mess--it makes the Jays look good--even Bautista and Encarnacion have more trade value than anyone on the Angels.

Homer's still working at the power plant--but they just haven't mentioned it as much in recent years. And yes, the show hasn't been good since the early 2000s.

Buck is an idiot--Uehara got the win, not a save.

And where do you think the Angels are going to find that kind of money when they're paying Pujols, Trumbo(arb eligible in 2014), Hamilton, Weaver, Wilson $100M+ through 2016? They've blown their TV money on those awful deals--and they won't see payroll commitments drop until 2017 (at best). L.A's payroll can't go up indefinitely--they traded Vernon Wells because Arte Moreno won't pay the luxury tax, which they were close to before the trade. Decreasing attendance and TV ratings aren't helping, either. Remember, Arte Moreno doesn't have the same financial resources that the Dodgers have--and soon they'll be demands for a new stadium(Angels Stadium is approaching 50, and needs to be replaced soon--it's not historic like Dodger Stadium, considering Angels Stadium was once a cookie-cutter park that housed the L.A. Rams.

Rays lose. Good news for the Indians(leading 5-2), Royals(tied at 0) and O's(2-0 in the 4th).

AJ Jimenez would like to talk to you about that..

No wonder the Red Sox are sticking to Breslow and Tazawa longer than usual--most of their options are either awful(Morales) or unproven(Britton, De La Rosa, Workman)--and now they're going to Uehara in a non-save situation on the road--considering Boston lost 3/4 to the Royals, they must be REALLY desperate to win.