Off-Season Moves Begin

The PTFBL Rays made two significant moves to last years playoff roster. Tampa Bay acquired Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo from Atlanta in exchange for Catcher Victor Martinez. With the Catcher position always being difficult to fill it was a hard decision to part with Martinez but T.B. is happy to add Choo to the outfield. Shin-Soo brings a nice package of skills to the Rays. For the MLB Indians in 2010 Choo batted .300 with 22 HR's and 22 steals. He also provides a solid glove and a strong left arm to try and deter base runners. Choo's signature game was September 17th at K.C. Shin-Soo had 4 hits in 5 Ab's with three homers off three different pitchers and seven RBI's!

Along with Choo the Rays welcome the arrival of Ubaldo Jimenez. The Rays traded All-Star OF Matt Holiday and young starting pitcher Wade Davis in order to obtain Jimenez. On April 17, Jimenez hurled the first No-Hitter in the Rockies 18 years history by beating the Braves 4-0. Ubaldo finished third in the N.L. Cy Young voting after his 19 win season for the Colorado Rockies. Jimenez was third in the N.L. in strikeouts, 7th in the N.L. in innings pitched and was selected to his first All-Star contest in 2010 where he was selected as the National League starting pitcher.

Halladay Wins MLB N.L. Cy Young

Another Post Season honor was given to a member of the PTFBL Tampa Bay Rays player as Roy Halladay earned the National League's Cy Young Award for 2010. Halladay's season was so dominant that he was voted as the unanimous choice. Roy sported a 21-10 record for the Phillies, with a 2.44 ERA and a WHIP of 1.04. "Doc's" ratio of 219 K's while allowing just 30 walks was outstanding. Roy pitched a perfect game in May and was the N.L. leader with 9 complete games and 4 shutouts. This marked Halladay's second Cy Young Award as he was a 2003 winner in the A.L. while pitching for Toronto. Roy led the National League in innings pitched with 250, was second in the league in WHIP, second in the league in Strikeouts and finished third in the league in ERA. In addition to his regular season dominance, Halladay added only the second no-hitter ever recorded in a post season game. Congratulations on a magnificent season.

Rays MLB Silver Slugger Winners

Two PTFBL Rays earned 2010 Silver Slugger Awards. Left Fielder

Matt Holiday won his 4th Silver Slugger by finishing 5th in the N.L. in batting average with a .312 mark. He was sixth in on-base % and seventh in slugging percentage. Matt finished 4th in the N.L. in total bases in 2010. Holliday's On-base + Slugging average was .922, finishing fifth in the N.L.

Troy Tulowitzki garnered his first Silver Slugger Award for the N.L. Shortstop position. Troy's .315 batting average placed him 4th in the N.L. Tulowitzki had a slugging percentage of .568 which was 4th highest in the National League. Troy homered once every 17.4 AB's which was fourth highest in the N.L. Tulowitzki's OB+SLG% was .949 which placed him fourth in the league.

PTFBL Rays earn MLB honors

The PTFBL Rays placed five members on the Rawlings MLB Gold Glove team.

Third Baseman Evan Longoria won the A.L. award for the second straight season. Longoria had a .966 fielding percentage and his 46 double plays led the major leagues.

Troy Tulowitzki was a first time winner as the N.L. Shortstop. Troy led the N.L. with his .984 fielding percentage

Brandon Phillips garnered his second Gold Glove as the N.L. Second Baseman. Phillips had a .996 fielding percentage and his 419 assists led the National League.

Mark Teixeira picked up his 4th Gold Glove as the A.L. First Baseman. Mark made just three errors and his sure glove elevated the fielding percentage of all the Yankees infielders.

Franklin Gutierrez was a first time winner as an A.L. Outfielder. Nicknamed "Death to things that fly" Franklin was perfect with a 1.000 fielding percentage in 2010.

Rays exit playoffs in round 2

Another disappointing season ends with the Rays dropping the A.L. Championship series to the Toronto Blue Jays. The regular season provided a lot of highlights: 123 Wins, Matt Holiday led the team in hitting with a .319 average, Mark Teixeira clubbed 43 home runs and had 114 RBI's. Joel Pineiro highlighted the pitching staff with an incredible 21-0 record, Matt Cain had a 2.12 ERA, Tim Lincecum struck out a team high 206 batters and Jonathan Broxton earned 33 saves with an ERA of 1.51. Still when it mattered most, the team couldn't produce the 12 wins that it takes to earn the championship. Toronto faltered against a superb Giants team in the World Series, congratulations to both teams for fine seasons.

Looking to 2010, I expect more competitive balance than last season. The Rays will be tough but probably not quite as good on paper as the 2009 team. The Jays will be there but they may also take a step back next season. Florida's move to Baltimore will only make things tougher in the A.L. East. The Angels look very strong for 2010 however the A's have a tough road repeating after the previous manager jettisoned many of their draft picks to pursue this years pennant. Texas looks to be building a very strong young team that may give teams a run for their money in the A.L. West.

In the N.L. East, Baltimore moves their young talented team to New York and finds themselves in a division where Cincy won 95 games and Milwaukee 93, ouch! Both Cincinnati and Milwaukee look tough again in '10 and don't discount the Braves who have some fine young players as well as the Phillies who have Josh Hamilton and two top 5 picks in this years draft. In the West the Giants have a couple of staff aces in Carpenter and Oswalt but they could have a tough time getting to 110 wins again. Arizona can make things tough in any series but the injury to Youkilis and his limited usage will hurt their overall season win/loss mark.

Overall, I think the league will be stronger than ever in 2010 and hopefully everyone will be back and active from the start of the Hot Stove season through the end of the year.

Roy Halladay's Historic Game

It's just fitting to recognize Roy Halladay's achievement as it may very well be a once in a lifetime event. Congratulations on just an awesome performance! Click on the link below for more.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101006&content_id=15455266&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

"Hellboy" arrives in Tampa Bay

Jeremy Hellickson has made an impression on both the Rays and their opponents in his first two major league starts. Showing composure that belies his youth "Hellboy" has approached MLB hitters like all the other batters he has faced in his professional career. Jeremy doesn't have the wow factor of a 100 mph fastball but he has confidence in his ability, mixes speeds and throws strikes. His mound presence might remind some of Greg Maddux or Roy Oswalt. Here are a few local articles:

Hellickson gm 1

Hellickson gm 2

Hellickson gm 3