Five Faces: The 2005 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Exposed

[zachniv]

This is going to be an in-depth character study told from the view of five people in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' organization:

Shane Hensley: The hard-ass manager recently hired for the 2005 season

Vince Naimoli: The laid-back owner of the Rays who wants to get out of last place

Chuck LaMar: The general manager who is unable to commit on a decision unless someone makes him

Jorge Cantu: The player who does everything he can to stay in the starting lineup

Rick Pauley: The newspaper writer who has lost all faith in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but is still covering them in the local paper.


I used Toadfreak's 2005 FullMinors rosters for this league, and I don't feel that I have to say anything else. Just sit back and enjoy the dynasty.

The first entry will be up very shortly.

[zachniv]

Shane Hensley

I walk into the office of Vince Naimoli, owner of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Vince is sitting at a mahogany desk, reading the latest Sports Illustrated. I notice Chuck LaMar, Tampa Bay’s general manager, relaxing in one of two leather chairs that faced Naimoli’s desk and drinking a bottle of water. He’s caught up in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Naimoli looks up first, smiling. “Mr. Hensley, welcome. Please, have a seat.” He motions toward the other of the chairs that faced him. I grin politely and sit down quickly. LaMar glances at me and gives me a small nod of greeting, handing me the Devil Rays’ 40-man roster.

“You know why we called you in here, Shane.” Vince says, looking at me with kind eyes. “I saw the game against Belmont. You know a lot about managing baseball.” Naimoli is referring to a game that my high school team played a few weeks ago. I coach the Independence Raiders from Independence High School, located near San Jose. I made some risky decisions in the game against Belmont that turned out to work, and that might have something to do with why I’m here.

“It’s funny that a man as young as you is more interested in coaching the game than playing it.” Chuck LaMar adds. He’s right. I’m only 24.

“Guess I’m unique.” I grin. Playing baseball was pretty fun, but actually managing all the aspects of it? Nothing like it. “So why me, and not Pinella?”

“Lou had a problem with our contract, and he was beginning to show his age in this business.” Vince explains. “We need a young man like you to whip these guys into shape, and stay with us for a long time. Who knows, we might even win a championship one of these days.”

“But, over half of the guys on the team are older than me.” I exclaim, flipping through the roster that Chuck gave me. “How could I possibly make them respect me?”

“That’s your job.” Vince smirks.

“Speaking of which,” I say after a short pause, “I’ve been known to be a bit…extreme on the baseball field.” That’s an understatement. In one of my high school team’s games, over half of the kids didn’t show for the game because their parents were boycotting my coaching practices. I don’t particularly enjoy making my players suffer, but sometimes you have to show the kids a little discipline.

Vince’s grin remains on his face after I tell him about my coaching. “Shane, we need a coach like you to whip these guys into shape.” Vince says, spinning around in his chair to look at his view of Tropicana Field. “We have the third lowest payroll in the league, and no one comes to the games anymore. We need to win to get people back in this stadium.” he says, motioning out towards the ballpark. He swivels back around to face me. “Which is why I want you to coach the D-Rays. You’ve made a winner out of Independence High School, and you can make a winner out of us.”

“All right, you’ve got my ears.” I say. “Let’s talk money.”

“$550,000 for one year.” Naimoli declares. My eyes bulge. That’s one of the best offers I’ve received yet. But I still have questions before I sign.

”What do you want me to do with this team so I can stick around for another year?” I ask.

“Get us out of last place in the A.L. East.” Chuck LaMar says flatly. I nod, thinking that wouldn’t be too hard. I’ve made my decision already.

“Give me the papers, I’m in.” I grab a pen from Vince’s desk and start filling out the paperwork.

“Great. I’ll call you tonight with details on Spring Training. Welcome to Tampa Bay, Mr. Hensley.” Vince says, shaking my hand.

[zachniv]

Vince Naimoli

I watch Shane walk out of my office as I hold his contract in my hand. Filing it away in one of my cabinets, I grab another manila folder and begin thumbing through it. It’s my latest minor league report, sent straight to me from the managers of our farm system. “All right, Chuck, it’s time to see who we should keep our eyes on.”

I hand Chuck a copy of our AAA team’s reports and begin going down the list of prospects. I stop at the name of a starting pitcher on the Bulls’ roster. “Hey, take a look at the scouting on Doug Wae-…Wog…Wayger?” I mumble.

“Doug Waechter.” Chuck corrects.

“Let’s call him DW.” I suggest. Chuck nods in agreement.

“Well, apparently DW could be a good addition to our staff in a few years.” Chuck says.

“Few years, nothing, Chuck.” I interrupt. “If Hensley has trouble with our current active roster, we’ll be calling up some of these guys before the season’s over.”

“I agree. Anyway,” Chuck continues, “it looks like he’s got a pretty good move to first and he can field, too.”

“I’ll write him down.” I jot down DW on a sheet of notebook paper, peeking over at my roster five or six times to make sure I spell his last name right. I also write a few notes by his name, explaining why we’re interested in him. This only serves to jog our memories, because after you scout a hundred guys looking to get into the big leagues, they all seem to blend together. “Let’s keep going.” I say and stare back down at my list.

An hour later, I set my pen down and review my notes:

Players To Watch in Farm System

AAA Durham Bulls:

SP Doug Waechter – “front of the line starter”, good defensive player

SP John Webb – great movement on pitches, needs to work on pickoff move

SS B.J. Upton – spectacular contact hitter, great speed, possibly leadoff hitter?

OF Jonny Gomes – adept at all outfield positions, pretty good HR power

OF Joey Gathright – decent batting skills, great in the field, good baserunner

AA Montgomery Biscuits:

SP Jon Switzer – great defense, keeps hitters off-balance

MR Jose Diaz – throws in the upper 90s, good stamina on the mound

MR Chad Orvella – scouts say he’ll be great, but needs defensive work

CF Elijah Dukes – combines solid hitting with great base-swiping, some good D to boot

RF Delmon Young – shows lots of promise in hitting, said to have a cannon of an arm

A Bakersfield Blaze:

SS Reid Brignac – could be a 5-tool player with his hitting, glove, and speed.

SP Jeff Niemann – awesome pickoff move, coupled with a hard fastball and good range

SP Matt Walker – A lot of the same qualities as Niemann, we will have a great staff soon

RF West Bankston – Good power hitter, with a great arm from right as well.

I lean back in my leather chair, staring up at the ceiling. “Well, Chuck, according to the scouting reports, we have one of the best minor league systems in baseball.”

“We do seem awfully stocked with good prospects.” Chuck agrees. “Let’s hope they’ll all pan out and give us a killer major league team in a few years.”

“Nah.” I say dismissively. “We’re gonna shake up the A.L. East this year. I have a good feeling about this Hensley kid, and he’s not gonna fail us.”

“How can you be sure?” Chuck asks.

“Because I know he doesn’t want to go back to teaching high school ball. No one wants to leave the Show. Ever.”

[zachniv]

Chuck LaMar

I head back to my own office after talking to Vince, thinking about our minor league squad. It's just really good, with some great hitters and especially strong pitching. I fully expect Tampa Bay to dominate the A.L. East in a few years, and hopefully I’ll still be in the organization when it happens. As for this new manager hire, I couldn’t care less. The kid looks like he’s got his head on straight, but then again, my mother’s pretty smart too. Heck, my mother could coach the D-Rays and I’d be fine with it, as long as she put the best nine guys on the field. My job is to find those nine guys that will win us a championship, and I can’t let up now, even though it’s the off-season.

Vince told me to check out the free agent pool for some talent, so I enter my office, drape my suit coat over my chair, and sort through today’s mail. Sure enough, it’s my weekly report from around the league, noting major transactions, updated 40-man rosters of all the teams, and the current free agent pool. I sort through the rest of the papers and get to the list of free agents. There’s not a lot in terms of hitting, but I do spot Bubba Trammell, a left fielder who knocked 26 out of the park last year and had 130 hits. But he only hit .235 and he’s already 33 years old, so I pass him up. I give the reports another look, and spot young Justin Wayne, a 25 year old starting pitcher who has a good scouting report and has a pretty good pickoff move. I immediately call Vince into my office and ask his opinion.

“Hey, he’s young, and it sounds like he could win a few ballgames. I’d call it a steal. Go ahead and give him a ring, see what kind of money he wants.” Vince says, before ducking out and returning to his work. That’s what I like about Vince. He’s always willing to hear the ideas of others and acts like he’s just another office worker instead of the owner of a big league club. The D-Rays may be the cellar-dwellers of the A.L. East, but there’s no other ballclub I’d rather be working for.

So I find out who Justin Wayne’s agent is and give him a ring at his office. I hope he’s there, because I don’t like to wait for people to call me back. Someone picks up.

“Agent Stephen Miller’s office, Melanie speaking.” Huh. It must be his secretary.

“Uh, yes, this is Chuck LaMar, general manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, I’m interested in talking to Mr. Miller about one of his clients.”

“One moment, please.” Melanie says and some muzak begins playing. I only hear it for a few seconds before a deeper, male voice comes onto the line.

“Hello, Mr. LaMar!” he says brightly. “How are things over at Tropicana Field?”

“Oh, about the usual, trying to get out of the cellar.” I say, humoring his attempt at making small talk.

“Well, what can I do to help out the Devil Rays?” Miller asks.

“I’m interested in pitcher Justin Wayne. Currently he’s in Free Agency, but I’m looking to claim him.”

“I see.” Miller says. “Well, what would you be offering Mr. Wayne?”

“Well, he needs some more development before he reaches his true potential. I think we’ll be shipping him to Double-A when he gets here and see how he does when the season starts. So, we’ll be paying him a simple minor league contract, say, about $50,000.”

“Well, that seems like something Mr. Wayne would accept, so let me give him a ring and I’ll call you back in a second.”

He hangs up and I’m left to my own devices for a while. I start to get into the Wall Street Journal again when the phone chimes. I pick it up after the first ring. Sure enough, it’s Miller.

“Justin Wayne has decided to accept your offer.” he says.

“Great. Tell him to be down in Montgomery Monday morning.”

Vince also told me to call up one or two players from AAA to be on the active roster. The only player that I see that could really help us out this year is Joey Gathright. I give him a call and tell him that he’s on the active roster. It’s not permanent though, he could be back down in Durham by the end of April.

I figure there’s nothing else I can do today, so I tell Vince goodbye and make my way home.

[zachniv]

Jorge Cantu

I walk along the streets of Tampa in broad daylight, staring at the metropolis around me. I think about the millions of people that will watch me play baseball here. My name is Jorge Cantu, and I play second base. Last year I was in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ farm system, playing for the Durham Bulls. They called me up to play in the bigs on August 13, 2004. I played in 50 games, hitting .301 and knocking in 17 runs. It wasn’t great, but it was enough to keep me in the majors for another year. This year I’m pretty sure that I’ll be starting Opening Day. I’m being paid next to nothing in the baseball world, only about $300,000, but I’m just happy to be here.

For fun, I always like to check out how I’m doing at ESPN.com. I see an Internet café on a busy street corner and decide to pop in for a quick look. I find my player profile and take a look around. They’ve got an old news story about me getting called up, but the story’s mainly about Robert Fick being released. They’ve also got a scouting report on me from Stats Inc., calling me a “free swinger who is quick to the inside pitch”. I could agree with them there. In fact, as I scan the rest of the report, most of what they say here is true. Wow, I’ll have to recommend this site to our pitchers. There’s also a chart that shows how many games I played at each position, and I realize I played more games at third base than my natural spot at second. I wonder where the Skipper will stick me this year.

That’s right, we got a new manager today. Think his name was Hensley or something. He’s about as old as I am and supposedly a real drill sergeant when it comes to baseball. I guess we’ll see what he’s like tomorrow in St. Petersburg, our spring training home. It’ll be our first workout, so I suppose Hensley’s gonna have to figure out what we’re going to do tomorrow pretty quickly. Hopefully it won’t be too disorganized.

I log off of the computer and head back to my house. It’s time to make the drive to St. Petersburg and stay in a hotel there for a while during Spring Training. Let’s hope we make a decent showing this year.

[zachniv]

Rick Pauley

I lay in bed on Sunday night, writing out my first Devil Rays column of the new season. I tend to cover hockey in the off-season, but because of the lockout, I haven’t been doing all that much in the paper since October of last year. Hockey sucks, too, so I’m not complaining. I write for the sports section of the Tampa Tribune, and for the past five years I’ve been covering the dismal Devil Rays, the cellar-dwellers of the A.L. East. Oh, yeah, it’s depressing, but at least the pay’s alright. Following this team is like following a drunk driver. No matter how long they’re able to stay somewhat under control, eventually they’ll just crash and burn.

I often insult the Devil Rays in my column, and for good reason. They’re just bad. Really, really bad. I heard they hired a new manager today, but is that really gonna help all that much? No, it’s not, we need talent on this squad. Talent that we can only get by trading some players. Chuck LaMar, are you listening? Although, I must admit, the Rays have a killer minor league roster. Hopefully there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.

A NEW SEASON APPROACHES

By Rick Pauley

Hello again, Devil Rays fans, and welcome to another season of under .500 ball! Yes, it looks as if the Devil Rays won’t be improving much upon their previous season, and just to prove this fact, here’s a review of what looks to be Tampa Bay’s active roster.

C Toby Hall - A veteran from Washington, Toby Hall can’t hit very well at all. If he does play during the season, expect him to hit in the lower part of the order. He’s also slow as molasses and had 25 passed balls allowed last year.

C Charles Johnson - Old Charles used to be a star on the Florida Marlins, but I’m unsure if he can duplicate his great numbers now. He’s got a pretty good arm from behind the plate, but he really needs to work on his contact hitting. He and Toby will compete for the starting catcher position in the season.

1B Travis Lee - Wow, what happened with this guy? One minute he’s a huge stud from Arizona, the next he’s just gone. I spotted him on this year’s roster and wondered what had happened to him. So I dug around a bit on the internet and found out that after his two-year stint with the Diamondbacks, he traveled to the Phillies for a season and only played about 50 games, before being sent back to Arizona in the middle of the season and playing the rest of it there. He was shipped to Philadelphia again and played regularly for two years. Then he headed to the Devil Rays for a year and played 145 games. My memory kicks in and I do remember Lee playing here in 2003. It wasn’t a stellar year, with him hitting .275 and striking out 64 times, but he played decently. Then for the 2004 season, Travis was sent to the Yankees and only played 7 games the entire season. That’s the way it goes when you back up Jason Giambi. Finally, we pulled a move in the off-season that returned Lee to us. Anyway, his talent looks questionable, but it seems like he’ll be starting at first for us on Opening Day.

1B Eduardo Perez - The aging Mr. Perez actually doesn’t look like a bad option at first base, but it’s likely that Travis Lee will be the dominant player at first. Eduardo has a solid hitting foundation and wields a pretty good glove at first. Again, he’s pretty slow, but he might be a solid 7 or 8 hole hitter when he subs in.

2B Jorge Cantu - Jorge is one of the first major prospects to come up from the farm system. Many more will be arriving in the coming years, but Mr. Cantu might be able to shake up some Major League pitching. He’s not a speed demon, but he’ll make most of the plays at second base and hit a homer occasionally.

2B Nick Green - It seems like a lot of the position players have a lot of the same attributes, so there’ll be a lot of competition during Spring Training. This definitely applies to the second base position, with 26-year old Nick Green fighting with Jorge Cantu for the starting spot. Both are young guys with solid hitting, but Green may have a bit more power to work with. Cantu definitely has the upper hand in the defensive department, but Mr. Green has a bit more speed. It looks like Hensley will have to experiment with both players to see who is more successful.

3B Alex Gonzalez - Man, what a mess. There are about three ballplayers named Alex Gonzalez in the MLB, so you might be confused as to which one is on the D-Rays this year. Let me give you a hint: it’s the one who sucks. Last year Gonzalez played in 75 games and had 74 at-bats. That’s a lot of pinch-hitting. It is true that Gonzo can occasionally come up with a big hit, but I don’t think there’s even a small chance that Hensley will put him in the lineup Opening Day. His defense is OK, but the only thing he really excels at is the sacrifice bunt. Not something that’ll get you in the starting lineup.

SS Julio Lugo - Julio Lugo, right now, actually looks like a solid choice to start at shortstop. He has decent batting skills and some pretty good wheels. He also is a fantastic defensive shortstop, taking great routes to the ball and making accurate throws to first. Look for him to make a good showing this year.

LF Carl Crawford - Man, this guy is FAST. He can motor around those bases, and add that to his expertise in contact hitting, and you have one heck of a leadoff batter. Carl could win the Gold Glove in left this year, he’s that good defensively. I don’t see how Hensley couldn’t start Crawford Opening Day, and I expect to see him out there in left field.

LF Aubrey Huff - Another of the quality players in our organization, Aubrey has no weaknesses to his game offensively. He’ll hit 30 to 40 homers this season, provided he doesn’t get injured, and he’ll nab at least 100 RBIs. On the base paths, he’s a real liability. He won’t be breaking any stealing records this year. Defensively, he could play almost any position in the field, but it seems that he excels at first, which may cause problems for Travis Lee. We’ll just have to see how Hensley does it. One thing’s for sure, Huff will be starting on Opening Day. It’s now just a matter of where.

CF Joey Gathright - I just can’t quit thinking about how good this Devil Rays team is going to be in a few years. Joey Gathright won’t necessarily be leading the charge, but he’ll be a solid contributor. Heck, he’d probably do well right now, and I suppose that’s why he’s on the starting roster. He almost looks like a duplicate of Carl Crawford: great speed, awesome defense, mostly a contact hitter; that’s really all we need from a player, not necessarily home runs. The runs will take care of themselves if we just get base runners on and knock them home with hits. Gathright will score runs this year as well as driving them in. I really hope he has a good rookie year.

CF Chris Singleton - Well, I’m glad we’ve got Gathright in center. Singleton is already past his prime, which was with the White Sox a couple years ago. He’s not a good solution at this point, and his only hope at this point is to try to prove himself when he pinch hits, which might be often considering he’s a lefty. However, if he doesn’t perform well, I forsee him getting sent down to the Durham Bulls and one of the Bulls’ players getting a cup of coffee in the majors. Consider Mr. Singleton the designated benchwarmer for now.

DH Josh Phelps - That’s right, his position is a DH. Yeah, we‘ll see about that. Phelps can play first base and even a little catcher, but I guess he’d prefer not to. Really, Phelps is about our only option at the DH spot now, so he just might be put there on Opening Day. I wish there was someone else, though, because Phelps is just so darn inconsistent. He only played in thirty games last year, so he might be a bit rusty. It’s also possible that he could slug 20+ homers this year, but I’m not going to make any predictions until I see him play at the start of the season.

Phelps rounds out the hitters of this year’s squad. Now let’s check out the pitchers:

SP Rob Bell - You can’t fault Rob Bell for being average. That’s all he is, just a mediocre pitcher. I really can’t tell you anything that’s good or bad about him, other than that he’s got a pretty nasty pickoff move to first. He did have an 8-16 record last year, so you can’t say that he has a reputation. But, since the Devil Rays are a mediocre team, I expect Bell to be in the upper part of a mediocre rotation this year.

SP Dewon Brazelton - Brazelton is actually panning out pretty nicely, with some nice movement on his ball and good stamina out there on the mound. Last year the 24-year old went 7-16, with a terrible 5.47 ERA, so no one’s expecting him to do all that well this year. But, it would be a nice surprise if he did make a few good outings.

SP Mark Hendrickson - Like I said before, most of these Tampa Bay players are at the same skill level, so it’ll be interesting to see who stands out at the first of the season. Hendrickson seems to have a lot of the same qualities as some of these other pitchers, but the good news is that he won 13 games last year. Of course, he did lose 17 as well, but it’s an improvement over the others. We’ll just have to wait and see with these guys to find out who excels.

SP Scott Kazmir - A high-school phenom picked up a few years ago, Kazmir has shown promise ever since he’s been with the organization. The kid from Houston, Texas is a lefty, too. Tampa Bay must feel that he’s ready for the show, since he’s on the active roster right now. I don’t think it’s a bad choice. No, we will not see the KazMan(I’ve just coined that nickname, and I’m going to use it the whole year) win 20 games this year, nor will we see him strike out 200 batters. He’ll be quietly plugging away at hitters and gaining some experience in the majors. By next year, I expect the KazMan to be our ace, leading the charge into the new era of Devil Rays baseball, one where we’ll actually win. I know I’ll be there when it happens.

SP Hideo Nomo - The once-great Dodgers ace Hideo Nomo has become a mess. The now-36 year old player has gone in and out of free agency and finally landed himself with the Devil Rays. Last year he had a 3.98 ERA, which is OK, I suppose, but I just don’t get the sense that Nomo has the same pitching ability as he did a few years ago. Oh well, I guess we’ll just see what he and his weird windup can do this year.

MR Lance Carter - Well, here’s one of the top relievers in Major League Baseball. So, what’s he doing here? The D-Rays are paying him next to nothing, so I really can’t answer that. But I shouldn’t even be questioning it, I should just accept it for what it is. And so there you have it, Lance Carter is on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He’ll strike out tons of batters and get the outs that we need in the late innings. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

MR Jesus Colome - Another solid reliever, Jesus(pronounced HEY-SOOS, not GEE-ZUS) has always been a well-known member of the Devil Rays franchise, so I guess he likes it here. While not as dominating as Lance Carter, we’ll get some solid innings out of Mr. Colome, despite his control problems.

MR Casey Fossum - This 27-year old who came from the Red Sox doesn’t have a lot going for him, other than that he’s still young. In his days in Boston, Fossum was a starting pitcher. Because of this, he has great endurance on the mound, which might make him our mopup reliever this year. Fossum has pretty good heat, and will probably strike a lot of guys out. But he will get hit hard, so I hope our starters do their jobs and Fossum won’t have to pitch all that much.

MR Travis Harper - Another valuable reliever, the D-Rays’ bullpen looks like the one thing that might be solid this year. With great movement on his ball, Harper can get batters out on ground balls and even pick off a few runners.

MR Seth McClung - I’m calling it: Mr. McClung is going to turn into a starter soon. He’s got way too much endurance to just be on the mound as a setup man. With a fastball that hums into the strike zone in the high 90s, he’ll probably be put into the setup role this year, but I’d make an assumption that the Devil Rays are going to at least try to get McClung to start.

MR Trever Miller - This aging reliever may lose some of the movement on his pitches in a few years, but right now, he looks like a solid option in the pen. He usually has enough juice to stay in the game for a few innings, so he might get a role as a middle reliever.

CL Danys Baez - I’m pleased to say Mr. Baez has what it takes to be a closer in the major leagues. His fastball often touches 100 MPH, he has a lot of movement on his ball, and he can even go more than one inning if you need him to. If we’re in a tight game, bring in Danys. I actually have confidence that he’ll lock the game down.

Also, let’s not forget some of the players on the DL that will be ready to play soon after the season starts. We’ve got Franklin Nunez, another solid reliever that will add to the D-Rays’ excellent bullpen, coming out of the DL a few games after the season begins. There’s also the one and only Rocco Baldelli who’s got about 40 more days left on the DL, which means he’ll be back around the beginning of the season.

And that’s our active roster. You know, after writing all of that, I don’t feel as bad about the Devil Rays as I did before. Still, we’re not going to finish first in our division, and we certainly aren’t going to make the wild card. Our only hope is to save face and try to edge out another team for fourth place in the East. I’ll be a happy man if we do that. This is Rick Pauley, signing off from Devil Rays Land.


I stare at the long column that I’ve just written and smile. I really want the Devil Rays to win, but they’ve disappointed me so many times before that I don’t know how I should feel about the season ahead. The team looks OK on paper, but then again, baseball games aren’t played on paper. All I know is that I’ve got my tickets for Opening Day, and I’ll be there for the first pitch, even if the D-Rays suck.

[zachniv]

OK, I'm having a problem with the bold lettering in that last post. Just know that the stuff in italics is the article, and the stuff that isn't italicized is Pauley's muse.

[zachniv]

Shane Hensley

I drive along the highways of central Florida, checking out the area and going over the 40-man roster of the Devil Rays. This team’s going to need some major work. First of all, there’s no one on this list that seems like they could get on base consistently. Suddenly, a thought occurs to me. I’ve just read the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis, which basically glorifies on-base percentage. One player in particular seemed to get on base more than anyone else. I’m talking, of course, about The Greek God of Walks.

Frantically, as if I could lose the idea if I didn’t act soon, I dial up the Devil Rays’ office

complex.

“Tampa Bay Devil Rays offices, this is Pam, how may I help you?” the feminine voice says on the other line.

“Yes, this is Shane Hensley.” I say quickly. “Could you please put me through to Chuck LaMar?”

“Sure thing.” she chirps and I’m patched right through to Chuck’s office.

“Chuck LaMar.” he says in a tired voice. Man, these old guys have a tough time getting up in the morning, don’t they?

“Good morning, Mr. LaMar, this is Shane Hensley.” I say in a sickeningly chipper voice.

Chuck’s voice seems to liven a bit after he realizes it‘s me. “Uh, hello, Shane. What can I do for you this morning?”

“Well, I was just looking over the 40-man roster here, and I noticed there’s not a lot of guys here who can get on base consistently. Now, I’m not going to tell you how to do your job, Mr. LaMar, but I have a suggestion for a player that would do well with the Devil Rays.”

“I suppose he gets on base quite a bit?” Chuck asks.

“They call him the Greek God of Walks.”

“Ah.” Chuck says, understanding. “Kevin Youkilis, the king of on-base percentage.”

“Yep. I think he’s with Boston now. Any chance you could get him to come down to Tampa?”

“You might be on to something with this Youkilis kid. I’ll talk with Theo Epstein, see what I can do.” Chuck says, in a voice that sounds much more excited than it did a few minutes ago. “Check back with you later?”

“Yeah, sure.” I agree and hang up. I’m glad I got through to LaMar. Maybe he’ll be able to strike a deal with Epstein and get a decent young infielder on this squad. I’ve heard that the Red Sox lack relief help, and looking at the roster, we’ve got a bunch of quality guys that could be used to help in the deal. Man, I want Youkilis on this team so much.

I pull into the Spring Training complex in St. Petersburg, taking a parking spot down the third base line. I grab my duffel bag from the back seat of the car and hop out. As I walk towards the third base dugout, I watch two players(it looks like Jonny Gomes and B.J. Upton, two position players from Durham that have very good scouting reports) warming up on the first base line. Neither of them look like they have exceptionally good arms, but my eyes dart over to a player who’s throwing laser beams to his partner. I spot his number, 70, and look down on my list to see who it is. Hmm. It’s Delmon Young, one of our big prospects down in Montgomery. I’ll have to keep my eye on him.

Heading onto the field, I spot my assistant coaches talking near home plate. I head over there and listen in on their conversation. I think they’re talking about Lou Pinella walking out on the Rays, but I can’t be sure. As I get closer, the tallest of the coaches notices me and waves me over. I quicken my pace a little bit, my hands resting in my jacket pockets. “Hey there, Shane.” the tall coach says, and he offers his hand to shake. I dig my own out of my pocket and grasp his. “My name’s Craig Roush. I’m the pitching coach for the Devil Rays.” He points to the other coaches and gives me their names and jobs. Matthew Fogg is our hitting coach, Kyle Herod is our first base coach, and Sam Kiefer is our third base coach. All of them offer me greetings, but I can’t really get to know them too well until we spend some more time with each other.

“Well, guys, it’s time to get this workout started. We’re gonna whip these guys into shape today.” I say and walk out to the grass behind second base.

I blow my whistle. Loudly. “All right, everyone, get over here!” The guys jog in with a lackluster pace. Slackers. I start my stopwatch. As soon as everyone finally slogs in, I click the stopwatch again and look down at the time. 46 seconds. I scoff and look up at the players, a slight grin on my face.


“All right then, gentlemen, today 46 is the magic number.” I shout, and the players stare at me, puzzled. “You want to know why? Because it took you 46 seconds to jog in from the outfield! That’s a mark of a lazy ball club.”

“First things first, spread out and give me 46 push-ups.” I hear a few groans. Bad choice. “Let’s just make it 56. I don’t want to hear any complaining out here on the baseball field. We’re gonna make this team bigger, stronger, and faster, and this is how we’re gonna do it.”

Some of the guys start doing the push-ups. I blow the whistle fiercely. “May I ask what you men think you’re doing?” I ask and get even more confused looks. I hear a few grumblings as well, things like, “We’re doin’ push-ups.”

“No, we’re going to do these on a cadence. I don’t want you fellas to short out on me and only do, say, 30. All right, let’s try it again. DOWN!” I yell and the players let their bodies hang centimeters below the ground. We continue, and by the time we finish, I can tell that the men are tired, even though they try not to show it.

“OK, guys, to continue with our training regimen that uses the number 46, we’ll head to the infield. You guys ever heard of bear crawls?”

We jog into the infield, but I stop at the pitcher’s mound. “But before we continue, I offer a challenge.” I turn to the outfield and point at the fence. “Choose one player from your team here, and have him race me to that fence and back to the mound. If the player wins, we‘re done with conditioning for the day. If I win, the magic number is 56 for the day.”

A low murmur descends over the crowd of baseball players. I know what they’re thinking, that this is going to be easy. They even wonder if they could run slowpoke Josh Phelps against me and still win. I actually hope they do run Phelps against me. It’ll just be a little easier on my body.

But they wise up and run speedy Carl Crawford against me. It’ll be a bit of a challenge, but I think I can handle Crawford. We line up at the rubber of the pitching mound and I ask Sam Kiefer, one of my coaches, to give the starting signal. He stands in between us and holds his arm up high. As soon as he drops it, we’re off. Carl gets an early lead on me, but halfway to the fence, I turn it on and slip ahead of the outfielder. He stays on my tail until we reach the wall. On the way back to the mound, my afterburners kick in and I shoot way ahead of Crawford. I finish the race about 2 seconds ahead of him, and the players are slack-jawed with disbelief. If I had just beaten the fastest guy on the 40-man roster, one of the fastest guys in the major leagues, then why am I managing this team instead of playing on it? I think I’ll just let them wonder.

I suck in some air and smile at the players, who have uneasy looks on their faces. “Well, gentlemen, we made a deal. Carl lost, so get over to home plate.”

I work the guys hard for the next hour. We do every sort of conditioning exercise that you could possibly do. Heck, we even see a few of the guys’ breakfasts coming back up. After the hour is up, I call the players over to the mound for a team meeting. “Take a knee, guys.” I said and the players obeyed instantly. Good. “I’m not gonna lie to you.” I start. “The Devil Rays have always been known as the team that sucks. Ever since the team’s inception in the late 90s, they’ve been the cellar-dwellers of the A.L. East.” I pause for a second to let that sink in. “But not this year. No, this year we’re going to crawl out of the bottom and take fourth place. Maybe even third. Let the Blue Jays and Orioles take our spots.”

My speech doesn’t pump the guys up as much as I had hoped, and for good reason, I suppose. They’ve heard this speech every year, and every year they’ve ended up back in the cellar. Might as well tell them what’ll happen if they get stuck there again.

“Guys, Vince Naimoli hired me to get this team out of last place. If I don’t do that, I’ll be sent packing before next season gets underway. Now, I realize most of you think that’s a good thing after today’s workout, but I promise you I’ll be one of the only guys you can find that’ll believe in this team.” I sigh and look up at the sky. “All right, guys, it’s pretty steamy out here. Why don’t you head back to your hotel rooms and wash up. Be back here at 2 so we can start working.”

As I head back to my Chrysler, I wonder how the Youkilis deal is coming along.

[Methusalah]

I walk along the streets of Tampa in broad daylight, staring at the metropolis around me. I think about the millions of people that will watch me play baseball here. My name is Jorge Cantu, and I play second base.

May be slightly optimistic with the 'millions' bit of that. I'm enjoying this, however.

[zachniv]

Originally Posted by Methusalah

May be slightly optimistic with the 'millions' bit of that. I'm enjoying this, however.

Yeah, I know. I don't mention this in the report, but on Opening Day, less than 20,000 came out to see us!

Let's see...20,000 times 162 equals just over 3 million. So, I suppose I wasn't wrong when I said millions. I just didn't specify the number of millions.

Glad you're enjoying the thread, though. A new entry will be up later tonight.

[zachniv]

Chuck LaMar

I fill out a little paperwork, but my eyes keep darting back to the telephone on my desk. I sigh. I guess there’s no point in putting it off any longer. Picking up the receiver, I dial the Red Sox office and get patched through to Theo Epstein, the Boston general manager.

“Chuck!” he exclaims. “The Rays getting ready for another season?”

“Yep, and I’ve got a deal that may interest you, coming straight from our new manager.”

“Yeah, Hensley looks like a good kid.” Theo says. “What’s the offer?”

“We’re interested in your young prospect Kevin Youkilis.”


“I suppose I might be willing to deal him, Chuck.” Theo allows. “But we’d like a dip from your strong bullpen. Let me take a look at your roster and call you back.”

While I wait, I check out our roster myself. If the Sox want relief help, they’ll want Lance Carter, Scott McClung, or maybe even the undeveloped Chad Orvella. I don’t know if I can allow any of those guys to leave our team. Maybe I need to throw a little cash into the deal as well. The phone rings and I answer.

“Scott Kazmir.” he says, and I know we can’t give him away.

“I thought you wanted relief help.”

“We’d rather have a spectacular starting pitcher than a solid reliever. Youkilis is going to be spectacular. So we’d like a spectacular player in return.”

“Afraid I can’t give him up, Theo. How about Trever Miller?”

“He looks OK, but like I said, I’m not going to give up a great player for a good one.”

“What if we added some cash to Miller?” I ask.

“Five million.”

“Theo!” I exclaim. “Even Youkilis isn’t worth that much. Two million.”

We continue to barter and haggle each other until we reach an agreement. They’d get reliever Trever Miller and $3,000,000 from our funds, while we’d receive third baseman Kevin Youkilis. I check out Youkilis’s scouting report one last time.

“All right, Theo, tell Kevin to pack his bags. I’ll call our skipper and get Miller to pack his. The cash will be transferred to your accounts shortly.” I hear the familiar sound of the dial tone and hang up the phone. Leaning back in my chair, I close my eyes and try to relax. It’s only the start of Spring Training, and there’s a lot of work to do before the season starts. Not a lot of it is actually pertinent to the success of the team, but it’s work nonetheless.

I grip the phone again and give Shane’s cell phone a quick call.

“Hello?” I hear his voice answer.

“Shane, it’s me, Chuck. Listen, we got Youkilis. He’ll be at Spring Training tomorrow morning.”


“Great!” he says elatedly. “Who did you have to give up?”

“Reliever Trever Miller and 3 million in cash.”

“That’s not a bad deal. So I guess you’re calling me so I can tell Miller the news.”

“That’s about the gist of it.” I say, filling out a little more of this useless paperwork.

“All right, I’ll tell him.” Shane replies and hangs up. I place the phone back on its cradle and continue working. That little deal should keep Hensley happy for a while.

[zachniv]

Jorge Cantu

I lay on my hotel room bed, feeling quite ill. The nauseous feeling increases and I rush to the bathroom, where I proceed to throw my guts up. Flushing the toilet, I grab my bottle of cologne and spray it around the bathroom to get rid of the smell. After I’m satisfied that the odor is gone, I head back into the bedroom and flop down on the bed.

What a workout. That Hensley is a real nutcase. And that was just weird when he beat Carl in the race. It looked like a fair race, but Carl is one of the fastest runners in Major League Baseball. How could our coach possibly outrun him?

I’m so exhausted that I can’t even think about it. Sighing, I glance over at the clock on the hotel nightstand. It’s 1:15 in the afternoon, so I’ve got about a half-hour left to sleep before I have to get ready for practice. I really don’t want to go back out there, but what choice do I have? If I don’t go, I’d surely be released from the team, and I’d be in Free Agency for a while, not getting paid.

I twist around in the bed, getting comfortable, and try to get a little shut-eye before my alarm clock buzzes again.

[zachniv]

Vince Naimoli

OK, it’s March 20^th, and it’s almost time for the season to begin. Hensley’s starting to figure out who’ll be the right choice for each position, but we won’t be entirely sure until we start playing some games. I’m completely exhausted, getting only about six hours of sleep every night. I have to put up with agents, magazines, press conferences, and the team finances. I really don’t want to sell this team, but if we have another season in the cellar, I might have to start trading stocks. I’d rather watch baseball, but I’ve got to make money somehow.

I have faith that Shane will be able to pull us out of last place, but faith doesn’t win baseball games.

[zachniv]

Rick Pauley

Ha! LaMar actually came to his senses and moved around some guys. Youkilis is a solid prospect that will likely start this year. Hensley has a puzzle ahead of him, though, as he tries to figure out our starting lineup this year. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out onto the field Opening Day.

My article is relatively short today, but it’s got a little news about Youkilis and some other tidbits of info. I guess there’s nothing to do now except wait until the first game against Toronto.

DEVIL RAYS NAB YOUKILIS

In a deal made with the Boston Red Sox today, the Devil Rays now have third baseman Kevin Youkilis on their roster. “Well, the Red Sox may have been a winning team, but I’m looking forward to helping the Devil Rays rebuild.” Youkilis was quoted to say. Yeah, right. You know he wanted to stay on the Red Sox, and he’s just trying to be a good sport about it. Well, he’s got no choice in the matter, so he might as well find some way to cope with playing for us.

There’s not much else going on at Tropicana, but the season starts in a few short days. Check this column often to find reports of the games and comments on them as well.

[zachniv]

Well, look at where we're at. We had just gotten Youk. The loss of posts has hit me hard.

Sigh. I liked this dynasty. Better than my other two, which are now gone. But I suppose it was never meant to be.