MVN: Most Valuable Network

Start spreading the news, we're leaving today. As all good things must come to an end, Outs Per Swing's time on MVN has come to a close. We will embark on a new challenge over at draysbay.com.

Covering the Rays on MVN was a blast, especially during this magical season of 2008. When we started here in February, we could never imagine that we would still be covering the Rays into late October and into the World Series. We covered plate-gate, the brawl in Boston, the rise to the top of the AL East, the American League Championship and much more, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Thanks to Tim Dialoiso, Paul Testa, Brandon Rosage, Jon Burkett and all the other MVN staff we worked with. And a special thanks to Evan Brunell and Cory Humes, two of the driving forces behind MVN. They gave us an opportunity and we are grateful for that. We also are very thankful to all our readers and commenters.

We will continue to be regular readers and commenters on MVN and can never rule out a possible partnership some time down the road. Until that time we wish everybody good bye and good luck.

~Tommy and Erik

One more good memory for the road

Rays Closer Troy Percival will have back surgery in California today. This pretty much ends any talks of his retirement. The heater is reporting Percival expects to be throwing off a mound in March and hopes to be ready for opening day. I was hoping Percival would just call it quits after a mostly bad and injury filled 2008 season. If he would've retired the Rays would've had an additional $4 million dollars to play with for the 2009 season. But as of right now it looks like he will be back and probably reclaim his closer spot at least until he breaks down. Until that happens, it will be a lot of nervous ninth innings for Rays fans.... Read more

If you haven't had enough to eat on Thanksgiving, here are a few notes to chew on for the rest of the weekend. It's no secret the Rays would like to bring in a right handed right fielder and a full time DH. Luckily for the Rays there are plenty of DH options and not many teams looking for a DH. This could leave a big time bat out there for the Rays to sign at a bargain. In the past few days there have been two articles written about such a scenario. First, Jon Heyman says the Market for Adam Dunn has been "oddly quiet." Things have appeared oddly quiet for the biggest slugger on the free-agent market. That would be Adam Dunn, who may find his value isn't quite what he had hoped (though we have to believe he doesn't actually expect the $100 million that ex-Reds teammate... Read more

More rumors to get us through this holiday week. Ken Rosenthal from Foxsports.com has a few tidbits on the Rays this morning. The White Sox are asking teams for a young starting pitcher plus additional players for right fielder Jermaine Dye. The Mets, Rays and Phillies are among the teams balking at such a price. Dye, earning $11.5 million in the final year of his contract, amounts to a one-season rental. He can block trades to six clubs, most of which are in the northeast, according to a major-league source. One potentially interested executive said his team was concerned that Dye batted only .210 with runners in scoring position and two outs last season -- 36 points below the American League average. Glad to see the Rays staying away from that asking price. Dye is a good player, but he's way past his prime and I can't see him staying... Read more

Two quick hits this morning. Nothing earth shattering, but again its something. From John Harper of the NY Daily News One potentially intriguing trade possibility is the Rays' Edwin Jackson, the 25-year-old righthander with the big fastball and plenty of potential. Lack of command kept him from living up to early raves, but he showed signs of blossoming in 2008, going 14-11 with a 4.42 ERA. With David Price on the horizon, the Rays have a surplus of starting pitching. One Rays person said Tampa has interest in Aaron Heilman - "as a reliever, not a starter" - but said the Rays value Jackson's potential as worth more than that. "It would have to be more," the person said. "I know that some of our guys think Jackson started to turn the corner this year, and they think he could still be something special." It's not pitching the Rays need... Read more

It's no secret that a right handed, power hitting right fielder is at the top or near the top of the Rays wish list. Ideally, this person would also be under 30 and come cheap. Milton Bradley or Pat Burrell would be ideal, but realistically are out of the price range the Rays are looking for. There is also Rocco Baldelli, but his health problems are a concern over a full 162 game season. Even asking him for 70-80 games could be a stretch. There are other cheaper free agent alternatives like Juan Rivera, Gabe Kapler or Emil Brown, but for 2-3 million are they worth it when we already have a guy who can do what they can do for cheaper? This player is right handed, can play the outfield(below average, however), is just 28 years old and is still in his arbitration years. He'll never hit for much average,... Read more

With the Rule V draft coming up, the Rays added three players to their 40 man roster in order to protect them from the draft. The first two are no-brainers; Jake McGee and Wade Davis. The other is a man who has been very good, but seldomly talked about, relief pitcher, Dale Thayer. Davis and McGee are two keys to the Rays future and even though McGee will miss a huge chunk of the 2009 season, if not all, he is still vital to the Rays future as either a starter or most likely a potential closer. Davis is one of my favorite prospects and should be contending for a rotation spot by mid season next year. Thayer is the odd man of the three. He was acquired in 2006 from the Padres in exchange for Russell Branyan and has been very good in the minors. At age 28, he's too... Read more

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, via mlbtraderumors.com , the Cardinals have signed lefty reliever Trever Miller.  Miller had a 4.15 ERA this season with the Rays, but when used in his proper role, as you've probably seen me complain about this season, he was very good.  Lefties hit just .235/.327/.382 against him.  Since Miller is a Type B free agent the Rays will receive a sandwich pick(between the first and second rounds) as compensation. The Rays bought him out for $400k instead of picking up a $2million dollar option, AND they get a draft pick when he leaves?  All I can say is, thanks Trever. [Correction: Miller did NOT make Type B.  The Rays get nothing for him.  Damnit.]... Read more

Dustin Pedroia won the AL MVP which is just fine with me. For once, I can't disagree with any of the awards handed out this offseason. Even though most of them were slam dunk votes, they still got them right. The Rays were represented pretty well as they were one of only a few teams to have three players receive votes. Carlos Pena finished ninth, Evan Longoria 11th, and Jason Bartlett, yes Jason Bartlett finished 18th. Bartlett received six points which was higher than Ichiro, Ian Kinsler and Mark Teixeira combined. That is excellent. Good showing by the Rays especially Longoria who missed a month of the season. If he would've played in the month of August, he would've had a good shot at winning both the ROY and the MVP.... Read more

Two news stories in two days?  Hot Stove indeed!  This one isn't about a trade or free agent player signing however.  I'm sad to announce that Rays TV analyst Joe Magrane will not be returning next season.  According to The Heater, Magrane has been hired by the newly formed MLB Network which debuts in January.  He's expected to do game analysis and in-studio work in his new role.  Joe had been doing Rays TV broadcasts with Dewayne Staats since the Rays first season in 1998.  Tommy and I always liked Magrane.  He and Staats had a great chemistry and he'll surely be missed by a majority of viewers.  Brian Anderson, who filled in for Magrane while he was doing analysis for the Olympics, could be among the possible replacements.  Also, The Heater mentions that the Rays parted ways with Kelly Frank.  Many of you may not know that name, but she... Read more

Zzzz...zzZzzz...Zzzz...wa...huh...oh...hi there.  It's been awhile since we've had actual Rays news to report on.  In a move that we expected, the Rays have increased ticket prices for next season.  "Rays president Matt Silverman said Monday that about 70-percent of the single-game tickets will increase by $1 (for example, upper deck goes from $9 to $10 for regular game, from $14-16 for prime pricing). But in an effort to bolster their season-ticket base - the "lifeblood" of any baseball team - Silverman said the club is also increasing the discount for season ticket holders (up to 35 percent)." That's fine.  They've earned the right to do that with their fantastic 2008 season.  Here are some more of the changes: "Most everything else at Tropicana Field will remain the same; vehicles with four or more passengers can park for free, you can still bring in your food and drink, the upper-deck tarp... Read more