"Where's my phone god damnit?!" she roared.
I looked into the vortex of my screen to see Manny Machado had been dealt to The Los Angeles Dodgers for quite the little package of prospects. Smart of The Orioles who are in desperate need of a prayer (and more impacting prospects).
Makes one wonder what does the Blue Jays do in this situation? The team has been out of contention since their glory hole of 2015-2016 when Encarnacion, Bautista and Donaldson were absolute monsters. If they were smart -which they have not been for sometime now- they will trade off anything that remotely has value thus putting on the table of J.A. Happ and any position player on the field. I cannot role into the details of certain players contracts but let's dissect here...
"Have you seen it you lazy peasant?!" she roars.
Might as well trade off Russel Martin. Solid catcher with a decent bat, who wouldn't give up something for this guy? Marcus Stroman anyone? Yes please. Hell, too bad the Rays wouldn't swap Eovaldi for Stroman straight up because when Stroman's on, he's absolutely filthy. Love that shimmy. Trade off Solarte, Travis and Smoak for anything you can get. Kevin Pillar on the 10-day-DL? No prob sucka! He'll get activated and dealt to you for a handful of low A prospects. Hell, why not? Need a veteran OFer? Sure! Take Curtis Granderson off the books! Oh, you want a bucket of softballs for Tulo? Sure! Take it! They should leave him at Niagra Falls to figure out his baseball career. You need a new bench coach? How about ole' Jon Gibbons! He'll givem' hell! Need a DH or pinch hitter? We have Kendrys Morales here waiting on you! Need a dude to only pinch run? What about Devon Travis? Need a dude to blow your leads in the 8th or 9th? What about Tyler Clippard? I think it's time to switch the glasses bubba. Need some Smoak on the water? Hit us up here in Canada! Want the baggage of Roberto Osuna? Hit us up on messenger and leave a message after the beep. You know wassup... Need an old dude who cannot stay on the field to save his life and be overpaid for it? How about Josh Donaldson! He'll appear in the next three games for you then never to be seen again. Perpetual rehab right here. Almost as bad as my uncle addicted to meth out in his trailer park in Seffner.
"Hey, you big piece of shit! Get off your phone!" she yells some more.
I take a drag off the cigarette and rip the bong again (in no particular order).
Let's take a look at the disastrous Orioles camp. A brother won't even front when saying, I didn't see them being this bad. You probably couldn't trade a Chris Davis for a back up bullpen coach at the streak he's at. Davis has 292 plate appearances this year and is crushing a whopping .158. Talk about a hole in one. Some former Rays (I say this bitterly) are on their roster too. Alex Cobb is forever one of my favorites (cannot forget that 2013 Wild Card game in Cleveland he pitched unreal) but damn homeboy has been nothing but sub-awful since gowning the bright orange. Cobb has 17 games started with 92.2 IP and is posting a 6.41 ERA with the O's. Sorry bubba...homie aint going anywhere anytime soon. Protect ya neck on the streets of Baltimore.
2008 First Round Pick Tim Beckham is crushing a .206 with 165 ABs with The O's this year. Could they move him too? Probably not but The Rays did and the only word to describe it for me is jubilant. The only pieces worth a damn left in The Orioles camp would be Zach Britton, Jace Peterson, Adam Jones and Danny Valencia. This team needs to rid of nearly everything to stock up on a very depleted farm system. Perhaps The Rays could trade Tropicana Field for Camden Yards and sprinkle in a couple of parking spot spaces to lure the interest of The O's front office.
"Is it in the car?!" she shouts.
"I'm not sure babe,"
Naturally, we were hungover from the night prior.
Thus brings us to The Rays and the two other monsters in the division. In order for the Rays to actually make a run, a couple of things have to go right for them (asides from winning) and that is banking on a couple of other teams of falling off. Let's be real, The Yankees aren't falling off thus leaves us with two AL West teams ahead of us. The A's and Mariners. One has to suspect the front office is in a predicament. Do you trade off your assets now and essentially put a fork in the season (kinda like what they did in Spring Training with the fury of trades) with looking far ahead or do you add and gamble on the idea that one of those two teams is going to fall off? After seeing the talent of The Mariners, I would assume The A's would fall off quicker than The Mariners but with the injury history of James Paxton, it makes you wonder...Mike Leake to the rescue!
"I found it! It was in the bathroom!" she yells with victory.
If I were in the front office, I wouldn't gamble on those two teams falling off (though not impossible). Currently, the Rays sit 8.5 behind The A's for the second Wild Card spot, I just don't know if they really have the fire power to really make a run this year. Don't get me wrong, it's sick they are playing good ball, I just think they should focus on their young new core to getting more play time, getting acclimated at the big league level, have a couple more call ups (Justin Williams, Ian Gibaut and Kean Wong) and having them nourish their relationship with Kevin Cash and Co. Thus, trade Eovaldi when his value is highest, Ramos is in purgatory with the injury, Hech would be a nice piece for a contending team in need of a shortstop (not The Dodgers now obviously), Sergio Romo might get them something and Archer won't get you the haul you seek. The division is lopsided no doubt and I hate to admit this...
I took another rip off the bong.
...but The Yankees and Red Sox are just unstoppable this year. I knew this going out of the gates of Spring Training, no one else would stop these monsters this year, which is okay, The Rays should have their foot on the present and build towards the future with this new core they've set in place because they will make noise if not this year but in the coming. The reason I emphasize this is because the depth of pitching isn't there to compete (not yet anyhow) with what The Yankees and Red Sox currently have. Granted, The Rays have been setback with a couple of huge TJ losses (Honeywell, Banda, DeLeon).
"Let's go for a drive babe,"
"Where do you want to go?" she asked
"The beach,"
Off we roared into abysmal tropical AM summer day here in Tampa Bay.
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