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	<title>Tampa Bay Sports Blog &#187; Jason Hammel</title>
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	<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com</link>
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		<title>Rays look ready for &#8217;09.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-look-ready-for-09/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-look-ready-for-09/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[David Price]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evan Longoria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston Red Sox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brian Shouse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carlos Pena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Bradford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Durham Bulls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gabe Gross]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gabe Kapler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Houston Astros]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Niemann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Joyce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Milwaukee Brewers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MLB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morgan Ensberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Yankees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[San Diego Padres]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=588</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Rays have had a fairly busy offseason and now look pretty well set for the upcoming 2009 season. They have signed a few minor league free agents over the last few weeks to fill things out, including Morgan Ensberg. Ensberg wil most likely end up playing 3B in Durham but is a very nice low risk acquisition. He looked like an up and coming power hitter 6 years ago and hit 94 homeruns from &#8217;03 to &#8217;06. He fell off after that and has hit 13 homeruns since with Houston, San Diego and the Yankees. He could win a bench job and could  be needed if injuries hit either Evan Longoria or Carlos Pena. I like the move with Ensberg. All in all, it was a pretty good offseason for the Rays. I love the Matt Joyce/Edwin Jackson swap and I really think the Rays stole one there. Joyce will most likely start the season in the minors also as the Gabe platoon (Kapler/Gross) will hold down RF until the Rays feel he&#8217;s ready. When you look at how the Rays handle their organization they have seemingly set themselves up pretty nice. Joyce can stay in Durham and develop until [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>The Rays are smarter than the Yankees.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/the-rays-are-smarter-than-the-yankees/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/the-rays-are-smarter-than-the-yankees/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:47:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AJ Burnett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Akinori Iwamura]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alex Rodriguez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Pettitte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bernie Williams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BJ Upton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bobby Abreu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston Red Sox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carl Crawford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carl Pavano]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carlos Pena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CC Sabathia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chien-Min Wang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chuck Knoblauch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Darrell Rasner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Ortiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Price]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Derek Jeter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Derek Lowe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dustin Pedroia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edwin Jackson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evan Longoria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gabe Gross]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[George Steinbrenner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Giambi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Niemann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeremy Hellickson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Leyritz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joba Chamberlain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Johnathan Papelbon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonny Gomes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Youkilis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kyle Farnsworth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles Dodgers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mariano Rivera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Joyce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Mussina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitch Talbot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Yankees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Phil Hughes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rocco Baldelli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Brosius]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Kazmir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trever Miller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troy Percival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wade Davis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wilson Betemit]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=456</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was a busy week in the AL East and I had to sit down and look at it tonight. I&#8217;ve been listening to the radio and reading about the moves being made and I came up with this. The Rays are much smarter than the Yankees.  There are a few good things about being a small market team and they&#8217;re showing during the winter baseball season. Let&#8217;s break it down. The Yankees signed CC Sabathia to a $161 million deal and brought one of the best pitchers in baseball to New York. But how much did this improve them? I honestly don&#8217;t think it improved them much at all. Think about it like this. They signed a guy that won 17 games last year to replace a guy that won 20. Now I&#8217;ll say that Sabathia is better than Mussina and he would&#8217;ve probably won 22 or 23 games with the Yankees last year with the same run support Mussina got, but that&#8217;s still only a 3 game improvement. Not enough for that kind of money. They also signed AJ Burnett to fill in the rotation but they haven&#8217;t re-signed Andy Pettitte yet. That&#8217;s a 4 game improvement if [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Five moves the Rays should make.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/five-moves-the-rays-should-make/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/five-moves-the-rays-should-make/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:57:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Akinori Iwamura]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Friedman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Sonnanstine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ben Zobrist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BJ Upton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston Red Sox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brandon Lyon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brian Fuentes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carl Crawford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carlos Guillen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carlos Pena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Bradford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dan Wheeler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Price]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dioner Navarro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edwin Jackson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elijah Dukes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evan Longoria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Francisco Rodriguez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gabe Gross]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gary Sheffield]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grant Balfour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.P. Howell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Shields]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Bartlett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Niemann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Beimel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Maddon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonny Gomes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles Dodgers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magglio Ordonez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Garza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miguel Cabrera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitch Talbot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Burrell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia Phillies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reid Brignac]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rocco Baldelli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Kazmir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shawn Riggans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trever Miller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Willy Aybar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=371</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[    In the spirit of trying to keep up with the goings on of the hot stove league I&#8217;ve decided to look at the possibilities and suggest five moves the Rays should make to improve their team. I will try to be as realistic as I can be while trying to view things from both sides. Let&#8217;s roll with it and see how it goes. Sign Joe Beimel: Starting slow and sounding as simple as possible, I know, but the addition of Beimel as Trever Millers replacement would be a huge upgrade to an already good bullpen. Beimel has done very well in the last few years with the Dodgers and, as a type B free agent, there would be no draft picks lost. Beimel could legitimately be used in more situations than just the lefty on lefty matchups if needed, but would be the ideal guy to slot in with Howell, Balfour and Wheeler in shutting teams down from the seventh inning on. There is a lot of competition out there for Beimel but I think it could be done. Re-sign Rocco Baldelli: One of those sentimental moves I think both sides would go for. The only problem that [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Rays season over, sigh.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-season-over-sigh/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-season-over-sigh/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:36:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Akinori Iwamura]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Al Reyes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Sonnanstine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ben Zobrist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BJ Upton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carl Crawford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carlos Pena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Bradford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cliff Floyd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dan Wheeler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Price]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eric Hinske]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evan Longoria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fernando Perez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gabe Gross]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gary Glover]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grant Balfour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.P. Howell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Shields]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Bartlett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Niemann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonny Gomes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Juan Salas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kurt Birkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Garza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitch Talbot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nathan Haynes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rocco Baldelli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Dohman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Kazmir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shawn Riggans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trevor Miller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Troy Percival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Willy Aybar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=336</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[   Time to wrap up the Rays season. What a season we had here, never saw this coming. I thought, the same as everyone else, the Rays would improve but not to this extent. Let&#8217;s wrap it up&#8230; The defense: The most dramatically improved thing on this team was the defense. The arrival of Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria made this into the best left side defense in baseball. I was skeptical of Bartlett in the beginning (no need to bring my stupidity there again) as he had some unexplained throwing errors early but recovered to have a great season (should&#8217;ve got the gold glove over Young in my opinion). Longo was great defensively from day one and that&#8217;s that. Aki transitioned nicely over to second and Pena (won gold glove) was phenomenal. Having Pena at the corner saved Barty and Longo at least 5 errors a piece. Navarro&#8217;s improvement behind the plate was far and away the most amazing difference I saw. He was such a different player all around this year that I want to compare images from last season to see if this is the same guy. Unreal! Crawford and Upton were very good and have the [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Rays avoid an embarrassing sweep at home.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-avoid-an-embarrassing-sweep-at-home/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-avoid-an-embarrassing-sweep-at-home/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:50:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Akinori Iwamura]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alex Rodriguez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BJ Upton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dioner Navarro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gabe Gross]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Bartlett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Yankees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Kazmir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Willy Aybar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=301</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Rays ended the madness tonight and got away with a 7-5 win to avoid being swept by the retirement home bandits. They had a big inning in the second in which they scored 5 runs on hits by Gross, Aki and Aybar and things looked back to normal on the mound and in the field. The crowds picked up the last two nights also with 25,000 plus at both games. It got scary but it worked out. Anyway, let&#8217;s get to it. Kazmir still isn&#8217;t right. He is slowly improving but there still appears to be something wrong with him. He threw 6 innings of one hit ball with five walks. That&#8217;s right, 5 freakin walks! I don&#8217;t know how he got away with it against the Yanks but he did. I can only hope that there&#8217;s nothing seriously wrong with him and it all is corrected by the time the playoffs roll around. I have given credit to Jason Hammel in the past for having the toughest job on the team. No more. That was completely embarrassing tonight to have to bring in your closer to finish off a game that you were winning 7-0 in the ninth. [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Rays grab Bradford, Crawford back in lineup.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-grab-bradford-crawford-back-in-lineup/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-grab-bradford-crawford-back-in-lineup/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:25:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Al Reyes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltimore Orioles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ben Zobrist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bradford crawford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carl Crawford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Bradford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Bartlett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rocco Baldelli]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=275</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[   A couple of Rays notes for the day. The snagged reliever Chad Bradford off of waivers from the Orioles and will be sending the infamous &#8220;player to be named later&#8221;. Bradford is a capable reliever who I can&#8217;t stand watching, but is effective. He is one of the few submarine style pitchers left in the game and is a groundball machine. I would expect to see him in those situations that require a double play ball and against tough right handed hitters. He&#8217;s having a good season to the tune of a 3-3 record with a 2.45 ERA. We can only speculate on who&#8217;s going to be the odd man out and I would have to guess Al Reyes. Rays Index thinks Jason Hammel may be gone (who they don&#8217;t seem to be a big fan of) but I gotta think that Hammel serves more of a purpose than Reyes and there isn&#8217;t anyone to really take his long relief spot. After watching the 85 mph balloons Reyes has been throwing lately I gotta think he&#8217;s on the way to the DL at least. In other news The Heater is also reporting that Carl Crawford will be back in the [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Rays in October. Let&#8217;s give props.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-in-october-lets-give-props/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-in-october-lets-give-props/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:04:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BJ Upton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Durham Bulls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Maddon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonny Gomes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=265</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[   I&#8217;m going to ramble a little more here but I&#8217;ll try to make it quick. The first thing up is about the new commercial from Major League Baseball about the postseason. I was watching the new promo about October and it really shocked me when I saw the Rays in there. Has anyone else seen this? I&#8217;m a firm believer in the Rays making the post-season, but I was completely shocked when I saw that MLB actually put them in the commercial. Crazy! Anyway, I want to do something here. I have been getting picked on a lot by readers, friends and other people who say I&#8217;m too negative. Everyone is telling me that I find too much to bitch about with the Rays doing so good. Maybe, but who wants to read &#8220;the Rays are great&#8221; everyday, especially when we all know they still have some problems. That being said, I know I do focus on negatives and I know where I get it. My dad. I love my Dad, but he always pointed out the negatives and never emphasized the positives. Most of that was because my Mother never said anything negative. I remember when I was [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Rays rumors and options.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-rumors-and-options/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/rays-rumors-and-options/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Sonnanstine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brian Fuentes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clint Barmes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Price]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Demaso Marte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edwin Jackson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Bay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Niemann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonny Gomes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Justin Ruggiano]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Texiera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Holliday]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Murton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Yankees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pittsburg Pirates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rocco Baldelli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Mahay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trevor Miller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xavier Nady]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=257</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[   There are a ton of rumors swirling around the Rays as the deadline approaches this Thursday and they&#8217;ve got everyone guessing as to what they&#8217;re gonna do. I know my stomach dropped Friday when I saw the Yankees had obtained Xavier Nady and Demaso Marte from the Pirates. I really wanted Nady and thought the Rays could&#8217;ve gotten him using some sort of package involvingguys like Edwiin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann or Andy Sonnanstine. The Pirates need pitching and the Rays have some to spare, so what happened? It&#8217;s anybone&#8217;s guess. This is hard for me to swallow for two reasons. It really helps the Yanks, who are coming fast, and it blocked the Rays from the deal. They killed us twice so to speak. This all leaves me wondering what the Rays plan to do. They&#8217;re being linked to guys like Brian Fuentes, Ron Mahay, Clint Barmes (god no), Jason Bay (no way that&#8217;s going to happen), Matt Murton, Mark Texiera and Matt Holliday (just for fun on the last two). I&#8217;m getting more frustrated with this because they don&#8217;t seem to be actively trying to move a Jackson, Hammel or Sonnanstine the way they should be. When David Price [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sonnanstine shines in win.</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/sonnanstine-shines-in-win/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/sonnanstine-shines-in-win/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2008 02:24:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Sonnanstine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edwin Jackson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kirk Birkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Garza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Kazmir]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/?p=182</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[   Andy Sonnanstine threw another gem tonight as the Rays beat the Oriole&#8217;s 8-1 to even the series at one. This is creating a nice problem for the Rays as Sonny has pitched very well so far to the tune of four wins in the first month. Jackson is still up and down and Hammel had a rough night last night but they seem to be locked into spots due to the lack of options. We have harped on this but what are the Rays going to do when Kaz comes back Sunday? I&#8217;ve been on board with shopping and moving Edwin Jackson (I still am) but that&#8217;s not likely to happen so I have thought of something and I would like some opinions on it. I&#8217;m not sure so I would like someone to tell me but I believe that Matt Garza has more options. If that is so I would love to see the Rays send him down when Kazmir returns. I like Garza and think he&#8217;ll do fine here and I understand the pressure on the organization to keep him up here because of the trade but it makes more sense to me to send him down [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What will the Rays do with the pitching staff?</title>
		<link>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/what-will-the-rays-do-with-the-pitching-staff/</link>
		<comments>http://tampabaysportsblog.com/tampa-bay-rays/what-will-the-rays-do-with-the-pitching-staff/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:37:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Brannelly</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tampa Bay Rays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andy Sonnanstine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edwin Jackson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jason Hammel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Niemann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matt Garza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Kazmir]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tampabaysportsblog.com/2008/04/22/what-will-the-rays-do-with-the-pitching-staff/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[   There is a conundrum for the Rays they have never had to deal with before. They might have too much pitching. I&#8217;ll say it again, they just might have too much pitching. Crazy right? With Matt Garza due to come off the disable list and make a start on Friday and Scott Kazmir due back in early May the Rays have to make some tough decisions. The easiest choice I&#8217;m guessing would be to option Andy Sonnanstine to AAA Durham and stick with the rotation of Shields, Kazmir, Jackson, Garza and Hammel. What if Sonnanstine puts up another performance like he did Saturday? This is a good problem to have and we can only hope it works out for the Rays. Personally I think Jason Hammel is noticeably improved and from what I&#8217;ve seen from him mechanically and situational pitching he is for real and should be a good 4 or 5 starter in this league. The jury is still out on Matt Garza on whether the Twins pulled a fast one on us or not. I like his stuff but the rest leaves a lot to be desired. His mechanics are a little off and I&#8217;m not sure what to make [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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