Posted by  Carter Gaddis, Boston on 04/30  at  05:29 PM

Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone. Marc is actually taking a few deserved days off and I’m with the team in Baltimore. He’ll rejoin the team in Boston. Nothing new from Joe today, by the way. He did say there’s still a chance Reyes could rejoin the team in Boston, but it looks more like Reyes could wait until Tuesday in Toronto, which means Birkins would go down to make room for Kaz and they’d defer the rotation decision until Tuesday.

Posted by  RICH, TAMPA on 04/30  at  07:21 AM

WHO GOES .. WHO STAYS ? REMEMBER JOE LIKES TO HANG ON FOREVER TO SOME GUYS LIKE HE DID JACKSON IN 2007 <> SO GARZA & REYES WILL GET LONGER LOOKS BUT NOT SURE ABOUT BIRKINS STAY <> EVENTUALLY I SEE SONNY DOING THE JOB IN LONG RELIEF AND AGREE THAT SONNY OR HAMMEL MAY BE HEADED FOR L. RELIEF <> THE BETTER STARTERS MAY STILL BE AMONG PRICE,MCGEE,DAVIS,HUGHES OR NIEMANN <> KEEP AN EYE ON HELLICKSON THE STRIKE-OUT LEADER IN A BALL !!

Posted by  john towers, tampa on 04/29  at  06:09 PM

Gotta stock up on pitching. It’s a number game, so the guy with options has to be sent down. Is it fair, no? But life and sports are not fair. It’s best for the team not to trade any pitching in case someone gets hurt or falls apart.The season is early and a pitcher could easily unravel (especially a young pitcher). Also it’s not like any of the pitchers being considered have set the world on fire. They are decent to moderately good, which I will admitt is great for the Rays!!!!

Posted by  Adrian, Tampa on 04/29  at  05:00 PM

I completely agree with John, Reyes is the problem. It’s hard to be effective coming out of the bullpen when you can’t top 85 and miss your spots. Hammel and Sonny are part of the reasons we’re in first right now. Garza has struggled but has worked through it and is improving. Don’t forget he’s only had 3 starts and spent some time on the DL. Send down Reyes and Birkins and put Sonny or Hammel in long relief.

Posted by  Roman R., Tampa, FL on 04/29  at  04:26 PM

Marc, I love the blog. Keep up the great work.

Now for you question: I feel that Garza should be sent down to Durham. Hear me out. You have three guys who have earned the opportunity to stay with the Rays. Granted Garza has had only three starts, the Rays are trying to stay in first place, not trying to sttay out of last place. If Garza can show he can get things together, or one of the three fails to raise the bar, then bring him up. 

Coming into this season I had high hopes for Garza, but he has let me down.
A few years ago I would have been all for keep a guy like Garza up to take his lumps. Now, that the rays are playing big time baseball, I feel he should stay in Durham.

Posted by  Chris Lau, Tampa on 04/29  at  04:22 PM

I know this has not been brought up by a lot of people yet but I think the likely candidate to be sent down is Garza.  I believe he has options left and it would not be bad to get him down there and get some more work.  Sonny, Hammel, and E-Jacks really deserve to stay and Shields and Kaz are obviously your two front line guys.  Send Birkins down and activate Reyes in the pen as well. If Reyes cannot show he can locate his pitches and continues to get hit, then you can designate him for assignment and call up Garza.

Posted by  John, tampa on 04/29  at  03:52 PM

I think the big problem is Reyes more than Kaz.  They could send down Birkins (if he has options left) who they don’t use and put Sonny in a long relief role and put Reyes on wavers.  It is going to be hard to get rid of him but if he passes through send him to Trip-A and eat that contract.  That is the hardest thing for them to do though is EATING A CONTRACT. Kaz takes Birkins roster spot and Sonny’s rotation spot and that should be that.  This also gives removes the head ache of calling up Sonny if he needs to get a spot start for someone. The fact is Reyes, who I believed only reached 85 on the gun in his rehab appearences, is not one of the 12 best pitchers on this staff anymore so he and Birkins should be the odd men out.

Posted by  Amy DeLettre,  on 04/29  at  03:39 PM

Honestly, sending down Sonnanstine would be an injustice. Hammel and Sonnanstine have done bad in games and learned from it. Plus, they have more passion to win. Jackson is too inconsistent in games and he has had way too much time to learn from his mistakes. You can’t just send down a player because he can clear waivers. It’s okay to maybe trade someone even if they didn’t do that bad, at least they can succeed somewhere else.