Congrats to Astro (and of course David Price), and hopefully plenty more fun (and SportsCenter appearances) and are ahead for the Rays in 2013.

With no major league games going on right now, something tempting to do is to check the ESPN MLB Transactions Page vigorously to find out whenever your team makes a move. I have unfortunately fallen into that habit- and got completely duped. Here’s what I saw.

My first reaction was “Oh, the Rays must have signed another potential bullpen arm. Cool.” My second reaction was to look up his stats. Good thing I did. Who is Hector Lopez? He’s a 6’4″, 192 right-hander who is just 17 years old and pitched at the Rays’ complex league team in Venezuela last season. He managed just a 7.27 ERA and a 14-21 strikeout to walk ratio in 17.1 innings across 13 appearances before getting released in August. No, we will not be seeing him in the major leagues next season. He definitely has some projection remaining and may have some potential, but even in the best-case scenario, we’re not seeing him in the big leagues for four more years at the absolute bare minimum and there’s a negligible chance he actually reaches the major leagues. Congrats to Lopez that the Rays see enough ability in him to bring him back for another season, but the moral of the story here is don’t analyze transactions before looking at the stats.

(Side-note: if his career was taking place now, the Rays would have loved to sign the Hector Lopez who played with the Royals and Yankees from 1955-1966. That Lopez was a career .269/.330.415 hitter (103 OPS+) while seeing time at every position on the diamond other than pitcher. He had his best season in 1959 when he hit .283 with 22 homers and 93 RBI.)

In terms of actual moves that could make an impact on the big leagues next season, a pair of former Rays minor leaguers are heading to the Minnesota Twins: right-hander Bryan Augenstein and infielder Ray Olmedo. Both of them are Quad-A type players who have bounced from organization to organization the past few years with a spattering time in the big leagues, but Augenstein, 26, could have been a nice player for the Rays to bring back as bullpen depth thanks to a high-80′s sinker and a solid slider. Olmedo, 31, appeared in 20 games as a utility player for the White Sox this season, hitting .244. Good luck to both trying to get back to the big leagues as members of the Twins.

Triple-A International League: Game 1: Rochester Red Wings (MIN) 5, Durham Bulls 1 (7 innings)

Jim Paduch did the Bulls bullpen a huge favor by going the 7-inning complete game in this one, but the Red Wings went 3 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded just 3 as they put together 5 runs to win this game. Paduch went 7 innings allowing 5 runs, 4 earned, on 8 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1. His groundout to flyout ratio was 5-7. He didn’t pitch that bad, but he was victimized by the sequencing in which he allowed his hits, allowing 2 hits after a second inning error and 3 hits, including the only extra-base hits he allowed in the game, in the 5th. The Bulls got very little offense, with Stephen Vogt needing to do everything by himself, going 2 for 3 with a solo home run. Jesus Feliciano and Leslie Anderson had the only other Durham hits.

Game 2: Durham Bulls 4, Rochester Red Wings 3

Henry Wrigley slammed a 7th inning walk-off single to lead the Bulls to a doubleheader split. Chris Archer got the start for the Bulls but was on a strict 45-pitch limit coming off an oblique injury. He tossed 2.2 innings allowing 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 1 while walking none and posting a 4-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Frank De Los Santos followed with a scoreless inning before Ryan Reid managed one of the most bizarre pitching lines you’ll ever see: 1 inning pitched, 0 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs allowed. He also hit a batter and Adam Liberatore and Bryan Augenstein allowed the runners they inherited from Reid to score. Sorry, Ryan. Liberatore allowed a run without recording an out while Augenstein tossed 2.1 shutout innings allowing just a hit while striking out 2 and posting a 4-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Augenstein, 26, appeared in brief big league stints with the Diamondbacks and Cardinals, throws in the high-80′s with a sinker-slider arsenal that forces a ton of groundballs and he could make an appearance with the Rays before the season is through. Leslie Anderson slammed a 3-run homer in the second inning to give the Bulls a 3-0 lead, but the bullpen gave it back, requiring Wrigley’s heroics. Wrigley and Cole Figueroa each had 2 hits in the game.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 5, Birmingham Barons (CHW) 4 (10 innings)

The Biscuits rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead, and they managed to come away with a win in extra innings. Nick Barnese got the start and pitched OK, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits in 5 innings, striking out 3, walking 3 as well, and posting a 2-5 groundout to flyout ratio. He allowed all his hits and runs in the third inning. Marquis Fleming and Chris Rearick combined for 3 shutout relief innings behind him. Kyeong slammed a solo homer and Ty Morrison laced an RBI single to pull the Biscuits within 3-2 before the Biscuits stole 2 runs in the 8th thanks to a pair of unearned runs but Luis Sierra lined a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the 9th for Birmingham against Kirby Yates to send the game into extras. Brad Coon gave the Biscuits a 5-4 lead with a 2-out RBI single in the 10th, and Yates tossed a scoreless 10th as the Biscuits won 5-4. The Biscuits scored their 5 runs on just 6 hits, with only Morrison (2 for 4) having a multi-hit day.

Low-A Midwest League: Clinton LumberKings (SEA) 10, Bowling Green Hot Rods 9

The Hot Rods fell behind 5-0 and 10-4 in this game before battling back, but it wasn’t enough as they came up just short. Trevor Shull and Jason McEachern allowed all 10 runs over the first 7 innings, although half of them were unearned as the Hot Rods’ defense collapsed. Stayton Thomas tossed 2 scoreless innings to end the game for Bowling Green and give them a chance to come back. The Hot Rods scored 3 in the 8th before a Drew Vettleson 2-run shot brought the Hot Rods within a run, but that was all they could get. Vettleson had a huge game for Bowling Green, going 3 for 5 with a homer, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored, Cameron Seitzer went 3 for 5 with a homer short of the cycle, driving in 1 and scoring 3 more, and Jake Hager went 2 for 3 with a triple and 2 walks.

Short Season-A New York-Penn League: Hudson Valley Renegades 8, Aberdeen Ironbirds (BAL) 2

The surging Renegades came up huge again to pull off a 4-game sweep of the Ironbirds. Jesse Hahn delivered his second good start in a row, going 4 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 3 while walking 1 and posting a 6-2 groundout to flyout ratio. Eduar Quinonez and later Dylan Floro each threw 2 shutout relief innings for the Renegades, and they posted a 15-3 groundout to flyout ratio as a team, a very good sign. The offense delivered two 4-run innings, with Ryan Dunn having the big blow with a 3-run home run in the first inning. Luke Maile also went 2 for 3 with a double, 3 RBI, and run scored for the Renegades, while Joey Rickard went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and Charles Epperson went 2 for 4 with a stolen base and a run scored.

The Rays have to love everything they have seen from their third rounder Toles. (Credit: Matt Rice, Wicked Local)

Advanced Rookie Appalachian League: Princeton Rays 13, Johnson City Cardinals 3

The P-Rays offense clicked on all cylinders as they rolled over the Cardinals. Alex Keudell, who was the University of Oregon’s ace this past season, made his first professional start following 6 relief appearances and pitched well, going 3 shutout innings allowing 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 and posting a 4-1 groundout to flyout ratio. After Randy Davis allowed 2 runs in 2.2 innings, Hugo Duarte tossed 2.2 one-run frames, striking out 5, before Willie Gabay and Nick Sawyer tossed a scoreless inning each, with Sawyer striking out 2, to close out the game. The offense? They went 6 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded just 5 runners all game. Alvin Toles went 3 for 4 with a double, a homer, a stolen base, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Reid Redman went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Ariel Soriano went 3 for 4 with a double, a stolen base, and 2 RBI, moving from right field to shortstop in the game as he showcased his incredible versatility, Julian Morillo had a pinch-hit 2-run home run, and finally Oscar Hernandez had a breakout game, going 2 for 4 with a run scored to hopefully break his slump.

#Rays Longoria’s rehab assignment suspended indefinitely after experiencing discomfort in hamstring tnight

— Joe Smith (@TBTimesRays2) June 19, 2012

Longoria is going to rejoin the Rays to continue his rehab as the trainers and doctors try to figure out what went wrong. Hopefully this only sets him back a couple of days and he’ll be back soon.

A couple of other rehabbing big leaguers, Jeff Keppinger and Kyle Farnsworth, made rehab appearances without anything going wrong, as I discussed earlier. Keppinger went 2 for 4, and Farnsworth had quite an outing, not in terms of performance but in terms of just how statistically strange his performance was. Please check that out.

The Rays have 24 men on their roster and will have to make a move after sending down reliever Brandon Gomes after Sunday’s game, who made appearances on Friday and Saturday, allowing 1 run in 3 innings but that run was the deciding run in the 15th inning of Saturday’s (into Sunday) Marathon. Keppinger may be a player who the Rays will consider for that spot, but they were likely call up another reliever. Two names to throw out are Dane De La Rosa, who has already made a big league appearance this season, and Bryan Augenstein, who has allowed just 1 earned run with a 26-2 strikeout to walk ratio in 20 innings at Triple-A. Reid Brignac could also be an option after his hot streak at Triple-A.

And we close with a couple more draft signings: 26th round RHP Jason Wilson and 33rd round RHP Luke Goodgion. I discussed both pitchers as interesting upside plays late in the draft thanks to their electric arsenals. For scouting reports on every Rays 2012 Draft Pick, please check out our Rays 2012 Draft Profiles page here at RCG.