Jack Dickey Sports on Earth interviewed Gary Sheffield, which normally wouldn’t have much to do with the Rays, but Sheffield, a Tampa native, brought them up and not in a good context. Sheffield wanted to end his career in Tampa Bay in 2010 like fellow Tampa natives Tino Martinez and Fred McGriff, but the Rays disrespected him and turned him down. The difference between Sheffield and Martinez/McGriff is that when Martinez and McGriff were on the team, the Rays were a last-place and had nothing to lose bringing in local guys for goodwill with the fans. Now, the Rays are a contender trying to make the postseason and hopefully beyond every season and they don’t have the time to be sentimental. It would have been nice for Sheffield to finish his career with his hometown team, but the Rays could not have cared less about that as they do everything they can to consistently win games.

And finally, Robert Trigaux of the Tampa Bay Times talked about The Baseball Stadium Financing Caucus, whose results will be made public soon, and how existing taxes could be shifted to fund the new stadium rather than levying more taxes on Tampa Bay residents. It’s great to know that a new stadium could for the Rays could be accomplished without much additional strain on the community, and hopefully the official announcement of the Caucus’ results sparks even more discussions regarding that potential new stadium.

Another idea I had and just dont know why its not being done, is to sign Gary Sheffield to the league minimum and see what happens.  There is nothing but upside that can come from signing him, especially when he wants to play here and wants to prove he still has some baseball left in the tank. He only needs one homerun to hit the 500 hr milestone and is from the Tampa Bay area, graduating from Hillsborough High School. If he doesnt pan out just cut him. To me he brings more to the table than the “Gabe Brothers” do.