In Rays that may or may not make any difference at all, Rays president Matthew Silverman bought a 1.5 million dollar house in St. Petersburg. He could obviously sell the house, but it’s nice to see a high-ranked Rays executives set down his roots with a major financial commitment in Tampa Bay, and hopefully the Silverman family with be staying there for a long time.

To finish, Marc Topkin, writing for Baseball America, talked to Rays Director of Minor League Operations Mitch Lukevics about left-handers Enny Romero and Felipe Rivero, both players who the Rays protecting on their 40-man roster this offseason. Lukevics gave nice reviews of both pitchers

In Romero, Lukevics said, the Rays see a pitcher who is “big and strong with plus-plus stuff. He’s a big arm with big stuff. There’s still room for development but we feel there’s a lot of upside there.”

And though he has had some control problems, Lukevics added, “We are confident that he can throw strikes and will throw strikes.”

Rivero is not as big or strong, Lukevics said, but has “a lightning quick arm with a good feel for command for all of his pitches.”

The Rays are excited to see what Romero and Rivero can do for their team in coming years and believe they have a pair of pitchers with the ability to continue the strong tradition of starting pitching that the Rays have established.

Lies!!!!! RT @ken_rosenthal: Source: #Rays will send James Shields and Wade Davis to #Royals for Wil Myers and other prospects.

— David Price (@DAVIDprice14) December 10, 2012

Just woke up and saw the WD-40 and juego G are now kc Royals?!? Holy frijoles!!

— Matt Moore(@MattyMoe55) December 10, 2012

Even almost 12 hours later, the news is only starting to register. But everyone realizes that what’s done is done, and that they will have to move on without Shields.

It’s all still true…it was awesome being both wd’s and big games teammates!! They will both be missed

— David Price (@DAVIDprice14) December 10, 2012

Not looking forward to facing Juego & WD-40 next season…those guys are good. #baseballbusiness

— Elliot Johnson (@ElliotJohnson9) December 10, 2012

Shields is ready to start a new chapter in his career, but still can’t believe it’s over for him in Tampa Bay.

Now ex-#Rays P Shields: Excited to go to #Royals, but “it’s definitely a sad day for me and my family.”

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 10, 2012

Rays Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and president Matthew Silverman talked about the trade to Marc Topkin.

“We’re always trying to thread the needle,” executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. “As an organization, we rely more on contributions of our young players than basically anyone else in baseball. And with this trade, we’re hoping to replenish our system and add a lot of players we feel like can help us sustain this run of success that we’ve had for the last five years.”

“Personally I think this is the most difficult trade we’ve made to date,” he said. “Both guys were drafted and developed here, they’ve been key players in this organization’s turnaround and they’re both really high-quality people. It’s a painful loss for our club, but I’m confident in our resilience and the talent that will be returning to the field next season.”

  “As you know we’re always cognizant of our financial situation and we’re managing it with every transaction we make, whether it s a trade like this or it’s signing a player to a contract like we did with Evan (Longoria) just a little bit ago,’’ team president Matt Silverman said. “We run this team as if we’re balanced on the head of a pin, and there’s very little margin for error. I’d say zero margin for error. We’ve accepted that, we understand that and it factors into all the decisions we make. As Andrew said, this isn’t an easy one. None of them are easy, but when you’re talking about two guys who have the history with this franchise, two guys who are so additive to our current club, it’s a tough decision to make. But it’s one that we feel that we have to make as we look ahead for the next several years trying to sustain the success that we’ve had.’’

“I loved playing in Tampa,” Upton told the Tampa Bay Times. “I loved playing with those guys. And I wish I could have continued to do that. But I think we both know that wasn’t going to happen. I was prepared to leave mentally. And I’m happy with the way it turned out.”

We all saw Upton cry during his last game with the Rays. It was clear that he couldn’t believe it was over. But it’s clear that it sunk in for him that he wasn’t going to be back and he found a way to move on. He realized that he loved his time in a Rays uniform, but at the same time it was time for him to begin the next chapter of his career and he found himself lucky enough to receive a 75.25 million dollar contract to spend the next five years in Atlanta.

“I look back on my time in Tampa with a lot of great memories and a lot of great teammates,” he said later. “I grew up in the big leagues, so there were a lot of ups and down. But I wouldn’t change a thing.”

…

(On what he’ll miss most about playing for the Rays) “The fans, man,” he said. “I know we had our ups and downs, but they really supported me. I was a Ray for 10 years, and the support meant a lot. I’ll never forget it.”

Upton’s time with the Rays was certainly not smooth sailing, but he played a major role in the Rays’ incredible run of the last five years, and even when he struggled, the Rays stuck with him and in return Upton gave the Rays everything he could. It’s sad to see Upton go, but after everything he did for the Rays, Rays fans can’t wish him anything but the best moving forward.

Speaking of Upton, Rays’ president Matthew Silverman discussed how what Upton meant to the Rays and how they will move on without him among other topics as he answered questions from fans in MLB.com’s Chatting Cage. Silverman gave some nice, honest answers, and the video is worth watching.

David Price won the Cy Young Award for the Rays a few weeks ago, but at a dinner for his charity, Project One Four, Price talked to the Tennessean about how he has kept things the same since winning the award.

“I don’t wake up and feel any different,” Price said. “I guess I see the two words ‘Cy Young’ a lot more now and I hear it a lot more, and that’s perfectly fine by me. I don’t think life has changed really. It might be a little bit different in the upcoming years, but right now I don’t think it has put a change to anything.”

…

“I want to be a normal guy walking down the street,” Price said.

David Price is obviously an unbelievable pitcher, but it’s incredible how interactive he is with fans and Twitter and he has always seemed like a very down-to-earth guy. It has been a really treat for Rays fans seeing him on the mound and off.

And finally, Fangraphs’ David Laurlia interviewed the Rays’ top draft pick from 2011 and one of their top pitching prospects, right-hander Taylor Guerrieri. The whole interview is worth the read as you can learn a lot about Guerrieri’s repertoire and his approach and development as a pitcher, and it also seems clear that the supposed attitude problems that he had entering the 2011 MLB Draft are a non-issue. Here’s a sample.

DL: How important is velocity to your game?

TG: It is important. I’m not going to lie. But I think a lot of it is about pitch sequence and location. I’ve learned a lot this summer. Like when to throw certain pitches, how to throw certain pitches and how to go up with the fastball — not just east and west, but north and south. Changing the eye levels of hitters is huge.