Rays Notes: Longoria Set to Begin Rehab (!), Matsui DFA’d for Ryan Roberts

After way too much uncertainty, Evan Longoria is finally beginning his rehab as he looks to return to the big leagues.

Longoria flew to Durham on Wednesday to get back into game action for the first time since he suffered a setback on June 18th. Longoria will hopefully get into games over the next couple of days, and if all goes well, Longoria will be back with the Rays within a week or a week in a half. The Rays can’t wait.

As first reported by Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Hideki Matsui has been designated for assignment for the Rays. The move was made to accomodate the newest Ray, Ryan Roberts, on the roster. Matsui’s stint with the Rays was a complete disaster. Matsui was once a superstar player in Japan and then in the US, and he was the picture of consistency and professionalism. It’s sad to see his career end like this. Roberts, meanwhile, slammed a 2-run homer in his Rays debut.

And one other note is that the Rays are bringing back the Don Zimmer Zim Bear promotion for their September 3rd game versus the Yankees. It’s always nice to honor Zimmer, but does anyone actually think these are cute?

Even in bear form, you can see in Zim the discerning eye of a baseball lifer.