Tampa Bay Rays: (01/26) Week in Review – The Good and the Bad

The Tampa Bay Rays were in the news quite a bit this week. We review the good and the bad of the Rays newsworthy notes this week.

The Tampa Bay Rays found themselves all over the news this week. We take a look at the good and the bad news of the week regarding your Tampa Bay Rays.

Bad News

Escalation of Stu vs. St. Pete

The battle between the city of St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Rays has escalated to the brink of a Twitter war.

Mayor Rick Kriseman has prohibited the Rays from negotiating any future plans that involve a new home field, putting a halt to their sister-city plans (playing half of the home games in Montreal).

In response, the Rays have drawn a line in the sand, invoking their rights to the 86 acres where Tropicana Field sits. The Rays have threatened to block any proposed development by the city until their lease is up.

You can read more about the situation here.

More Losses Due to Astros’ Cheating?

The Astros’ cheating fallout could have side effects for Tampa Bay. The Rays’ vice president of baseball operations, James Click is reportedly interviewing for the vacant general manager position with the Houston Astros.

Click has been with the organization since 2005 and has played a crucial role behind the scenes in player evaluations and analytics.

Good News

Carlos Pena

Saturday, February 1st at 6:15 an induction ceremony will be held at Tropicana Field for the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame. Among the inductees is former Tampa Bay slugger, Carlos Pena.

Pena led the league in home runs in 2009 and won a silver slugger in 2007. Pena was honored by being on the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s ballot this year and will now be honored by the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame.

Chad Mottola

Rays’ hitting coach Chad Mottola has been elected to the AAA-International League Hall of Fame. Mottola played professionally for 16 years including his IL MVP season in 2000.

During his MVP season, he played 134 games for AAA-Syracuse (Toronto Blue Jays) and scored 85 runs, 25 doubles, 3 triples, 33 homers, 102 RBI, and 30 stolen bases.

You can find more on his induction here.

Brent Honeywell

Honeywell was on his way to Major League stardom following the 2017 season. His 2018 season was lost to Tommy John surgery. His rehab was halted with a fractured elbow in 2019. After missing two complete seasons, Honeywell is progressing well enough that he believes he’ll be throwing off a mound by the end of February.

Read more here.

Rays Dominate Rankings

Tampa Bay had the most prospects in Baseball America’s Top 100 list and led the way for MLB.com’s rankings, as well.

Brandon Lowe found himself ranked as the third-best second baseman in the American League heading into the 2020 season.

Austin Meadows was also ranked as the third-best left fielder in the American League on MLB Network’s list.

Luckily there’s more good news than bad news for Rays’ fans. Although, the prospect of losing the Rays in the near future is disconcerting. Don’t let that ruin your weekend. We have to focus on the 2020 season and supporting the boys on the field.

We’ll worry about the rest once decisions are made.

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!