Posts tagged EvanLongoria at FanHouse

I have to admit, when I first saw Alexei Ramirez in a White Sox uniform, I thought the Sox had broken new ground by scouting for baseball talent in Ethiopia. The kid was so skinny that even Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen thought he was bulimic. Well, as it turns out, the Cuban import has been a fantastic addition to the White Sox this season.

I've already begun my Carlos Quentin for MVP campaign here on FanHouse, so I don't want to litter the place with more "The White Sox rule!" posts, but I have to say, Alexei deserves some recognition for A.L. Rookie of the Year. I wouldn't have said this a few weeks ago, but now with Evan Longoria on the disabled list, there's a chance Alexei could change a few minds.

Not that he cares. He's just honored to be playing here.

"It really feels like a dream right now that I don't want to wake up from," said Ramirez, who played for several national teams and for Pinar Del Rio in his native Cuba before this season.

"In certain lineups, [Griffey] has been hitting behind me, and it's an absolute honor to be in the same lineup."

"Mr. Longoria! Do you think that the 2008 Rays are the 69 Mets in disguise?"
"I don't know, but do you want to see my impression of the 2007 Mets?"
"Sure!"
"/collapses"

Cinderella's glass slipper has broken. Snow White is comatose and being cared for by dwarves. Gaston is trying to stab the Beast to death. Whatever your comparison, the Rays have hit a snag and are down with one crucial injury after another with only a few games keeping them on top of the division. The baseball world watches with anticipation to see if the team can hold together and overcome the odds.

What are the Rays going to do? Who will fill those holes in the lineup? Can you type on the Internet with a broken wrist? Do the Rays have anything to do with free agency? These questions and more (slightly more) in tonight's Dugout, after the jump.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Tampa Bay Rays (74-47) at Texas Rangers (61-62) 8:05 PM ET

It's time to face facts, boys and girls: The Tampa Bay Rays aren't going away. They lose Carl Crawford. They lose Evan Longoria. They lose Troy Percival. Those are their two best hitters and their closer. Does it matter? No. They just keep on winning ... three out of four since both Crawford and Longoria have been out of the lineup. This team will be a team to watch not only tonight, but all this week, as they visit the Angels and then host the White Sox after this Texas series ends. It's a tough go without three of their best players, but the way the Rays have gone, doubt them at your own risk.

The dog days of August are really getting to the Tampa Bay Rays. In addition to losing Evan Longoria, they've found out that they'll probably be without star Carl Crawford for the rest of the regular season with a torn finger tendon. So here's the question: Will this derail the Rays magical run to the playoffs ... especially with the Red Sox having acquired Paul Byrd for the express purpose of not blowing 10-run first inning leads?

Luckily, we have AOL's own baseball editor Andrew Johnson back for another live MLB chat, where we can discuss your Tampa Bay Rays, Byrd, Adam Dunn, the Mets' lousy bullpen, or whatever you'd like in the world of baseball. So join us at 3PM eastern for a chatting good time!

Even though a lot of people would agree that the Tampa Bay Rays are very good, there have still been a lot of doubters out there who don't think they'll be able to hold off the Boston Red Sox all season. Those doubters have gotten a lot louder in the last few days with things starting to fall apart in Tampa.

First the Rays were dealt the blow that they'd likely be without Carl Crawford for six to eight weeks (also called the season), and things didn't get much better yesterday afternoon. That's when the team found out they were going to be without probable Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria for a while as well, as Longoria was placed on the disabled list with a fractured wrist.

That's 30 home runs and 128 RBI that has vanished from their lineup -- not the kind of production you can just replace easily. Their four-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East seems a lot smaller this morning.

People were already wondering how the young Rays would deal with a pennant race late in the season without having any real experience, and now the pressure is going intensify that much more. The Rays play 26 of their final 45 games away from Tropicana Field (including the last eight games of the season). They're 45-17 at home, and also have six more games against the Red Sox . Boston on the other hand gets to play 25 of their final 43 games at home where they're 40-16.

For the first few months of the season, the Tampa Bay Rays were the darlings of baseball. While most people thought the Rays would be a vastly improved team this season, nobody was expecting the quick turnaround they've undertaken to get to the top of the AL East.

Still in the last few weeks, a lot of the hype surrounding the Rays seems to have died down. Even though they're still leading the AL East, the Manny Ramirez situation in Boston and the moves the Yankees made combined with the lack of moves in Tampa have once again knocked them off the front page. That doesn't mean Tampa is going to lose it's grip on the division, and thanks to some research done by Mark Simon of ESPN Research (which may or may not have included reading this post at OMDQ back in February), there are some signs that the Rays may end up winning the World Series this season. It turns out there are a lot of similarities between this Rays team and the 1969 Mets.

From Buster Olney's blog:

How are the 2008 Rays similar to the 1969 Mets?

On the 1969 Mets, the ace starter was 24-year-old Tom Seaver
On the 2008 Rays, the ace starter is 24-year-old Scott Kazmir
The 1969 Mets had a 61-101 record 2 years prior to winning the World Series (1967)
The 2008 Rays had a 61-101 record 2 years ago (2006)

Admit it, you think it's cool that the Home Run Derby's in Yankee Stadium tonight. The thought of Josh Hamilton launching a ball into Monument Park has you just a little more geeked than you want to admit. Truth be told, you like home runs and the Derby has a ton of them. Maybe you're an NL fan that wants to see Evan Longoria and Josh Hamilton in action, or an AL fan that's curious if Dan Uggla can really be that good. And making fun of Chris Berman and Joe Morgan, well, that's just plain fun.

Anyways, come along after the jump where I'll be joined by a number of FanHouse luminaries while we chat live during the Home Run Derby, giving you the hard hitting analysis you want for the most meaningless event this side of the Slam Dunk Contest. I'll be kicking the chat off around 7:30 while the Derby starts at 8.

Obviously the fantasy season is past the halfway point, but you gotta work with me here. There aren't any games that count for the next few days, so it's the perfect time to formulate these teams. Unlike the actual All-Star game, there are different parameters for judging who makes the fantasy All-Star team. Value matters. For example, Hanley Ramirez is obviously the best fantasy player in baseball. He was a high first round pick in every draft, though, so he's not really exceeding expectations.

There's a reason you make the fantasy All-Star team this way ... owners don't win leagues by drafting Hanley Ramirez first overall. You do, however, win your league by loading up on value picks like Josh Hamilton and Geovany Soto ... while you lose your league by taking some of the big names I'm going to list on the "bad" team.

I've named each team after their backstop. Why? I felt like it.

Let's have fun.

TEAM GEO (these are the fantasy All-Stars)

C - Geovany Soto -- You can convince me that you thought Geo was a top ten catcher and that he'd hit 20 home runs coming into the season. You can't convince me that you had him top three and on pace for almost 30.

The Home Run Derby has, in recent years, become a massive parody of itself. What used to be a short, fun diversion the night before the All-Star Game has devolved into a three-hour orgy of excess. There's three rounds now, which ensures that by the end of the night the finalists will be too tired to lift their arms over their heads, let alone hit home runs. There's a million commercial breaks and the thing never seems to end at a reasonable hour.

Still, the Derby is the only baseball on tomorrow night. The only Derby I haven't watched all of in recent memory was the one in Pittsburgh, during which I attempted to sneak a giant banner with an internet-based phrase poking fun at a certain overblown ESPN personality that loves the Derby onto the cameras. My friends and I failed, went to the bar, and yep, watched the Derby. So instead of saying that the Derby is played out and boring, let's embrace the fact that we're going to watch it anyways. A full preview of what I'm expecting from each participant and what you might see during the broadcast is after the jump.

Few players have ridden a faster rocket to baseball fame than Evan Longoria. He was a near-household name before playing a major league game, he earned a long-term contract six days into his big league career and his All-Star worthy play has helped lift the Rays to the best record in baseball. Pretty good for the first chapter in a career and certainly a guy worth watching.

According to Dave Cameron at Fangraphs, he's a lot more than that. He's the single most valuable asset in all of baseball.

Yes, I know, he only has a half season of major league experience, and we have to be careful drawing too many conclusions from sample sizes that don't include more than 300 major league at-bats. However, the value of his abilities is so great, and his contract is so ridiculously awesome for Tampa, that the positives more than outweigh the negatives and make him the guy I wouldn't trade for any other one player in the game.

Longoria is signed through the age of 31 for a total payout of about $50 million. That's a superstar at rock bottom prices which makes it hard to imagine trading him for any other player, no matter how talented. I'd agree with Cameron, then, about Longoria's lofty status. Beyond that, unless another player with his skills signs such a team-friendly contract, Longoria should continue to be the top asset for some time to come.