For this I apologize, I always hate letting down my readers, especially if you are itching to check out this page for your daily Tampa Bay Rays news.

However, the reason for the neglect is actually a very good one.

At around 11pm on Thursday, April 13^th, I found out I am going to be a father.

That’s right me and the first lady of TampaBayRaysFan.com have our first lil Rays fan on the way. Of course, I took the weekend off to celebrate and let our parents know they are going to be grandparents—for the first time!

With the baby on the way, we are going to be moving from Kentucky back to Florida so we can be closer to family. Which is also great news, because truth be told, I hated being this far away from all the Rays fans.

We had our first doctor’s appointment today, and found out we are about 5 weeks along. My only regret is that my first child will not catch any of the Rays games this season—guess I need to subscribe to MLB TV and hook the headphones up to Kim’s belly.

I will keep you all posted on the latest news with our lil one—the soon to be newest lil Rays fan in Florida.

Each day you will be able to find the best Rays stories from across the web, as well as news about the Rays current opponent. Each topic will be in a summarized form here, and while you will get the jest of the story from reading the summary here, I encourage you to check out the entire post by clicking the link included with the summary.

You will also find that most of the links on this page will tie back into a Rays blog online, as opposed to a major media outlet. I believe it is important for fans to support bloggers because they offer a unique look on the time that is often times overlooked by major media syndication.

That said, enjoy your first “Daily Mashup”

Rays Sign Joaquin Benoit to Minor League Deal

This signing could prove to be big for the Rays if Benoit can put together a strong spring. The 32 year old reliever has a 30-26 career win loss record, with 538 strikeouts and a 4.79 ERA. Benoit is coming off of major arm surgery, but if he can rebound, he could contribute for the Rays. They have had great success as of late with pitchers signed to minor league contracts (see Randy Choate & Winston Abreu)

New look for Sunday home games in 2010

The Rays will sport a new, light blue jersey for all Sunday home games this year. The jerseys will officially be unveiled this Sunday at Champs Sports by James Shields, Matt Garza, Jeff Niemann & Kelly Shoppach. Personally, I am not a fan of all the jersey alternatives teams have these days, because let’s face it, it is JUST done so we all buy more apparel, but I will say in a brief preview online earlier this week, these things did look pretty sharp.

Could CC possibly be any faster? Yep!

Hard to imagine that Carl Crawford could get any faster on the base paths, but if this story holds true, it could be a fantastic year for speedy All Star left fielder. Now, if we could only speed up his contract negotiations.

Upton loses arbitration

Center fielder B.J. Upton lost his arbitration case with the Rays, but DID get a raise. It was ruled Upton will make 3 million this year, which is $300,000 less than he was hoping for. Who is splitting hairs right? I can only hope that Upton does not get lazy now that he has a payout that is more suiting to his capability. I say, if Upton shows bad attitude and laziness this year, it may be time for the Rays to cut ties and trade him while they can get something back, but that is just my opinion.

Even if you knock Zobrist a bit for not playing a single position full time, he still dominates Young across the board in all categories and played 6 positions in the field for the Rays this year. Last year’s vote of Jason Bartlett as the team MVP over Evan Longoria was defensible but someone has to explain to me in what universe Michael Young was a more valuable player than Ben Zobrist in 2009.  While that is not as bad as the guy picking Miguel Cabrera as the best player in the league, it is disappointing that Zobrist get slighted by the guy that sees him play most. If Jason Bartlett’s 2008 season was good enough for a 5th place vote from Topkin, certainly Zobrist’s amazing 2009 season deserved better than an 8th place vote.

Had he not made the team, it would have been the first time since 1993 that the Home Run leader going into the All Star game was NOT an All Star.

Mickey Tettleton was with the Detroit Tigers in 1993 and did NOT make the All Star team despite leading the AL in home runs at the break.

A couple of programming notes this morning via Marc Lancaster…

• The entire Rays infield will now be in St. Louis for the All-Star game. Carlos Pena has been added to the AL roster to replace Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia’s wife is currently in the hospital and may be set to deliver their baby a few weeks early.
• Also, Grant Balfour has been added to the bereavement list and John Jaso has been promoted and will join the team today. This is likely just a one game move as Balfour is expected back Friday. Jaso appeared in 5 games for the Rays last September.

On a side note…does the removal of Pedroia make Ben Zobrist the starting second baseman for the AL?

I am glad to see Jaso called up, even if its not for long. He has been a favorite of mine for a year or two now, and despite what others say, I think Jaso is the catcher of the future for the Rays. With Dioner Navarro disappointing this year, and Shawn Riggins always seeming to find his way to the DL, hopefully Jaso will get his chance very soon.

Thomas E Gemkow | Tampa Bay Rays | Blog

I took the last few weeks off to rest up before the start of what hopes to be a whirlwind season, and the new

The addition of Pat Burrell as a DH this off season has paid off big for the Rays so far this spring.

updates will be coming fast and frequent as we get closer to Opening Day. If you have been to the page in the last week, you have probably noticed that the look of the page has changed completely. This is in an effort to create a better experience for you, the reader. The new scheme will allow flawless integration of a fan forum, that I hope to have up and running by the start of the season…so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

The page has also been added to blog roll for www.baseballdigest.com and www.draysbay.com, which will give our Ray’s even more exposure to the world, through the eyes of the fans. I have said from day one that this page is all about the fans, so join the cause! Email me your thoughts about the team, your ideas, and any work you want to contribute! We want to hear from you.

Also new on the page are some links on the bottom footer and sidebar to special deals on apparel, tickets, and other merchandise that I as a fan find appealing, and you as a fan, probably will too. Also, there is a store that has www.tampabayraysfan.com specific apparel on it…go check it out!

But enough of the shameless plugs, and onto something that is REALLY exciting! Has anyone else noticedwhat a great spring our biggest off season addition is having? That’s right…Mr. Pat Burrell.

Burrell has played in 13 games this spring so far, registering 29 at bats, and in that time at the plate he has notched 11 hits, 2 home runs, driven in 12 runs and has a crazy average of .379 with an OBP of .486 and a slugging percentage of .655. Sounds like the investment made so far…has been one that is worth while. Let’s hope that can carry over into the regular season when things start to count.

But let’s look PAST the huge numbers he has put up, and talk about the classy act of taking out an ad in the paper back in Philadelphia to thank the fans. Again, another move loaded with integrity…and totally in keeping with Andrew Friedman’s uncanny ability to add talent to a team without sacrificing core values of being a good person.

Yep, looks like Pat Burrell will fit right in on this squad.

Finally, with opening day creeping up on us…I want to hear what you would like to see different on this page. Please take the time to drop me a line at thomas.gemkow@tampabayraysfan.com and let me know what you would like to see added to the page. All suggestions will be granted serious consideration.

As always, check back often and keep some ideas flowing!

Pat Burrell | Tampa Bay Rays | Sports Blog

Why? Because, EVERYONE loves Fantasy Baseball…and I hope by sharing my story, if nothing else, it makes you feel just a bit better about your team as the season goes on.

I have played Fantasy Baseball each of the last 5 years, never with much success…hopefully things change this year and I can bring home the Championship Ring.

Yes, we are playing for real “bling bling” this year! LET’S BRING HOME THE HARDWARE BABY!

Live draft is on Sunday, March 22nd at 7:30pm….you won’t hear much about “The Empire” until then.

Draft recap to follow on the 23rd. Maybe a few live updates. Time will tell.

Wish me luck…weekly updates to follow.

Tampa Bay Rays | Sports Blog | Fantasy Baseball

ONLY 1 DAY 8 HOURS and 36 MINUTES UNTIL PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT TO SPRING TRAINING!

This is another great video from timesshooter2.

Tampa Bay Rays | Sports Blog | 2008 Season

There are tons of social networking resources out there on the web, with tons of fans showing their support for the team, however, there are not many blogs that do this same thing.

Send me your pictures of you, wearing your favorite Rays attire. I want to create a strong fan theme, and what better way to do that, than to show fans, sporting their favorite Rays attire.

Throughout the season, I will be creating a section of this, completely driven by photos of our fans, but this section of the page cannot thrive without your participation!

Be creative, be crazy, show your love for the team, just keep it tasteful…this is a family friendly site!
Your photo submissions can be sent to thomas.gemkow@tampabayraysfan.com.
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Once your photo has been approved, I will send you a confirmation email with a link to where you can find your picture on the page.

Looking forward to hearing from you all soon…

–TEG

Tampa Bay Rays | Sports Blog | Fan Photos

While it IS really cool that the team has a rap song about them, the song IS further indication that rap music is getting increasingly worse by the minute.

Anyway…enjoy, and go give timesshooter2 some love on their YouTube site…great local sports videos on there.

“Celebrate the Tampa Bay Rays’ miraculous “worst to first” season with this commemorative look at their first trip to the playoffs and the World Series. Photos and video by St. Petersburg Times staff with music by Cristol of Hushboy Productions. [Video editing by Jack Rowland | tampabay.com]“

World Series | Tampa Bay Rays | Video Blog