Hosts: Sonny and Ryan. In our final Major League Baseball preview podcast, Sonny and I assess one of the league’s toughest divisions, the AL East. Can the Boston Red Sox continue their dominance with another World Series berth? Or will Joe Girardi close out Yankee Stadium in style with championship #27? Also, how will the up-and-coming Tampa Bay Rays fare? Because this is the last preview, Sonny and I also sound off on our World Series predictions.

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The start of Spring training in Florida and Arizona has been the talk around water coolers lately. One thing likely going unnoticed is the new Caps certain MLB team will be wearing this season. Not a lot of changes, but some interesting and noteworthy additions have been made.

First off, I am pleased to mention to you again that the Toronto Blue Jays will go retro at home inside the Rogers Centre on Friday nights this year. I feel that this new lid is unique and unmeasurable when it comes to retro caps. This cap is so nice, I have even spotted a few people around town sporting it. Heck, Sportable’s own staff writer Rich purchased his in January.

The Oakland Athletics have added yet another alternate cap to their locker this year, going with a more bold look (above). The cap is a mirror image of the other alternate hat, however, this new one has a white “A’s” with a yellow outline. I like the addition here by the A’s, but I think they should try to switch the design up a bit as they now have four hats that are all the same.

Staying in the American League, the Indians have decided to turn back the clocks this year. On Saturday June 14, the Indians will host the Padres at Progressive Field sporting this new cap and jersey to celebrate the 1970s . You have to love this plain “C”. It’s sharp and crisp to say the least. Not fancy or glamorous by any means but when it comes to sporting a clean image, this hat will do the trick.

Since the Devil Rays became the “Rays”, Tampa Bay decided to axe its look completely and go with something totally new. That changed resulted in new jerseys and a new hat. Kevin from the Sportable staff just received his new Rays hat in the mail and this is what he had to say about it: “I needed a new blue hat and I was lucky enough to stumble upon this one.”

Finally the last change on the hat rack for the 2008 season comes from Philadelphia. The Phillies will sport this new lid on certain occasions with this new alternate throwback jersey. I am a big fan of the red and blue mix that the Phillies are adapting again this year. I’m getting sick and tired of seeing the same old red and white look that has adorned the team for many years now.

All in all, I am really pleased with all of the additions this year. And if you have not had the chance to purchase one of the new 59-50 hats yet, you are missing out. NewEra created the light weight cap to not only help out with player performance, but feel more comfortable than the previous hat. Be sure to pick up your favorite team’s lid. The new season is just weeks away!

As the 2008 baseball season nears, the Sportable staff will take the time to break down every major league baseball team. We will look at their hitting and their pitching and evaluate their playoff chances.

New Name, New Look, New Result? Tampa Bay has been the definition of a struggling baseball franchise since their inception in 1998. They have managed to finish out of last place only once, and that was in 2004 under then manager Lou Piniella. This year as current manager Joe Maddon enters his third season he hopes to turn the fate of the team around, and he just might have the talent to do it.

Bats: The Rays field a trio out outfields who are among the best young talents in the game. Carl Crawford anchors the outfield and provides great speed (to the tune of 50 stolen bases last year) and is an incredible threat at the lead off position. Alongside Crawford is B.J. Upton, who in his first major league season last year joined the 20-20 club, notching 24 home runs and 22 stolen bases. Filling out the trio is Rocco Baldelli who has great potential but has always had to battle injuries throughout his career. He has shown flashes of brilliance, posting a .302 average in 92 games in 2006 but he will need to find this consistency again in 2008 for the Rays to have any hope. Knowing the unlikeliness of this actually happening, the Rays went out and acquired Cliff Floyd to step in once Baldelli goes down, and they hope this isn’t a significant decrease in productivity. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone in Tampa Bay is waiting for the movement. Waiting for something that can take the new look Rays into a different position among the American League. With loads of young and upcoming talent, the Tampa Bay Rays have decided to spice things up a bit with a brand new logo and charismatic uniforms.

It was dreadful to watch the Rays get beaten up year after year by the Red Sox and Yankees inside Tropicana Field. Remember Fred McGriff taking the field in this jersey? I don’t know about you, but that uniform looked like it belonged in the minor leagues, where teams would do anything to get people in the seats. It was time for a change in Tampa and I truly believe it came at the right time.

To start things off, the Rays will take the field sporting brand new lids. During home games, the club will adorn the brand new home jersey with white pants. When the team hits the road, they will wear the same exact jersey, only in grey. The Rays will also have a new batting practice jersey to accompany the new look. An alternate jersey for the Rays has not been unveiled yet. But with most teams around the league having one, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tampa Bay come out with another dark colored jersey.

When I sum up the new look for the Tampa Bay Rays, something is different. I don’t see the Lou Pinella era or the Jose Canseco/Wade Bogg sideshow act. I see a team that has cornerstones in place as they are moving into a new generation. With that said, I think the Rays deserve the new look and maybe they can turn it into a winning style.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have yet to have a winning season and, frankly, have yet to even come close. With my guidance and tomorrow’s baseball draft, I have the perfect solution to save baseball in Tampa and turn the Devil Rays organization around. All it takes is following these simple steps.

1. Draft David Price. This is a no-brainer. Price is a unanimous number one pick and has the stuff that will make him a staff ace for years to come. People are comparing him to Mark Prior as far as talent level coming out of college, but I think that comparison lobs too many injury grenades Price’s way. Also, Price isn’t signed with Agent Scott Boras, so his price tag (yes, witty puns are my forte) won’t be as high as some of the other prospects.

2. Change the uniforms. Hey, this is nothing personal against their current color scheme, but with the coming name change from “Devil Rays” to “Rays” (thanks uber-christian activists), it’s time to rock some new threads. Besides, it’s no coincidence that when teams change their uniforms, they have immediate post season success (see Denver Broncos of 1998 & Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they shit-canned Bucco Bruce and tanngerine orange for rustic red). There are enough old people with enough time on their hands to take a day off from Bingo and Cribbage and design a trendy new jersey for their home team.

3. Spend some dough. Yes, Tampa fans, this is a new sort of concept. I’m not entirely sure if Rays management is aware but the free agent pool applies to all 30 teams. That means that you don’t have to enter the season with guys who have no career wins or just flat out suck (cough cough Casey Fossum) in the starting rotation. Pony up some dough and get a headline starter to pitch after Scott Kazmir (Zambrano maybe?). I know Tampa isn’t the biggest market team in the league, but once again I’ll beat the old person drum and suggest bake sales and cookie dough fund raisers. Having only one reliable pitcher won’t win you much, especially in a division like the AL East. Get something. Read the rest of this entry »

Tampa Bay Devil Rays rookie Elijah Dukes has shown flashes of stardom in his first season in the Major Leagues. But make no mistake, he’s still a world class piece of shit. Dukes’ wife, NiShea Gilbert, has filed a restraining order against Dukes after he threatened to kill her.

Gilbert told a Florida court that Dukes threatened to kill her and sent her a photo of a handgun to her cell phone.

Gilbert played a voice mail allegedly from Dukes for the newspaper. “You dead, dawg. I ain’t even bullshitting. Your kids, too.”

Gilbert has filed requests for protection twice in the last month, according to the newspaper. A hearing on her latest request is scheduled for May 30.

I know there’s bound to be a few bad eggs in such a huge pool of athletes. But seriously, how many of these guys are pure scum? We know all about the problems the NFL and NBA have had. Then there’s this controversy with Dukes, who is trying to play himself into a regular role with the Rays. This incident won’t help matters.

When the St. Petersburg Times asked Duke about the restraining order, he refused comment, saying that he “had a video game to finish.” That’s a real acceptable answer Elijah. To hell with those allegations of you threatening to kill your wife. Go ahead and finish your game of Madden. Run that two minute drill, Elijah.