The Rays' newly acquired status as a destination spot for free agents comes with a caveat: They don't have nearly enough room to accommodate players who might otherwise be attractive to them. ...more

March 31, 2009

MEET A RAY NAME: Andy Sonnanstine POSITION: RHP ...more

March 26, 2009

Five weeks of spring training have passed relatively smoothly for the Rays, so Saturday probably qualified as the worst day to date. ...more

March 21, 2009

Tuesday was Matt Garza's first chance to get into a game and try out some of the things he has been working on in his bullpen sessions the last few weeks, but the Blue Jays wouldn't play along. ...more

March 10, 2009

Two of the four pitchers guaranteed a spot in the Rays' season-opening rotation will make their debut today, but Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine might not be the top attractions. Not with David Price set to make his first appearance of 2009. ...more

March 9, 2009

Sometime Tuesday afternoon, after Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine pitch a couple of innings each in their first appearances of the spring, David Price will stare down an opposing hitter for the first time since Game 5 of the World Series. ...more

March 7, 2009

James Shields is now the official ace of the Rays' staff — for what that's worth. On this team, I suspect it's not worth much because the Rays' rotation is the deepest part of a really deep team. On many clubs, Scott Kazmir would be the unquestioned stud. On many clubs, Matt Garza would be the ace. Here, he's No. 3. Andy Sonnanstine is as solid as it gets at No. 4. And in a couple of years, we could be writing about the choice of David Price as Opening Day starter. ...more

March 5, 2009

For the second consecutive season, James Shields will be called upon to set the tone for the Rays on Opening Day. But this year's assignment will be a bit sweeter. ...more

March 5, 2009

James Shields will be on the mound April 6 in Boston when the Rays begin their defense of the American League championship, Manager Joe Maddon announced today. ...more

March 4, 2009

As is usually the case when the Tampa Bay Rays play the Boston Red Sox, even in spring training, there's a lot of red in the stands at Charlotte Sports Park today, and hearty cheers greeted Boston's hitters as they stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning. Red Sox stalwarts Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and Kevin Youkilis each got a nice hand from a good chunk of the assembled masses. But when the fourth man in Boston's lineup, Rocco Baldelli, stepped to the plate, everyone cheered. ...more

February 27, 2009