The World Around You

A solid start to the season for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, contributions from everybody…great win guys!

Baseball: Rays: Energized Rays beat Orioles in season opener

Congratulations to our Montgomery Biscuits, Southern League Champions for the 2nd year in a row!

montgomeryadvertiser.com�::� Biscuits win 2nd title
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Okay, I work in the field of substance abuse, and even I’m not going to this extreme. Alcohol has a place in our society, and we do have to beware of the dangers and messages sent to children, but outright bans on sales are not the way to go.

Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on their sweep of the Yankees that was wrapped up last night. The winds of change are blowing in Tampa and many former Biscuits are contributing to the charge.

Outfielder Delmon Young is no longer a Montgomery Biscuit. He has been promoted to the AAA Durham Bulls. He’ll join former Biscuit Joey Gathright in the outfield there. Young was exciting to watch while he was here and won’t be long before we hear big things from him in the majors.

Big league pitcher Dewon Brazelton, will see his first game action since May 11 in a Montgomery Biscuits uniform tomorrow night. So, if you want to see a pitcher with major league stuff, come on down to Riverwalk and check him out.

The roster of my hometown team, the Montgomery Biscuits, AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, was released yesterday. I’m excited to see the returning pitchers, including Scott Autrey, Josh Parker, Chris Flinn, Carlos Hines, Jason Cromer, and Crhis Seddon. Chairon Isenia, Fernando Cortez and Eric Reece will also be familiar to Biscuits fans.

We will also have the pleasure of yet another of the top prospects in Major League Baseball at least beginning the season in Montgomery. Delmon Young, younger brother of Detroit Tiger Dmitri Young (who had three homers on Opening Day) will be starting in the outfield for the Biscuits. Elijah Dukes another top prospect will join Young in the outfield.

As the Advertiser points out, three of this year’s Biscuits also have Major League service time. Jason Dellaero, Jason Phillips and Jason Switzer have all spent time in the big leagues.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays General Manager Chuck LaMar gave some insight into where former Biscuits will be next year and who may be coming to Montgomery in the spring during an online chat yesterday. Specifically, he ended the speculation about BJ Upton, he will start the season in AAA Durham rather than with the big club, but that once he is called up again he will be in Tampa to stay. LaMar left the door open to Joey Gathright staying in the mix in the Tampa Bay outfield, though they would prefer he gets another half season in Durham.

As for next year’s Biscuits, we can expect 2003 #1 draft pick Delmon Young to start the season in Montgomery. LaMar also suggested that Class A breakout player Elijah Dukes (.332 - .416 - .540 - 8 - 34 - 16 SB in 58 games) will be roaming the outfield of Riverwalk Stadium this season.

The Rule 5 Draft is one of the more mysterious events in professional baseball, but there was some movement of former Montgomery Biscuits in the draft on Monday.

In the Triple A portion of the draft, 3B Vince Harrison was selected by the Texas Rangers. Vince began last season in Single A Bakersfield, but played the last 57 games of the season with the Biscuits, batting .266 with 5 homeruns.

In the Double A portion of the draft, 2B Dan Dement was selected by the Washington Nationals. Dan was one of the few Biscuits with Alabama ties, having played his college ball at UAB. He had right around .256 in each of the last two seasons, but showed more power this year, with 8 homeruns.

The Biscuits parent club, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays also made a number of pick-ups that we could see in Montgomery this season. In the major league portion of the draft, they paid $100,000 to the Arizona Diamondbacks for the rights to the first pick, RHP Angel Garcia from the Twins organization. They picked up RHP Jean Machi from the Phillies organization in the Triple A portion of the draft. I don’t see anything too impressive in his stats, but he is only 20 years old.

Another selection in the Triple A portion was SS John Raburn from the Milwaukee Brewers. We saw John some last year, as he played the season with the Huntsville Stars. They also nabbed RHP Thomas Fulmer from the Mariners, RHP Richard de los Santos from the Indians and SS Brett Wayne from the Dodgers.

Finally, in the AA portion of the draft, the Devil Rays picked up OF Jhonny Rivera from the White Sox and RHP Phillip Wilson from the Angels.

It’s always nice to have some news about baseball in the cold of winter…

One of the beauties of minor league baseball is that we wipe the slate clean in the middle of the season. Everyone is 0-0 again and the Biscuits have a chance to be more competitive right out of the gate.