MVN - Most Valuable Network

Kauffman Stadium--Rcolonna(flickr)

Outs Per Swing Chats with Joe Posnanski Again.

With the Rays playing another four game set against the Kansas City Royals, we decided to spark up a conversation with one of our favorite writers, Joe Posnanski.  Joe was gracious enough to talk to us earlier in the season in this interview.  He returns to follow up on some things including: the Gathright/Howell blockbuster, Evan Longoria and some book he’s working on.

EH: We asked you who you thought won the J.P Howell/Joey Gathright trade and you said KC.  Obviously no one saw Howell pitching this well, but  do you still feel the same way?

JoePo: Well, I could be remembering it wrong, but I don’t recall ever feeling too confident that anyone ever really WON that trade. I thought going into the year that the Royals had the edge, but I’ve always felt that Howell, being a lefty with some strikeout ability, could emerge as a useful guy. He has pitched well this year, which has been great to see. Meanwhile, Gathright has taken a bit of a step backward. So now I would say Tampa has the lead in the deal, but you have to be careful when talking about bullpen lefties: You never know. Take a look at Ron Mahay’s numbers this year. I think that unless Howell moves to the rotation and becomes an 18-game winner  or Gathright moves to the starting lineup and becomes an All-Star, this trade will be reasonably close, depending on who is hot. I’m sure Tampa is happy with the deal, though.

EH: You thought the contract Longoria signed before the season was risky. I know it’s only been part of a season, but with his great start do you still have the same views?

JoePo: Pretty much. I thought Longoria would hit, I really did. I thought it was a good risk. But it is still a gutsy move to sign a 22-year-old who has not taken a big league swing to a long term deal. I would say, though, that it sure looks like a little bit less of a risk now that the guy has a 137 OPS+ through the first half of his first season. No adjustment problems there.

EH: The Rays are one of the better teams in baseball right now and everyone is  jumping on the bandwagon.  I’m all for the publicity they’ve been getting.  It’s only been 2/3’s a season and yet everywhere I look I see articles praising the Rays.  Honestly it’s getting a little annoying. Do you think it’s a little much?

JoePo: Well, as you know, I’ve loved the Rays from the start, and I can honestly say I’m not surprised at all with what’s happening. I mean, I can’t say I expected them to have the best record in baseball, but I’m not SURPRISED that they do … I really think the team is loaded with talent. So I don’t think it’s too much coverage in that I think the Rays are very much for real.On the other hand, yeah, I can see it being a little annoying. Nobody pays attention to your team for 10 years and then suddenly everybody is a Rays expert. I think the publicity, though, is coming in waves because people can FINALLY take a moment and stop writing about the Red Sox-Yankees, who have taken up 98.3 percent of all baseball-related articles the last 15 years. There’s something new to write, and everybody wants a piece. I hate to say it but it will only get worse.

EH: The Royals seem to be following the Rays mold and are building a good young squad.  They seem to be drafting better and making smarter decisions.  How long before we see the Royals seriously make a run in the Central?

JoePo: Well, I think a little while still. I can tell you this: During spring training, when I was looking over rosters and suddenly had this, “Wow, Tampa could be REALLY GOOD,,” moment, I was really comparing them to the Royals. And what struck me was how many good young hitters the Rays had– Upton, Longoria, Crawford, you know the list — and also how many potential ACES they had on the staff (Kazmir, Shields, Price on the way). And the Royals just don’t have that sort of quality. I do like Gordon and Butler, I’m glad to see DeJesus emerging, I think Zack Greinke has ace potential, and Joakim Soria is absolutely a lights-out closer. But I don’t think the talent is as concentrated yet as it is in Tampa … it’s a slow (but hopefully sure) process in Kansas City.

EH: I’ve heard Sonnanstine and Bannister described as the most analytical pitchers in the game.  Are you disappointed that Banny doesn’t get to pitch against Sonny in this series?

JoePo: Yes. It would have been nice to see that chess match.

EH: How’s that book coming along?

JoePo: Hey, you heard that I was writing a book? That’s great. It’s going along pretty well, It will be a tight deadline, especially because I’m going to China for the Olympics, but I hope to still be on schedule to get it done later this year and out by March. Of course, I might have to break away for that Tampa World Series trip too.

Many thanks to Joe for talking with us. Check him out at Joeposnanski.com and be sure to pick up a copy of his book The Soul of Baseball and his upcoming book on the 1975 Reds.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 2:22 pm and is filed under MVN Rays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.