MADDON NOW MANAGING LIKE A WINNER

This blog has been quiet as of late, Maddon has done a real good job of managing the past few weeks. Unfortunately Dion Navarro continues to play, but at this point what options do you have since Hernandez is not starting quality for every day. Agree with Maddon, Burrell is due to break out soon.

The Bullpen has pitched great, starting pitching has been great, and they finally sent Sonnanstine down, so what more can we say at this point. Our previous blogs were about the following:

-Sonnanstine needing to be demoted(He has been)

-Howell needing a defined role(He is closing several games now)

-Maddon sticking with relievers too long(He's been changing them rapidly before they can bury the team with a mistake)

-Resting players that didn't need resting(He has been resting guys that needed it lately)

-Sending Kaz down for help or rehab(He did that and Kaz is back)

-Upton needing to hit down in the lineup(He is now proving Maddon right, and starting to show his value in leadoff, although it would be nice if he hustled out ground balls, and extra base hits, and stopped getting picked off)

-Pitch Counts being too short(Maddon is clearly letting his starters have room to pitch out of their own jams, letting them pitch more pitches, but in the late innings, he pulls them before they can blow the game, perfect!)

-Dan Wheeler being used in crucial situations and blowing games(Maddon has been using Wheeler still, but has been pulling him much quicker instead of letting him continue to make mistakes, and Wheeler has clearly been more effective)

-Matt Joyce needed to be on the MLB team(While Joyce looks almost ready, Maddon has proven that his patience with Gross and Kapler has paid off, both have had critical hits this year and been a big part of success)

-Dion Navarro just flat out doesn't hustle, and makes too many defensive errors, and can't produce RBI's, but the Rays really have no permanent alternative. We all like Michel Hernandez, but he isn't starter material. He is terrific defensively, and is a better option than Navarro most of the time, but he isn't the permanent answer. Navarro's defense has been horrendous this year, granted they call wild pitches on the pitchers, but quality catchers would catch or block most of the wild pitches the Rays pitchers have been charged with this season, as Hernandez has proven that when he has played. As little as Navarro has provided offensively, it would be nice to see Hernandez get more starts this season. We know Maddon keeps hoping Navarro gets it going, but this is one guy that seems destined to play poorly, mostly because of his attitude. Remember this is the guy who when he lost his arbitration case this year, his agent said the Rays would pay for this..enough said

We still stand by the fact the Rays lost 13 games this season that should have been won, and even if they were Maddon gaffe's, the point is Maddon has fixed most of these situations and has moved forward. The Rays can't fix the past, all they can do is take care of the future, and they are doing a good job of that now. Unfortunately all the games count, and many of the lost games that should have been won, may come back and haunt the Rays come October. The hope is this team can play well enough to get to the playoffs, and then anything is possible. Hopefully in 2010, Maddon starts earlier on his winning methods, so the Rays don't have as big a hole to dog out of. 2009 team at this point is only 4 games behind their record of 2008, and they didn't play well the first 2 months of the season, so the best looks like it is yet to come.

To all those who thought this blog's stories and comments the past 2 seasons have been wrong, and was just about bashing Joe Maddon, think again. If the writers here were so wrong, why did the majority of the things we have complained about, get changed by Maddon over the past few weeks? We know it has nothing to do with our blog, or any other stories for that matter, but at least we were accurate in most of our comments and stories. Accurate enough that most of the changes we stated the Rays needed have actually been changed by the Rays. We're not here to bash MADDON, but to root for the Rays and hope that Maddon becomes the premier manager in the league and converts the Rays into perennial winners. GO RAYS!!