Jason Bartlett News

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett had an excellent 2009 campaign. Bartlett, in his second season with the Rays, posted a line of .320/.389/.490 with 14 home runs and a 129 OPS+ in 567 plate appearances.

Carl Crawford leads the way for Rays nominees for the 2009 MLB.com This Year in Baseball Awards.

Shin-Soo Choo flew under the radar and the Lake Erie seagulls flew into Progressive Field.

Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times was kind enough to post his ballot on The Heater blog.

We live in Florida so we are experts at voting, right? Anyhow, MLB has put up the online ballot for the This Year in Baseball Awards and 3 Rays are up for nomination.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu said it best when she said, "The idle mind will sometimes fall into contemplations that serve for nothing but to ruin the health, destroy good humour, hasten old age and wrinkles, and bring on an habitual melancholy." The 2009 baseball season is 99.8% over with only these long drawn out award announcements leaving fans and ...

Reid Brignac gave Rays fans snapshots of the future this season during several stints with the big league club.

Throughout the offseson we'll be bringing you interviews with some of today's best and brightest baseball writers.

Joe Maddon looked around his defense during spring training and saw Gold Glove-potential at nearly every position.

Do you think Jake McGee will see some time in the Major Leagues next year? I know he had Tommy John surgery, but a lefty who throws mid-to-high 90s is always a good commodity.

As Tampa Bay Rays followers, we knew it wouldn't be long. As the Yankees close in our their latest purchase of another World Series, there's a stark realization that Tampa Bay fans must face.

's stunning one-man double steal Sunday. Actually, there were several things. The Rays frequently run the same kind of defensive shift against left-handed pull hitters the Phillies got in trouble with .

Speaking of that Delmon Young deal... With knowledge comes responsibility to review the past.

A quick smorgasbord here on two thoughts I have in my mind but are undeserving of their own full-fledged post.

Drivers Cat Manzi and Jason Bartlett were injured Saturday in an accident during a race at Freehold Raceway.

Derek Shelton was named the Rays' new Major League hitting coach on Wednesday. After the announcement, Shelton spoke on a conference call with reporters and couldn't hide his enthusiasm about the prospect of working with the likes of Carl Crawford, Jason Bartlett, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Ben Zobrist.

The centerfielder needs to be better. A lot better. The catcher needs to improve, too.

Any thinking that the Rays will be highly aggressive this offseason after falling from first to third in the American League East can be forgotten.

Rays manager Joe Maddon greets Josh Cohen, 11, of Seminole, who with his dad, Victor, were among the winners of the Shirts Off Our Backs fundraiser and received Maddon's game jersey after the final game of the season Sunday.

The Rays had many players with strong seasons this year, which even adds more to why the Rays clearly had a good enough year, but CC put up a career year.