Watch as the Rays act like they didn’t totally rip the Royals off in the Myers-Shields trade

By Dec 10, 2012, 6:40 AM EST
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Via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, listen to Rays GM Andrew Friedman act like he didn’t just totally rip off Dayton Moore and the Royals:

“Personally I think this is the most difficult trade we’ve made to date. Both guys were drafted and developed here, they’ve been key players in this organization’s turnaround and they’re both really high-quality people. It’s a painful loss for our club, but I’m confident in our resilience and the talent that will be returning to the field next season.”

We’ll try to carry on …somehow.

Rays pitcher David Price played it more dramatic on Twitter right after the trade was announced:

 

Now, I do not think that Price is playing some “let’s make it sound fair” P.R. game like Friedman is. As Shields’ and Davis’ teammate, he is likely sad to see them go, and veteran players are always genuinely partial to their veteran teammates.

That said, Price knew that Shields was on the block for a long time and likely made his peace with that a while ago. And of course, he will be signing the praises of his new teammates a week into spring training, if not sooner. Meanwhile, he is well-aware that this frees up money for the Rays to either (a) actually give him a long term deal; or (b) more likely, serve as a slightly more plausible competitor in the market to those teams who truly are willing to give him a long term deal.

More broadly, you will be hard pressed to find actual baseball people who don’t think the Rays fleeced the Royals — snap polling certainly indicates that — and Friedman and Price likely share that sentiment privately even if manners and class dictate that they don’t say so publicly.

Phillies’ ace Nola loses no-hitter in seventh, wins game 8-3 over Tigers

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 10:34 PM EDT
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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PHILADELPHIA – Aaron Nola took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and struck out 12, Trea Turner homered twice among his four hits to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to their third straight win, 8-3 over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.

Nola (5-4) fanned 10 and had faced the minimum through six as he tried to pitch the Phillies’ first no-hitter since 2015. The ace right-hander ran into trouble in the seventh when two batters reached on a walk and a fielding error. Nola still had two outs when he hung an 0-2 breaking ball to Nick Maton and the former Phillie crushed one into right to make it a 5-3 game.

Maton’s bat-flip homer was the only hit allowed by Nola. He walked three over seven innings.

Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Vasquez each tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.

Nola walked Jake Marisnick with two outs in the third inning but the outfielder was out at first base on a caught stealing by catcher J.T. Realmuto. Nola walked Maton with one out in the fifth but the baserunner was erased after Eric Haase hit into an inning-ending double play.

Nola threw 68 of 108 pitches for strikes in front of 33,196 fans. Nola, who recorded two strikeouts on automatic strike three calls, has now pitched at least six innings in each of hit last 10 starts.

He improved to 83-66 in a career spent all with the Phillies since his debut in 2015. The right-handed ace is a free agent at the end of the season. Nola and the Phillies tabled contract talks in spring training, with no plans to resume until the offseason.

Nola’s no-no stalled, too.

There have been no no-hitters in the majors this season, the first since Major League Baseball introduced a pitch clock. There were a record nine in 2021 and four last year.

The Phillies returned home from a 4-6 road trip in search of some last season’s June success that squashed a miserable start and led them to the NL championship. So far, so good. The Phillies won the last two games in Washington and kept the wins coming at home. They scored one run in each of the first three innings on Turner’s RBI single, Nick Castellanos’ run-scoring double, and Turner’s solo shot in the third.

Bryce Harper added an RBI single in the fifth. Turner connected the same inning off Tigers starter Joey Wentz (1-6) for his seventh homer of the season and first multi-homer game with the Phillies.

Turner has slumped in the first season of an 11-year, $300 million deal. He hit just .143 on the road trip but now has three homers in his last two home games.

VETERAN MOVE

Tigers DH Miguel Cabrera, who has said he will retire at the end of the season, is the last active player who played at Veterans Stadium. The Phillies last played in their now-razed former stadium in 2003. He played six games at the Vet in 2003 with the Florida Marlins. The Phillies will honor Cabrera before Wednesday’s game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LHP José Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) is set to make a rehab appearance in Double-A Reading. … CF Cristian Pache (right meniscus tear) is “swinging and missing quite a bit,” according to manager Rob Thomson, in his minor league rehab games.

UP NEXT

The Phillies send RHP Taijuan Walker (4-3, 5.65 ERA) to the mound. The Tigers did not name a starter.