After last night’s debacle with Willy Aybar starting at shortstop the Rays decided to call up Ben Zobrist to play there until Jason Bartlett is ready to come back from an injured finger. Zobrist has played in 23 games for the Rays this season and he is 17 for 74 (.230 avg, .774 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 5 homers and 8 RBIs. This was the smart move for the Rays to make as they were considering playing Longoria at SS with Aybar at 3B. To make room on the active roster the Rays have sent down outfielder Jonny Gomes. Gomes has played in 69 games for the Rays this season and he was 26 for 143 (.182 avg, .681 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 7 homers and 22 RBIs. Gomes might get to come back if he plays well in AAA but his return might have to wait until September 1st if Rocco Baldelli is activated off the D.L. soon.

Rocco Baldelli and Justin Ruggiano are both hitting well in the minors and they probably both deserve to be in Tampa. Baldelli is trying to recover from a mitochrondrial disorder which causes him to be weak quite often. He still might be a good platoon mate for Cliff Floyd at DH which would allow him to rest when he doesn’t play. He has played in 21 games in A+AA ball this season on his rehab assignment and he is 18 for 66 (.273 avg, .875 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 5 homers, 16 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Baldelli would be a big upgrade on Willy Aybar as the righty swinging DH if his body can handle it. He has now played in 419 games in his major league career and he is 467 for 1,656 (.282 avg, .767 OPS) with 243 runs scored, 48 homers, 221 RBIs and 58 stolen bases. Johnny Gomes is walking a tightrope for the Rays. He has played in 65 games for the Rays this season and he is 26 for 135 (.193 avg, .719 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 8 homers, 19 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Gomes has great power but he has a ton of holes in his swing which are often exploited by veteran pitchers. He likely has to get hot with the bat if he wants to keep his job the rest of the season. Rookie Justin Ruggiano is hitting well in AAA and he hit well in a short stint with the Rays earlier this year. Ruggiano has played in 54 games in AAA ball this season and he is 62 for 204 (.304 avg, .874 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 8 homers, 39 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He has also played in 15 games earlier for the Rays and he was 9 for 31 (.290 avg, .785 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Ruggiano could either push Gomes off the team or be involved in a trade before the deadline and get his big chance with another organization. Either way, Ruggiano deserves a chance to show what he can do in the big leagues for an extended period.

The Rays have designated righty reliever Gary Glover for assignment. This is a good sign for the Rays’ bullpen as it really has a lot of depth now. Glover pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Rays this season and he is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if Glover accepts an assignment to the minors or if he leaves as a free agent. The Rays would probably call him up in September if he stayed with them.

UPDATE: Gary Glover has decided to decline his minor league assignment thus becoming a free agent. He might find some team willing to give him a chance.

J.P. Howell has done a fantastic job this season for the Rays but he’s not a lefty specialist as the Rays’ really value the fact that he can pitch multiple innings. That brings us to Trever Miller who has been a train wreck this season. He has pitched in 45 games for the Rays and he is 0-0 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. The thing that’s so maddening about Miller is that he has only allowed 24 hits in 26.1 innings but he has also walked 18 batters. If he just threw strikes when he came into the game this wouldn’t be a need for the Rays. There is a long list of lefty relievers that are probably available but the Rays have to decide what they are willing to pay for one. If they are going to ante up and go for it they can try to trade for George Sherrill of the Orioles or Ron Mahay of the Royals but neither of them will come cheaply. Lesser names are out there as the 2nd tier likely consists of Jack Tascher (Giants), Will Ohman (Braves), John Grabow (Pirates) and Jeremy Affeldt (Braves). Those guys would likely still cost the Rays a pretty decent prospect. Jamie Walker, Arthur Rhodes and Scott Eyre can all probably be had dirt cheap prospect wise and this might be a smart way to go. I prefer Rhodes out of this bunch as the Mariners’ front office is pretty poor and wouldn’t require much for him. A name to remember here is probably Scott Schoeneweis of the Mets due to the fact that he used to pitch for the Angels while Joe Maddon was coaching out there. Regardless of who the Rays want of this bunch of pitchers it would be a upgrade on Trever Miller whose days as a Ray could be numbered.

The Rays have been linked to trade rumors with the Pirates for Jason Bay and the Rangers for Milton Bradley but I have problems with both of these guys. The Pirates want a lot for Jason Bay which makes me think that they really don’t want to trade him. Milton Bradley is a time bomb and I wouldn’t give up much for him because he’s very injury prone. The Rays did a great job in the off season getting rid of headaches like Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes so it makes no sense bringing in a player that makes both of them look like choir boys. I like the idea of going after Marcus Thames of the Tigers and Josh Willingham of the Marlins. The Tigers would probably want something like Jeff Niemann and Jason Hammel from the Rays for Thames as they are desperately looking for a 5th starter. That would be worth it to take a chance on Thames who has one of the best pure power swings in all of baseball. Thames has played in 70 games for the Tigers this season and he is 54 for 206 (.262 avg, .920 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 20 homers and 43 RBIs. He’s not a platoon player either as he is hitting .269 against righties with 11 homers in 130 at bats this season. Thames has 9 homers in only 76 at bats against lefties (.250 avg). Josh Willingham is a terrible defensive outfielder but he has a solid bat. The Marlins would probably be very interested in catcher John Jaso and outfielder Justin Ruggiano. This trade also would make a lot of sense for the Rays. Willingham has played in 52 games this season for the Marlins and he is 48 for 183 (.262 avg, .839 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 8 homers and 26 RBIs. Prior to this season, Willingham has been very effective with the bat. He played in 286 games in 2006+2007 for the Marlins and he hit .271 with 137 runs scored, 47 homers and 163 RBIs. If I had to choose I would make the trade with Detroit before the one with the Marlins.