The Rays have claimed 24-year old switch hitting catcher Jose Lobaton off waivers from the Padres. He played in 7 games for the Padres this season and he was 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .353 OPS). Lobaton has also played in 39 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 32 for 133 (.241 avg, .645 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers and 8 RBIs. Lobaton will provide depth in the minors for the Rays and they better hope they don’t need him.

The Rays need a little tweaking to stay with the Yankees and Red Sox in the American League East. They will look into making a trade for either a RF or a 2B with the idea of moving Zobrist full time to RF. Either way they don’t seem to like the platoon of Gabe Kapler and Gabe Gross. Whispers were being made that the Rays were very interested in Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates which would be a great addition to the team. Felipe Lopez (Arizona) and Ty Wigginton (Orioles) appear to be the top 2B options outside of Sanchez and they wouldn’t cost near as much in prospects or cash. RF options include Mark Teahan (K.C.), Jeremy Hermida (FLA) and Josh Willingham (Washington) but none of those guys have huge upsides and they are all below average right fielders. The catching situation could also use some improving as Dioner Navarro is proving his 2008 season was a fluke. Michel Hernandez has done a good job backing up Navarro this season but the Rays could do better. With that in mind the Rays will maybe make calls to the Blue Jays (Rod Barajas), the Indians (Kelly Shoppach), the Mariners (Jeff Clement) and the Royals (Miguel Olivo and John Buck). I favor calling the Mariners who are a perfect fit with the Rays as they could use Reid Brignac to start at SS. Clement would definately push Navarro for the starting job as he is playing well in AAA ball right now. The bullpen could also use some help at the end of games. Jose Valverde (Houston), Heath Bell (Padres) and Matt Capps (Pirates) are all established closers. Bell would probably cost the most of this bunch. The Pirates or Astros probably wouldn’t want much more than a couple of decent prospects. The Padres also have righty Cla Meredith who could give the Rays some solid innings at the back end of games. The wild card would be calling the Tigers about Joel Zumaya with the idea of making him their closer. It will be interesting to see what the Rays do because they don’t want to add much payroll.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Wade Davis is making a push this season towards Tampa Bay. Davis was the #3 prospect in the Rays’ minor league system heading into this season and he’s showing why. Davis has pitched in 17 games (all starts) in AAA-ball this season and he is 8-4 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Davis has only allowed 86 hits in 95 innings this season but he has had some control issues walking 37 batters. It will be interesting to see who the Rays call up if they need a starting pitcher….Davis or Sonnanstine?

Starting CF B.J. Upton got off to a slow start this season but he caught fire in June which is also when the Rays got hot. Upton has 34 for 105 (.324 avg, .957 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 5 homers, 22 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. You can figure out how bad Upton’s first two months were when looking at his season numbers. Upton has played in 74 games this season for the Rays and he is 74 for 300 (.247 avg, .725 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 7 homers, 32 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. The Rays need Upton to stay hot if they are going to make another run in the American League East.

The Rays were thinking about going with a closer by committee after losing Troy Percival to injury. But, lefty J.P. Howell has stepped up and took ahold of the job. Howell has pitched in 39 games this season for the Rays and he is 4-2 with 6 saves, a 1.63 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Howell has whiffed 46 batters in only 38 2/3 innings while allowing only 26 hits. The amazing thing about those numbers is that you would think he throws heat but his fastball never gets much higher than 87-88 mph. Still, the important thing for Howell is that he throws strikes and misses bats.