Know Thine Enemy 2009: Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off their first successful season in the history of the franchise. Finally, they’re not considered doormats with no vision of the future. Now the Pirates stand alone there. (Even the Royals are much improved!)

This club is scary in the pool of young talent they already hold plus more on the way in the minor leagues. The Rays will compete for a very, very long time. But will they be able to withstand the Red Sox and Yankees assault in 2009?

2007 Saves per Inning Pitched

Every year, I run a feature here at Fire Brand called Saves per Inning Pitched (SIP). It’s a little statistic I made up that in the general scheme of things, [...]

Is Papelbon the best closer in the game?

Three days ago, Jonathan Papelbon became just the fourth pitcher in major league history to save 30 games in his first two full seasons. He joins Billy Koch, Kaz Sasaki [...]