J.P. Howell News

I've heard and read a few comments saying the Rays really need to invest in a closer - oxymoron - because J.P. Howell just isn't cut out of the job.

What will it take to compete against the massive payroll we are constantly up against year after year? -- Rick W., Gulfport, Fla.

Can you please tell me why we bother shopping for a closer when we have J.P. Howell? I thought Howell did a fantastic job this year with the closer role and should be our full-time closer.

I do think Mo's age will catch up with him one day, whether it be in the form of injury or inefective-itis, but I don't think that will be 2010.

Those Tampa Bay Rays fans hoping the team signs a legitimate, big league closer this offseason, well ... it's not going to happen.

Ben Zobrist easily beat Carl Crawford to team MVP. ST. PETERSBURG - The Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of American handed out the annual awards for the Rays.

When manager Joe Maddon was asked for playoff predictions, he had two teams from his past standing in the end.

They were better offensively than the team that reached the World Series in 2008 and, in some areas, better on the mound, too.

The Rays today wrap up The Season After, a moderate success that is viewed as a grand disappointment given where they were - and where they were going - last year.

Having reached what for most was the pinnacle of their athletic careers a season ago, the disappointment of finishing a distant third and well out of the playoff race in 2009 was profound for the Rays.

Yankees: Catcher Jorge Posada was scratched from the starting lineup against the Red Sox because of muscle spasms near his neck.

That's a bit of an oversimplification, of course, as Friedman and his staff do plenty of wheeling and dealing from April through September.

A couple of quick, early morning fantasy notes that I wanted to touch upon. First, the Tampa Bay Rays shut down closer JP Howell.

18, 2009, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Rays won 5-4. Word came down last night that the Rays have decided games would no longer be chilled.

LHP J.P. Howell 's season is officially over. The Rays have shut him down for the remainder of the season, giving Howell, who ranks third in the majors in relief innings over the past two seasons, a much-needed break.

The title defense officially ended at 10 p.m. Tuesday when home plate umpire Scott Barry called the pitch from Seattle's Mark Lowe a strike regardless of whether Evan Longoria had checked his swing or not.

Last week I took a look at how the Rays ' 2009 high leverage FIP of 4.87 underperformed their season FIP of 4.36 while the average team fares 0.25 better in high leverage situations.

Carl Crawford grimaces after being called out trying to steal third in the seventh.

With his original three-year contract up and the Rays unlikely to pick up his $4.85 million option , Iwamura, under terms now common for Japanese players, will be a free agent after the season.

Joe Maddon says the recent failings of his bullpen could be more due to emotional exhaustion than physical fatigue, and he won't change the way he's using his relief pitchers over the final three weeks of the season.