FanHouse JeremyHellickson

For as long as I can remember, I have been a Pittsburgh Pirate fan. I'll spare you the sob story, but being the fan of such a lousy baseball team has me seriously considering breaking the ninth baseball commandment: "Though shalt not covet your neighbor's baseball team." I am seriously jealous of Tampa Bay Ray fans right now. I want that team and if watching them doesn't make you drool a little, too, you're lying to yourself.

Look at this team. Evan Longoria's already set a record for homers in a playoff sereis by a rookie and he's slugging over .900 in the ALCS. He just turned 23. B.J. Upton is at .313/.400/.633 with two monster home runs. He's 24. Carl Crawford has nine hits in 18 at-bats and even though it feels like he's been around forever, he's just 27. James Shields and Matt Garza, the emerging aces? 25 and 24, respectively. And when you factor in guys like David Price and Scott Kazmir and Carlos Pena (still only 30) and minor leaguers Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson ... wow.

The key part? This isn't a fluke. This Rays team isn't the Rockies. They didn't catch fire and sneak out a wild card win because the league collapsed around them. They won the best division in baseball and they're beating the snot out of the defending World Champions at Fenway Park. This team is so good and so young that the things they're capable of in the next few years that they can afford to keep everyone together are almost unfathomable. Enjoy watching them. You know you want to.

The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the best run organizations in baseball. They've accumulated the kind of young talent that most organizations can only dream about. They're also in the thick of a pennant race this season and by not moving today, may have dealt a serious blow to their playoff hopes this year.

They were involved in serious talks with the Pirates all week about moving Jason Bay to fill their hole in right field in return for some of the Rays' young pitching talent. Talks stalled and not only did the Rays fail to land Bay, but he went to their division rivals. Now they're playing Rocco Baldelli in right field and the Red Sox managed to get rid of their Manny Ramirez distraction and replace him with Bay, who should make up for the difference in offense by actually playing the field and running the bases and not acting like a six-year old. That's a double loss for the Rays.

The sticking point seemed to be the Rays' refusal to give up Jeremy Hellickson or Wade Davis (pictured) to the Pirates. Hellickson and Davis are both very good, young prospects, but the Rays are loaded to the gills with pitching talent. In addition to those two, they've still got David Price and Jake McGee in the minors with Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, and James Shields already in the rotation in Tampa. This was a price they could afford to pay for a big upgrade in right field and by failing to pay it, they helped one of their biggest rivals in the process. The Rays have done a lot right in the past two years, but they got today all wrong.

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.


- The Jason Bay market appears to be heating up. Both the Rays and Cardinals have had serious discussions with Pittsburgh about acquiring the left fielder. Tampa Bay would seem to have the upper hand since it has the better farm system and does not play in the same division as the Pirates. GM Neal Huntington is believed to have asked for shortstop prospect Reid Brignac and pitching prospect Jeremy Hellickson, with Hellickson believed to be the sticking point. There is also late word that the Red Sox could jump into the Bay talks as part of a three-way deal that would send Ramirez to Florida, prospects to Pittsburgh and Bay to Boston.

There are some trades that just make too much sense to not happen. Tampa Bay is embroiled in a playoff battle and playing Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross, Johnny Gomes, and Cliff Floyd in right field. They're talking about using Rocco Baldelli there when he comes off the disabled list. The Pirates' entire organization is devoid of pitching talent. They have Jason Bay. The Rays have tons of young pitching talent. Maybe these two crazy kids should get together. Dejan Kovacevic's PBC Blog at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says they might:

The Pirates and Tampa Bay continue to discuss Jason Bay, a process that became deep yesterday, and two prospect names known to be in the mix on the Rays' end are shortstop Reid Brignac and pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.

[...]

Neglected to mention this earlier, but Tampa sure is making things sound as if something will get done. The Pirates? Not so sure but, as the notebook mentioned earlier today, about 50-50.

The Rays seem relutcant to budge with too much for Bay and the Pirates seem reluctant to move Bay without gaining several elite prospects in return, but this deal makes so much sense for both teams that it almost would seem crazy if they couldn't get something done. I mean, Jason Bay's middle name is Raymond. How much more perfect can this match get?