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MLB Player Profile: How Valuable Has Ben Zobrist Been To The Rays?
Ben Zobrist has quietly tuned into one of the best all around players in the game of baseball. He has finished in the top for WAR in 3 of the last 5years – including 1st in 2011 and 2nd in 2009. Zobrist, 32, who continued this season with his musical chairs defensive role on the team this year, has two years left on his current contract, and will be a Free Agent at the end of the 2015 season. It was the summer of 2006, that the brass traded Aubrey Huff for the young player. Zobrist has played 1500+ Innings in 4 different defensive positions for the franchise (SS/2B/RF/LF – and it helps Joe Maddon bring in favorable platoon matchups for several other lineup spots). He has a career 3 Slash of .263/.354/.789 in 8 seasons for Tampa.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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Picture how bad the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were when the Houston Astros traded Ben Zobrist with Mitch Talbot to the Tampa Bay Rays for Aubrey Huff and cash on July.12/2006.
The team was in the 8th season out of 9 years of under .500 ball. The guy he was traded for had great offensive acumen, and was the franchise leader in several career categories as he departed the door.
Zobrist had an auspicious beginning with the Rays, struggling during the 2006 – 2007 years. His OPS numbers for those years were .572 and .391 respectively.
Joe Maddon was not as worried as others were about the 6th Round Drat Pick of the Houston Astros back in 2004,because the guy would be a Maddon type of player.
Ben Zobrist 2 Part Interview
3 Reasons That The Pirates Will – Or Won’t End 20 Years Of Consecutive Losing Records
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Follow @mlbreportsTuesday, April.2/2013
The Pirates are hoping to bring winning baseball for the beautiful PNC Park in 2013.
By Brad Cuprik (Pirates Correspondent) Follow @bradcuprik
The statistical improvements are easy to decipher in Clint Hurdle‘s first two years as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2011, the Bucs were 72-90, scored 610 Runs and gave up 712 Runs. Those were improvements of 15 victories, 23 Runs Scored and an impressive 154 less Runs Allowed.
This past season, Pittsburgh improved in all three categories again – earning 79 victories with 651 Runs Scored and 674 Runs Allowed. If it seems like an excruciatingly long time since Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Doug Drabek were leading the Pirates to a winning season and a third consecutive NLCS, that’s because it has been – two decades to be exact.
Bill Clinton was just starting his first term as President of the United States and something called Color Me Badd was popular on the radio.
Questionable music aside, if the Pirates want to put an end to all that losing, another year of similar improvement will get them over the .500 hump.
Here are three reasons why 2013 will be the year it happens for them and three reasons why the longest consecutive streak of losing seasons in professional sports will reach 21 years.
Sid Breams 1992 NLCS Game 7 Slide kicked off a 20 Year Consecutive Losing Records Streak
MLB Reports 
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