The Yearly Trade Deadline Folding of the Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays management staff believes that they have a team competitive enough to make some noise for the remainder of the season.

That if half true. Yes, the Rays will remain competitive, and might even make the playoffs if some of the players can pick up the slack. At the very least, they will be in the hunt come September. However, competitive should not be what we are seeking: we should be gunning for a World Series berth, and potentially winning the entire thing. Of course this is all a long shot, winning a championship is always a longshot with this organization. However, what’s even the point if we aren’t trying? The Rays are like that poker player that never bluffs his hand, surely he won't lose big on any risks, but nobody has ever won a poker tournament without a few risky moves and a few tricky plays.

We are seeing squads that just a couple years ago were worthless, now making all the major moves. The Houston Astros lost 100 games a few years in a row, and now have suddenly picked up Carlos Gomez AND Scott Kazmir (of course, a former Ray) in a matter of days. The Kansas City Royals went from cellar-dwellers into AL favorites, and this is AFTER losing their main pitcher James Shields (former Ray) and their Opening Day Starter. The suddenly-awesome Royals picked up Johnny Cueto AND Ben Zobrist (Former Ray…again). The Astros’ payroll is just 6 million more than Tampa’s, yet have managed to bolster their staff to become among the best-looking teams in the American League.

As for the Rays? Well, fan favorite DeJesus is gone…and we got a minor league pitcher in exchange. And then the Rays did….nothing else. It is mind-numbingly frustrating to witness that year after year we do more subtracting than adding by the time the deadline rolls around. Last year we witnessed our season collapse as we traded David Price despite having a spectacular July and was still in the hunt. It is frustrating to know what the issues are, see potential affordable pieces get shuffled around, and yet not make a move to try to improve our chances. Offense and speed (and to a lesser extent fresher bullpen arms) is what the Rays truly need. We know this. They know this. Baseball knows this. So why isn’t more being done in Tampa?

Baseball is twice as competitive as it was in 2008 when the Rays turned the franchise around. At the beginning of the season there was no clear-cut favorite. To this day, upon the publishing of this article there still isn’t a team that is leaps and bounds above everyone else. 19 of the 30 teams right now are within playoff range. Even the Cubs, Mets, and Astros are pushing towards the playoffs---when they were expected to be in not-quite-complete mode in 2015. You can’t just sit around anymore, the competition is tighter than ever. From Los Angeles all the way up to Toronto, over a dozen teams are built well-enough to make a strong push.

But the Rays are a team in a devastating wheel of successful mediocrity. Although the fans aren’t showing up to the games and help with the revenue stream, why should they show up if we don’t really make major moves to keep our good players? The Rays have remained in the bottom-third in payroll several years in a row, even though baseball itself has reached $8 billion in revenue. Evan Longoria remains the only great player in the history of the Rays organization to stay aboard the ship and not jump off for richer waters. Every season we see good players, great players, and impressive potential move elsewhere or get traded elsewhere. So why go to the games? There’s just a great chance we won’t see half those guys shortly down the road. The Rays won’t spend the extra money (Not even asking for a Dodger-like increase, with just $15-$20 million more you can land good role players), leading to us not really spending the money to go to the games, leading to less revenue required to make the important deals to make the organization stronger. We are on our way to becoming the first team to average less than 15,000 since 2006. Embarrassing to say the least.

The attendance, appeal, popularity of the Royals skyrocketed after the magical 2014 playoff run. Instead of sitting around like what the Rays have done in recent seasons, they have gone all-in by being very aggressive in the free agency and the trade deadline, and filling Kansas City with this aura of hope that they will be back in the playoff spotlight once again. The Royals knew that teams like the Blue Jays and Angels would beef up their lineups whenever possible, and needed to be in the mix.

The Tampa Bay Rays will never win a championship under this current attitude of keeping all the prospects, never making a move (unless its for more prospects), and just assuming that keeping the same team will allow them to “remain competitive,” even though they are third in the division and several games back in the wild card. You don’t have the magical Joe Maddon as manager, you have yet to draw in experienced and valuable veterans, and you haven’t been appealing enough to draw the interest of good young players roaming the free agency. You need to make moves. Otherwise, you will continuously drain the spirits and momentum of your team, your fans, and the area that maintains them.





Chris Archer basically pleaded that the Rays make moves to keep up with the Blue Jays. Don’t hold your breath, Archer, we’d hate to see you go to the disabled list and limit our “competitive” team even more. I love my Rays, but we will never win the entire thing until there is more effort seen in the heart of the season.

Trainwreck: 7/10

Continuing the fantastic Summer season for females (Charlize Theron, Melissa McCarthy, Anna Kendrick) we have Amy Schumer branching off from her stand-up and television success (Comedy Central: Still Trying to Replace Dave Chappelle) to deliver a fine performance in an Apatow movie that has all the typical Apatow strengths and weaknesses. Just like Apatow's best, we have a delightful staff delivering the laughs and the dramatic undertones to make up for sloppy directing and loose editing that we've seen far too many times from the Team Apatow comedy circle.

We've seen this movie before, and we know the destination. Regardless of how raunchy or how off the PG-13 spectrum, romance movies carry the same formula and usually produce the same results (With 500 Days of Summer and Before Midnight being notable recent exceptions). We continue watching these because of the joy of said journey. Amy's voyage as she tries to shed her provocative past to become happy is a lengthy yet enjoyable watch, mostly because of her slick and slightly jagged sense of humor. This is her script and it has her brand of comedy sprinkled all over the place. Expect off-the-cusp movie references, uncomfortable content, good raw emotion, bite of New York flavor, and even some MacFarlane-like unpredictability.

Schumer has the comedic chops, and will earn your attention even when she is at her least charming. Helping the movie is Bill Hader, who played the perfect straight man getting caught up in Amy's whirlwind of a life. Although the cameos are a bit distracting (This Family Guy-like technique dates the movie slightly), LeBron James, John Cena, and a few others provided a surprising amount of laughs, with Cena being especially impressive in a short yet pivotal scene.

Apatow still lacks the ability to chop the movie to a more acceptable length. This has killed/damaged his recent efforts like This is 40 and Funny People (especially). Trainwreck once again has that slowdown period that has people checking their phones and watches, which especially hurts after a strong first half. And as previously stated, we know the destination, the journey has to maintain its interest. Despite the strongest efforts from everyone involved, it gets a little tiresome before the heartwarming finale. Unless the movie spans decades, no romantic comedy should run past two hours. All of the best romantic movies (Princess Bride, Eternal Sunshine, Beauty and the Beast, Before Sunset/Sunrise) run under two hours.

Yes, I know the gem Love Actually breaks the rule I just placed. Moving on....

Despite the flaws of time and distractions, Schumer does a great job in her debut cinematic vehicle. I can see a good future with her as long as she works with the right people and expands her range. She's funny, fearless, and has a nice dosage of New York charm. All of those ingredients make this an entertaining viewing and far better than Apatow's previous flicks. It won't shatter the movie industry or alter your perception of her or the genre, but it won't be a total disaster sitting through this---you'll find plenty to laugh and be shocked at.

Spy: 8/10

Similar to us seeing peak Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber or seeing peak Will Ferrell in Anchorman, we have seen peak Melissa McCarthy and it is glorious. Spy is a cluttered, ridiculous spoof action comedy that doesn't quite set a consistent tone but gives McCarthy the role of a lifetime, and in return we get the performance of a lifetime. Even though you never quite know if you should ever take any part of Spy seriously, the movie entertains, thrills, and has a shocking amount of gruesome action to coincide with the plethora of jokes flying left and right throughout the two hours.

Under the helm of Paul Feig (which has McCarthy as his muse ala Woody Allen with Diane Keaton) providing the writing and directing, Spy is a wildly violent and relentless sendup on action movies of all types, from spy movies to the physics-ignorant Statham flicks that we've seen in the past decade. What starts off as a where-is-the-bomb plot dwells deeper with twists and turns and has the mild-manned Susan Cooper (usually working behind a desk) traveling to Europe to complete the mission.

The cast is what ultimately delivers and carries this movie past any potential setbacks. Melissa McCarthy is phenomenal as her blend of sarcasm, physical comedy, and biting insults with perfect timing works perfectly here. Unlike most of her previous work, she was not just the overweight woman in an unlikely situation, there is much more to her personality in Spy that makes her much more likable, and much easier for us to root for her. We see much more of her when compared to Bridesmaids and The Heat and it gives her a chance to truly stand out and shine---and she does not disappoint.

But kudos to everyone else, especially Rose Byrne as one of the antagonists (Byrne deserves much more praise in the film industry--she is a talented gem) and Jason Statham as a spoof of himself. A good comedy relies more on chemistry and talent level on screen above the script, despite that breaking most screen writing rules in the spectrum. Spy has the Caddyshack syndrome; whenever the storyline starts to drag at the slightest (the movie does get unnecessarily complex) you have the cast keep you engaged and entertained.

What sets Spy apart from the spoofs is the surprising amount of action. We are treated to car chases, brutal fights, shootouts, and even a big final rousing sequence---albeit having an unexpected ending. What also allows Spy to stand out is the abundance of strong powerful women; from Susan Cooper herself to her co-workers, her boss, and even her adversary. It is a welcoming change and a drift from the norm in this genre of film---even though Mad Max Fury Road may have stolen some of its feminist thunder.

This is Paul Feig's best work, McCarthy's best performance, and one of the best movies of the year. Funnier than you'd expect, more action-packed than you would anticipate, and then throw in Jason Statham tossing some of the most astonishingly hilarious work out of any non-comedic actor I've ever seen. This film is a hoot plain and simple, and should finally allow us to take McCarthy much more seriously.

Inside Out: 9/10

20 years in the film business, Pixar has given us masterpiece after masterpiece even if its best days are probably behind them. They know how to toy with your emotions, add depth to their characters, and best of all know how to deliver very unique stories in very unique perspectives. Director Pete Doctor's previous movie Up is a grandiose example of being an excellent film despite being far off the norm. Inside Out is no exception as it tackles a very complicated yet creative concept of exploring the emotions of a person while giving personalities to emotions---which is no easy task.

Inside Out being made into a feasible family movie is quite the accomplishment. Even if the deeper emotional moments and better jokes will be lost on the children, this film has something for everybody to see, from the visuals to the creative stylings of the human mind. Combine that with the perfect (Its honestly flawless) voice cast and a well-rounded script, you have Pixar's best since Toy Story 3.

Joy (The perfect Amy Poehler) leads the cast as she attempts to dominate the mind of an 11-year-old and keep the other emotions (Anger, Disgust, Fear, and especially Sadness) in check---especially once the family relocates across the entire country. The conflict arises once Joy becomes unable to run Riley's emotions, leading to a lot of problems inside the mind and outside. Although Pixar runs in the Disney family and you secretly know how it will all pan out, the adventure and discoveries leading up to the inevitable conclusion is what keeps you engaged. There will be the classic Pixar mix of laughter, tears, and surprises throughout the quest to save Riley.

Establishing the universe is essential in movies like these, where environments carry its distinctive logic, its distinctive gravity. Inside Out starts out slow so it can mesh out the characters and give us a good idea as to how to approach the world of the mind. By the time you reach the dramatic conclusion, you would have witnessed Riley's imaginative world, her abstract world, her dream machine, as well as her biggest fears. The journey is far from predictable, as Inside Out explores a concept rarely executed (save for a 90s cartoon and a hilarious Spongebob bit).

Pixar has had a rough run lately, with delays and disappointing movies mixing together this decade. Inside Out is a step in the right direction thanks to a great script, delightful originality, and the great mix of great animation, laughs and heartfelt moments that we last experienced in the epic Pixar run of 2007-2010 (Ratatouille, Up, Wall-E, Toy Story 3, etc.). It might be slower or more bizarre then what you are used to seeing in animation and blockbuster season, but this film is a fresh visual treat from start to finish.