Comings and Goings in Tampa Bay Sports

Tampa Bay Rays, MLB

The Rays limped into the All-Star break, dropping their last two games to the last place Oakland Athletics. Against the American League's bottom feeders, the Rays are a horrid 10-15. That's one reason why they find themselves six and a half games back in the AL East.

Carlos Pena became an All-Star as he took the spot of Dustin Pedroia, who's wife had the audacity to have a baby during the All-Star break (just kidding, Momma Pedroia, best wishes from us here at the ole TBSB).

Pena will also take part in tonight's home run derby. Pena makes it a team record five Rays in the ASG (Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Jason Bartlett, and Pena).

Evan Longoria may be giving the finger to the ASG. Longoria had a surprise when he discovered he had an infected finger. He had the nastiness drained and is hopeful he will be able to play as planned in the game.

The Rays entire infield is officially comprised of All-Stars, the first time that's occurred since the Evil Empire (The Yankees) in 2002.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL

As the doomsayers continue to forecast rough seas for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team took care of some housecleaning items before the start of training camp. The Bucs finally released Brian Griese and used their new bonanza of cash to sign third-round draft pick Roy Miller. This leaves only top pick Josh Freeman to sign.

Tampa Bay General Manager Mark Dominik's style is a direct contrast to the flurry signings of former GM Bruce Allen.

Allen wouldn't even begin negotiations with the draft picks until a couple weeks before training camp, preferring to see how the market settled before investing the team's cash. With all but Freeman in the fold, Dominik can double his efforts to get the Bucs' first-round pick in camp on time.

While fans and columnists made a lot of noise when it was revealed that the Buccaneers spent the least amount of money on player salaries in the last five seasons, our friends at the Pewter Report put together an interesting expose on exactly how the numbers broke down during that time.

We can't give you the exact numbers reported by PR because it was provided as insider content but the gist of the information was that while the Glazers may indeed be struggling financially with their large note on Manchester United, it doesn't necessarily mean the Bucs are suffering for it.

PR cites the fact that the Buccaneers did not have a franchise quarterback in the last five years as teams like the Giants, Colts, and Cowboys have had. The Bucs also didn't have to pay high-priced salaries to players like T.O.

At the beginning of the period, the Buccaneers were still suffering the effects of poor deals made by General Manager Rich McKay and were in cap hell. They simply did not have the dollars to pay for high-priced free agents. General Manager Bruce Allen was a mastermind at working the cap and he worked it like crazy in Tampa Bay.

He ensured the Bucs would never have to worry about cap dollars again, investing in the draft rather than free agency.

As Pewter Report said, would you rather have Antonio Bryant 83 receptions, 1,248 yds and seven touchdowns at $600,000 or Bernard Berrian's 48 receptions, 964 yds, and seven touchdowns at $8 million? Allen was a master at finding value.

Dominik learned under him, as well as Chicago GM Jerry Angelo and Seattle GM Tim Ruskell—it will be interesting to see if he can also find those type of steals.

Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL

After a flurry of signings on the first day, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been pretty quiet on the free agent front. Joining defenseman Mattias Ohlund and Matt Walker are defenseman Kurtis Foster, goalie Antero Niittymaki, and forward Stephane Veilleux. The bargain basement Bolts didn't spend more than $700,000 on any of the players.

In the goaltender Niittymaki, Tampa Bay found a solid backup at a decent price. The catch? Niittymaki is coming off three hip surgeries in the last year on both hips. Rest assured, Niittymaki says he is fine.

The Lightning hope so as they'd love to have the player who was 62-61-23 with a 3.01 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in five seasons with the Flyers. Niittymaki was an impressive 15-8-6 in 32 games with a 2.76 goals-against average and .912 save percentage last season.

Foster joins a revamped Tampa Bay blueline. Foster is another boom-or-bust prospect, coming off a broken leg that limited him to just 10 games last season. Foster had a goal and six points for Minnesota while posting a plus-seven.

The 27-year-old, 6'5", 220-pounder led all Wild defensemen with 10 goals and 28 points as a rookie in 2005-06. He has 21 goals, 77 points, and 155 penalty minutes in 186 games.

Veilleux, a six-foot, 190-pound winger, has played in 361 career NHL games, all with the Minnesota Wild. He has amassed 43 career goals and 90 points. He left in a contract dispute with the Wild.

He wanted a significant pay raise from the $595,000 he earned with the Wild last season. Rather than keep a disgruntled restricted free agent, Minnesota chose to waive the 26-year-old.

"Stephane is a prototypical two-way player," Lightning GM Brian Lawton told the St. Petersburg Times, "He plays a gritty game and is responsible in the defensive zone while also adding scoring depth for us.  This is a great signing for us as we continue to build our organizational depth."

Finally, the Bolts wasted little time in signing first-round draft choice Viktor Hedman. Hedman signed a three-year contract worth $900,000 per season. With incentives, Hedman can earn $3.75 million.

And that does it for your Tampa Bay roundup!

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