Rays Get Glimpse of Future With Arrival of Desmond Jennings
by Ed Price
BOSTON -- The storyline is pretty clear.
Carl Crawford will be a free agent after this season, and with the Angels, Yankees and Red Sox involved, there is no way the Rays will be able to keep him.
Especially since they can fill the outfield vacancy with Desmond Jennings.
But that's not how Jennings wants it to play out.
"Hopefully he'll still be here," Jennings told FanHouse. "He's a great player. I want to be on this team, but I don't want to play against him. I'd much rather him be here than anywhere else."
Told of that, Crawford said, "He's a talented player. Trust me, they'll find somewhere to play him.
"I wouldn't mind playing with him too."
BOSTON -- David Price edged closer to the front of the AL Cy Young Award race on Tuesday.
"I'm set on bigger goals than that," he said after holding the Red Sox to two hits in six innings in the Rays' 14-5 romp at Fenway Park.
And Tampa Bay has bigger things in mind for him.
"What's going to really interesting is when he gets good," Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey told FanHouse. "Not gets good, because he's good now, but when he gets as good as he can be. It's going to be really, really fun.
"He's really, really good, but he can be really, really better. I'm not exaggerating."
Think about that. Price started the All-Star Game for the AL and is 17-6, setting a franchise record for wins, with a 2.87 ERA. He ranks second in the American League in wins and fourth in ERA. Presumably, he will be the Rays' No. 1 starter in the Division Series.
Yet those who know him say much more is coming. 
BOSTON -- Including Monday night's disaster at Fenway Park, Jeff Niemann is 0-3 with a 20.03 ERA in three starts since coming off the Tampa Bay disabled list.
"I don't like it," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after Niemann gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Red Sox. "But this guy was so good before."
Maddon said he has no plans to skip Niemann in his rotation.
Before missing three weeks with a shoulder strain, Niemann was 10-3 with a 3.12 ERA and just 44 walks in 141 1/3 innings.
Since returning, he has walked eight in 10 1/3 innings, giving up 19 hits, four of those homers (two Monday).
Niemann said he is fine physically, and Maddon said based on the radar readings and Niemann's delivery, he has no reason to doubt that. 
by FanHouse TVThe Red Sox have been hanging on to a playoff thread all summer long despite injuries to key players all over the field. The make or break point in their season could very well start this weekend at Tampa Bay. They face the Rays six times over the next 12 games in a stretch that could decide their fate.
FanHouse TV's Steve Phillips has more in his AL Series to Watch: 
by FanHouse Staff
The Rays have been looking to add a hitter for some time, and it appears they have found a low-risk option in Brad Hawpe.
The former Rockies outfielder is close to finalizing a minor league deal with Tampa Bay, a source told FanHouse's Ed Price.
Colorado released Hawpe this week after he passed through waivers unclaimed. The seven-year veteran is in the midst of his worst season as a big league regular, hitting .255 with seven homers and a .776 OPS in 88 games for the Rockies. He had lost playing time in Colorado and finally was designated for assignment last week by the team that drafted him out of LSU 10 years ago.