This year: June 14th.

Last year: July 31st.

via www.fangraphs.com

3 Up: Garza .302 Bartlett .210 Upton .067 

3 Down: Iwamura -.053, Navarro -.052, Longoria -.116

The FSL All-Star Game is tonight, and Vero Beach right-hander Ryan Morse was named the starter for the East squad. Other Devil Rays(they're still called that down there, don't fine me) participating are pitchers Jeremy Hellickson and Heath Rollins, outfielders Garrett Groce and J.T. Hall, and infielder Cesar Suarez. Pitcher Ryan Reid was also selected, but was since promoted to AA Montgomery. J.T. Hall is also a participant in the FSL home run derby, which precedes the 7:15 EST game.

Also, this is mostly conjecture, but my guess is Hellickson would've started if he was healthy, but he was removed from his last start with a blister problem. I'd be surprised if Hellickson winds up pitching tonight since he didn't start.

AA Montgomery Biscuits (33-35)

Morlan Activated-Biscuits RHP Eduardo Morlan has been activated off of the Disabled List; he was expected to arrive in Montgomery last night and could see game action as soon as today in Mobile. Morlan, placed on the DL April 25th with a sore right (pitching) shoulder, was rehabbing at the Naimoli complex in St. Petersburg. Acquired in the off-season as part of the Delmon Young trade from the Minnesota Twins, Morlan had struggled in six appearances for the Biscuits prior to going on the shelf, giving up six earned runs in 6.2 innings of work. Regarded as the organization's finest relief pitching prospect, Morlan will presumptively return to the closer's role that he had occupied prior to the injury.

BISCUITS 1, Mobile 0 (13)-The Biscuits and visiting BayBears exchanged zeros for 12 innings at Riverwalk Stadium on Friday night before two errors doomed Mobile in the bottom of the 13th. CF Rashad Eldridge came in to score when Mobile C John Hester dropped the incoming throw from 3B Cesar Nicolas that, executed properly, would have started a 5-2-3 double play to get Mobile out of the inning. Instead, 3B Chris Nowak reached base safely on the play, and his league-leading double play count stood pat at 15. RHP Wade Davis pitched seven shutout innings for the Biscuits to rebound from his poor start last Saturday.

BISCUITS Up Next-at Mobile, 8:05 EST (LH James Houser)

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St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker has recommended that the City Council choose Archstone-Madison's proposal to redevelop the Tropicana Field site should the team's plan to vacate the site for a new $450 million waterfront stadium come to fruition. The plan's financing is reliant on the successful purchase and development of the stadium land, and Baker recommended that the city move forward with the highest-density plan.

While the City Council must ratify the Mayor's suggestion at a meeting next week, it is widely presumed that the ratification is a mere formality. The Rays' plan had originally been sprung in concert with a competing developer's proposal, but the team says they look forward to working with Hines as the process moves forward.

Archstone-Madison's $1.2 billion proposal is slated to be the largest single development in the city's history, and if the plan goes through in full, it will give Pinellas County the retail equivalent of International Plaza in Tampa. The plan also includes gratuitous amounts of condo and apartment units, as well as office space and hotel rooms. Archstone-Madison had offered $65 million for the Tropicana site, about $5 million more than had competing developer Hines.

If development proceeds, ground should be broken on the project in 2010. The land will not be developed in full until about 2023. Aaron Sharockman of the St. Petersburg Times, who covered the decision as it unfolded yesterday, posted an excellent breakdown of what the competing developers had in mind for the site on his Ballpark Frankness blog yesterday.

The next step in the process, after the presumed City Council rubber stamp next week, will be neogtiations for the final development agreement. The city would like to come to a deal on that by August 1st.

Though Archstone-Madison had the higher bid of $65 million for the land, the offer is still about $5 million below the total it would take to pay off the debt completely on Tropicana Field. The Rays were relying on $70 million from the buyer to pay that portion of the deal off. It remains unclear how the team will account for the missing $5 million.

Also, while Archstone-Madison pledges to put forth $5 million to demolish Tropicana Field, it will not pay for any environmental mitigation required on the site. Further, it will not guarantee the tax revenues to be garnered from the redevelopment project, tax revenues that are crucial to the team's financing plan. The proposal is projected to generate $7.5 million a year in taxes for the City of St. Petersburg when fully completed, but in a city fresh off the failed developmental bungle known as Bay Plaza in the 1990s, the lack of guaranteed revenue is concerning.

TIMES PARKING SURVEY:

The St. Petersburg Times dispatched three reporters to walk three different routes to the proposed Al Lang Stadium site from three parking hubs suggested by the Rays. The Times then had those reporters chronicle the journey along the route. It made for an interesting read; more than anything else it showcased downtown stores and restaurants. Be sure to check out the web special on the story if it so interests you. +1 for any reader that notices how a liquor store was mentioned as a place that Rays fans might enjoy.

We'll update this as more of our picks sign.

3. Jake Jefferies - Near signing.

5. Michael Sheridan - Signed, reporting to Hudson Valley.

6. Shane Dyer - Signed, reporting to Hudson Valley

7. Jason Corder - Signed

9. Shawn Smith - Signed, reporting to Princeton

10. Matthew Hall - Signed

12. Brian Bryles - Signed

13. Jason McEachern - Signed, reporting to Princeton

14. Michael McKenna - Signed, reporting to Hudson Valley

16. Matt Gorgen - Signed

17. Jeremy Beckham - Signed

18. David Genao - Signed

20. Jason Tweedy - Signed, reporting to Hudson Valley

22. Jason Appel - Signed, reporting to Hudson Valley

23. Neil Schenk - Signed

24. Marquis Fleming - Signed, reporting to Hudson Valley

25. Josh Satow - Signed

26. Michael Jarman - Signed, reporting to Hudson Valley

34. Matt Long - Signed, reporting to Princeton

35. James Bagley - Signed

RAYS 7, Florida 3 Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL

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During the previous homestand I made an entry about my views on the Rays as contenders. My conclusion was that if they continued to play well on that homestand (which they certainly did, going 8-2 overall) and had a decent road trip in three tough places to go then I'd let all my reservations go. They went 3-6 on that road trip including another sweep in Boston, falling short of my stated goal of 4-5. With their good performance in Texas and maybe only losing the finale in Anaheim because of abysmally incompetent umpiring at a crucial time in the game I felt a little better about the rest of the season but I feel that they haven't completely gotten over the hump yet because of one potentially damaging weakness.

That weakness is 3/5 of the rotation. Kazmir and Shields are fine, if they're healthy nobody should worry about them at all. In fact they're a great 1-2 punch to throw at teams (personally I couldn't care less about Shields' road performance this year, HFA has been somewhat out of whack so far anyway and he was fine on the road in 2007, there's nothing to worry about in my eyes). The problem is with the other guys.

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Florida at RAYS 7:10; RAYS TV/ION RAYS RADIO/1250 AM

Pitching Matchup:

Starting Lineups:

"If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press"

R.I.P. Tim Russert (1950-2008)

GO RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!