According to the St. Petersburg Times, Troy Percival flew home to California after the Tampa Bay Rays left him off of their ALCS roster.

Yeah, that Percival. The guy who has been lauded for his leadership abilities and for being a “good teammate” all season. The one who was main figure in many stories, including some of my own, about how several new veterans—Cliff Floyd as well—have helped to instill a winning culture in the Tampa Bay clubhouse while offering leadership to the Rays’ younger players.

Seriously, how many stories have focused on how his veteran leadership has played a major factor in the turnaround of the Rays’ bullpen?

Percival really came off as the ultimate team-first guy.

Well, at least until he started to, you know, suck at pitching.

Sure, he has been hurt. This has played a major part in his poor performance. But, even when healthy, he has been ineffective, a shell of the closer who once threw in the mid-90s for the Angels back in the day. After the All-Star break, his command and stuff were more consistent with someone his age, he nearly walked a batter per inning and posted an ERA closer to a touchdown than a field goal.

While much was made about his health status, the fact of the matter is that the Rays would have been foolish to leave David Price or Edwin Jackson off the ALCS squad even if Percival was healthy. Pleasing veterans is nice. Winning, however, is better.

As I wrote the other day:

There is a lot of discussion about whether or not Troy Percival will be put on the Tampa Bay Rays’ ALCS roster. Well, if it were up to me, I would decline that offer. Percival is a veteran who has World Series experience, two factors which have led several mainstream analysts and writers to talk about how he is an essential piece to the puzzle and needs to be on the roster. To their credit, he certainly has had a tremendous positive impact on several of the Rays’ young talented arms, all while helping to instill a culture of winning in the clubhouse. However, based on his performance in the second half—6.11 post-All-Star break ERA, 16 walks in 17.2 innings pitched—and an obvious decline in his command and stuff, Joe Maddon can no longer trust him with a lead late in the game. Period.

As critical as I was, I still thought that Percival would come out to the ballpark to be with his team.

He says that he wants to be with his family. I get that, to an extent.

Plus, he probably would not make that much of a difference if he was actually headed to Boston to cheer on his teammates the rest of the series, anyway. Baseball is really more about talent than anything else, especially being a cheerleader.

But, for him—of all people—not to go has unquestionably put his team-first, leader reputation at risk and reflects poorly on him. Which has left a bad taste in my mouth. It must hurt knowing that the Rays do not need his servies with so much at stake, choosing instead to go with a youngster like Price even though he made it clear that he wanted to be put on the roster. Especially for someone as proud as Percival, who is one of the all-time best closers in the history of the game.

Still, if Jeff Kent and his massive ego can deal with taking on a part-time role with the Los Angeles Dodgers with the chance of picking up a ring outweighing his hurt feelings, Percival can as well.

He should be with his team, cheering along with Eric Hinske and Jonny Gomes and the other Rays left off the ALCS roster who are making the trip up to New England. Period.

As a high school basketball coach once told me, “It is easy to be a leader when things are going right. When times get rough, however, real leaders must step up and do the right thing.”

Indeed.

To reach Tyler Hissey, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.

Will Sabathia end up a Yankee?

Since I do not really want to focus on a particular subject right now, I am going to pull a Mark Kriegel, focusing on various random topics in the baseball world.

—According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the New York Yankees want to sign at least two of the three premier free agent starting pitchers on the market—A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe and CC Sabathia.

Although Sabathia has said that money will not be the ultimate factor that drives a decision for him, I have a difficult time taking him at his word. Sabathia has said all the right things to the local Milwaukee media, but he is going to follow the money. And, since the Yankees have unlimited financial resources to work with (especially when moving into a new ballpark), there is no team that can match them in a bidding war. Also, Sabathia recently shot down the rumors that he is interested in returning to California. He certainly could end up in a number of other potential cities, but New York—with the Mets as a slim possibility—seems like the best bet.

Lowe, a Scott Boras client, has had a nice season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, posting a 3.24 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 34 starts. Using his excellent sinkerball, the 35-year-old right-hander went 7-3 with a 2.38 mark after the All-Star break, limiting hitters to a .226 batting average in 87.0 innings. He has also pitched well in the postseason to this point, picking the right time, for Boras and his bank account, to find his groove on the mound.

Burnett has not told the Toronto Blue Jays if he will opt out of his contract—yet. Odds are, though, this will happen fairly soon, leaving him as a realistic option for Brian Cashman and the Yankees. He won 18 games in Toronto in 2008, but posted a higher ERA (4.07) than his career average (3.81). The 31-year-old right-hander is also always an injury threat, but can miss bats as well as anyone in the business—231 Ks in 221.1 innings pitched. If I were a betting man, I would say that he will be pitching in the Pinstripes next year alongside Sabathia, not Lowe.

—The Chicago Cubs picked up the option on Rich Harden’s contact yesterday. This was the right decision by the Cubs. While Harden is always at risk of injury, he is a dominant pitcher when he is healthy enough to pitch. Since coming over to Chicago in a midseason trade with the Oakland Athletics, he posted a 1.77 ERA while striking out 89 in 71.0 innings pitched. Jim Hendry was not left with a lot of time to make a decision, sure, but he made the right choice—a recent test showed that he had no structural damage in his right shoulder.

 
Stay away, Troy.

—There is a lot of talk about whether or not Troy Percival will be put on the Tampa Bay Rays’ ALCS roster. Well, if it were up to me, I would say, no. Percival is a veteran who has World Series experience, two factors which have led several mainstream analysts and writers to talk about how he is an essential piece to the puzzle and needs to be on the roster. To their credit, he certainly has had a tremendous positive impact on several of the Rays’ young talented arms, all while helping to instill a culture of winning in the clubhouse. However, based on his performance in the second half—6.11 post-All-Star break ERA, 16 walks in 17.2 innings pitched—and an obvious decline in his command and stuff, Joe Maddon can no longer trust him with a lead late in the game. Period.

The closer-by-committee group of Grant Balfour, who throws absolute smoke, Chad Bradford, one of the best groundball specialists in the games who practically never surrenders home runs, and Dan Wheeler has a better chance of getting the job done in the ninth inning with the game on the line. So, whoever says that this relief method does not work, think again—talent is the secret ingredient, though.

So while the talking heads will give the bullpen advantage to Boston, which does have a better pure closer in Jonathan Papelbon, not having a healthy Percival is not that big of a deal. Even if the veteran righty is healthy, he does not deserve to be pitching important innings at this stage of the season.

Picks for the upcoming series—

Although anything can happen in a short series, I will offer up my picks for the upcoming LCS in each league.

American League—

Throw the experience argument out the window right now. Despite what they say on TBS, the Rays will not be intimidated by the Red Sox. It really comes down to talent more than anything else, but all of the talk about heart and such makes for a more compelling story to some journalists.

If Tampa Bay could not handle the pressure, though, would they have won the AL East? Every time these two teams met up in the regular season, it seems, the same stories would show up about how the young, pesky Rays would fade under the pressure.

Well, they did not, outlasting the Red Sox to win baseball’s most competitive division.

With that being said, too many people are also focusing on how the Rays won the regular season series, 10-8. Well, throw that argument out the window, too. This time last week, everybody in the media was talking about how the Los Angeles Angels dominated Boston all year as well, and look how that series turned out.

One thing is for sure, though. These teams have battled it out all year, and it is going to be an exciting series.

Boston has the better offense, in my opinion, and are always a threat to hang up a 13-spot like they did off of Scott Kazmir in September. They led the league with a .358 on-base percentage, meaning that they will force Tampa Bay pitchers to throw strikes. And they have so many guys—from MVP candidates Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilus to Big Papi—who can cause tremendous damage with one swing of the bat.

But the Rays’ pitching staff has shown that they are up to the challenge. James “Big Game” Shields will start Game 1 like he did in the Division Series. Shields is likely to last until at least the seventh inning, which will be good for his bullpen with Scott Kazmir—who labors and has had trouble making it through five lately—taking the hill in Game 2. If he can turn in a quality start—perhaps similar to his complete game shutout against Boston back in April—and the Rays can jump out to an early series lead, they may never look back.

Daisuke Matsusaka, similar to Kazmir, has not been efficient with his pitches. The Rays need to make him throw strikes, showing sound plate discipline, because when he does throw it over the plate, he is tough to hit (lowest opponents’ batting average in the majors).

The other pitching matchups are equally as intriguing. Which Kazmir will show up? The guy who was so dominant in June and July or post-All-Star break Kaz?

Jon Lester has been excellent in the postseason, and has really emerged as a frontline starter. Lester, in fact, seems to be the ace of the Boston staff right now. It will be tough for Tampa Bay to scrape runs across against him. Ditto for Josh Beckett, who had a down year but is still one of the best big-game pitchers in the game.

Matt Garza, though, can shut any offense down on any given night in his own right.

All-in-all, the pitching matchups seem pretty even—though Andy Sonnanstine is a better fourth option than Tim Wakefield.

The Rays have the better defense—having converted more balls put into play into outs than any other team in the majors—and I think the edge in bullpen.

So, while anything can happen (cannot stress this enough), I choose the Rays if they can continue to throw strikes, catch the ball and get the timely hits, from nearly everyone on the roster, like they have been doing all along.

The key for them, though, is to get into the Boston bullpen early and often. Papelbon is lights out, but the link to the controversial closer has been a problem at times. Manny Declaremen and Justin Masterson have helped a great deal in the second half, but the Rays will have an easier time scoring runs off the likes of Mike Timlin than a Beckett or Dice-K or Lester.

Another X factor to be considered is homefield advantage. Both the Rays and Red Sox are much better at home than on the road. Tropicana Field has been kryptonite for Boston in ’08, albeit in a small sample size, and the Rays had the majors’ best record at home. Still, the Red Sox were not too far behind, as they love playing in front of the hometown crowd at Fenway Park—a tough environment to play in for an opposing team.

Since the series starts at the Trop, where the Rays are 20-2 in games with 30,000-plus fans in attendance (the cowbell effect), they have the edge in this regard. But, though they took two out of three at Fenway in September, winning at least one game on the road will be quite a challenge.

It is going to be exciting, but, due to all of the factors and my tremendous bias for the new pride of St. Pete (though my cousin plays in the Red Sox organization), I am going with the Rays. In seven.

National League—

I am a bit lazy to make a case right now, after going on a seemingly endless tangent about the ALCS, but I think the Philadelphia Phillies will take the cake in the series.

Cole Hamels is a stud, though he does not have the mid-90s heat. Brad Lidge has been a stud all year, having converted 41 saves in 41 tries. And the Phillies also have a number of great relievers to bridge the gap to Lidge.

Plus, Ryan Howard has been on an insane tear since September. Howard, the NL leader in homers and RBIs, has posted a ridiculous .1000-plus OPS over the past 30 games, picking the right time to get hot while doing enough in 30 days to enter the MVP conversation.

Pat Burrell can mash as well. Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins do a nice job of setting the table. And, in hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park, they are going to score some runs.

Sinkerball pitcher Lowe will negate some of that, but I like the Phils at home, and see them taking at least one game in Los Angeles.

Manny Ramirez is on fire, too, Rafael Furcal is back, the Dodgers’ pitching has been excellent and the matchups favor the flavor of the month in the NL. But I am not buying into them yet.

Sure,they made fools out of the best team in the NL last week, and Man-Ram is playing on a whole other level. The Phillies, however, were the better team all year, in a tougher division.

Phillies in six.

To reach Tyler Hissey, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.

Despite an unusual amount of errors, the Rays won their second straight game in the battle for first place, writes Marc Topkin.

Grant Balfour, who was throwing smoke tonight and earned his second save, relishes the ninth-inning role, writes Joe Smith. Balfour, the odd man out in the bullpen at the end of spring training, went down to Durham with a chip on his shoulder, then posted unbelievable statistics in 15 appearances: 1-0, 0.38 ERA--he only gave up one earned run in 23.2 innings pitched--39-to-10 K/W ratio. His performance was hard to ignore, and it now looks as if he will take over ninth inning duties with veteran closer Troy Percival headed to the DL. Lefty J.P. Howell and Dan Wheeler have been invaluable members of the Rays' bullpen thus far, but, depending on Percival's status, Dohmann could be the key reliever for Tampa Bay down the stretch.

The Rays are willing to pay the price for a pennant, writes John Romano.

Several local Boston fans have been seduced by the Rays' success, writes John Barry.

The Rays are the feel-good sports story of the summer, writes Mark Kriegel.

Percival To Disabled List, Talbot Called Up

Percival has been great in the clubhouse. (AP)

The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday placed closer Troy Percival on the disabled list. Percival, who was forced to leave Monday night's game with two outs in the ninth inning, aggravated his ailing hamstring while backing up third base against the Boston Red Sox. In one of his most recent outings before that, June 24 against the Florida Marlins, the veteran righty walked a career-high four batters before getting out of the jam by allowing only one earned run. Following the poor showing, he then complained about his nagging left hamstring, which has bothered him for much of the spring and already forced him to spend some time on the disabled list earlier this month.

Percival, who came off the DL on June 14, ranks seventh in the American League with 19 saves and has posted an opponents' OPS of .591 and 0.96 WHIP in 28.0 innings pitched. He has also been a tremendous influence on the Rays' younger players, helping to establish a culture of winning in the clubhouse and bullpen. Tampa Bay needs him down the stretch, though, so it is crucial for him to stay healthy in the second half. Thus, hopefully he can get the necessary rest that he needs, joining the Rays when they need his presence the most, down the stretch in August and September.

The Rays called up right-handed pitching prospect Mitch Talbot to take Percival's spot on the 25-man roster. Talbot is 7-6 with a 77-to-16 K/W ratio in 17 starts at Triple-A Durham.

Garza Continues To Shine

Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Matt Garza looked like an ace last week in Miami, pitching one of the most dominant games in franchise history. Garza, the key piece acquired by the Rays in the Delmon Young trade with the Minnesota Twins, was practically unhittable, tossing a complete-game one-hitter in a 6-1 win over the Florida Marlins. Only a day after his alma mater, Fresno State, capped off their Cinderella story to win the 2008 College World Series, he struck out 10, allowing only one run on a solo shot to Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

Garza continued to be effective on Tuesday night, giving the Rays a series victory over their new nemesis, the Boston Red Sox, by scattering five hits and allowing one earned run in seven solid innings to earn his seventh win. The 24-year old, USA Today's Minor League Player of the Year in '06, continues to make Tampa Bay fans forget about Young, who has only two homers for the Twins, every time that he takes the ball. Clocked as high as 96 MPH in the ninth inning last Wednesday, he appears to finally be cashing in on his tremendous talent with his recent performance.

With the win, Garza is now 7-4 with a 3.47 ERA and 58-to-29 K/W ratio in 15 starts.

Price Wins Again

David Price is having a fine debut season in professional baseball, perhaps emerging as the top overall prospect in the minors. Selected with the number one overall pick of the 2007 draft out of Vanderbilt University, Price is rising up the Tampa Bay Rays' farm system with ease.

Price turned some heads in the Florida State League earlier this spring, going a perfect 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA and 37-to-7 K/W ratio in six starts for the Vero Beach Devil Rays. After limiting opponents to a .220 batting average while scattering 28 hits in 34.2 innings pitched, he was promoted to Double-A Montgomery last week.

The 6'6'' southpaw, who impressed Pedro Martinez when he squared off against the future of Hall of Famer earlier this season, was solid but unspectacular in his Southern League debut. He allowed two earned runs on four hits while striking out seven and walking four in six innings to earn the fifth win of his professional career.

Price was even better the second time around, though, tossing six shutout innings--giving up only five hits--to lead the Biscuits to a 5-0 victory over Mississippi on Tuesday night. He struck five and walked two, lowering his ERA with the club to 1.50.

Overall, Price is now 6-0 with a 1.74 ERA in eight starts in 2008. In 46.2 innings pitched, he has given up only 37 hits, posting a .218 opponents' batting average. If he continues to make pitching in the minors look this easy, it is not difficult to imagine Price pitching at Tropicana Field for the Rays in September.

Notes:

Jason Barlett collected his eighth extra-base hit of the season on Tuesday, hitting his seventh double of the year. He went 1-for-3 to raise his batting average to .253, though his .598 OPS is among the lowest in the majors...Ben Zobrist hit a homer for Triple-A Durham on Tuesday, helping the Bulls to a win...Dioner Navarro collected two hits in the Rays' win over Boston, raising is his line to .316/.368/.439...

The Tampa Bay infield defense has been markedly better in 2008. Bartlett, Akinori Iwamura, who has made a flawless transition from the hot corner to second base, and highlight-reel regular Evan Longoria are all plus defenders at their respective positions. Tampa Bay, in fact, has the second-highest defensive efficiency rating--the rate at which balls put into play are converted into outs--in all of baseball, and the defensive play of the aforementioned trio is a a big reason why.

The Rays' defense has been the difference, writes Rob Neyer.

To contact Tyler Hissey, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.