Jonny Gomes is Sporting a Nationals Jersey

The Cincinnati Reds traded Jonny Gomes away to the Washington Nationals Tuesday in return for two minor leaguers, leaving the door wide open in Cincinnati's outfield for former first-round pick Yonder Alonso.

The struggling left fielder was batting just .211 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI headed into Wednesday night's game against the Florida Marlins. His reaction to the trade:

Coco Crisp Gets His Ass Kicked

Fricking awesome. First of all, Rick Sutcliffe not only called it, he demanded it. which you can watch here. This bench-clearing brawl was BY FAR the most awesome baseball-related fight that didn't involve a bat and wasn't on Youtube I have ever seen. In my life.

James Shields throws the haymaker and MISSES?! That's just unfortunate. And while Coco Crisp got a couple good punches in there, he pretty much got his ass railed by the entire Tampa Bay Rays 25-man roster.

Then he basically called the Rays a bunch of hair-pulling, scratching, football-playing little girls during a post-game interview. If that doesn't constitute a fastball between the shoulder blades, I don't know what does.

I also wanted to point out, in case you couldn't tell from the sheer brutality, Jonny Gomes is an animal.

To top things off, Manny bitch-slapped Youk and hurts himself? Jacoby makes a sensational diving catch, and hurts himself... what is happening with Red Sox Nation? And why would the meek and mild Barry Bonds ever want to play there now?

[Hartford Courant]

You Get What You Pay For

Jonny Gomes and the sun-shiny Tampa Bay Rays avoided arbitration Thursday, coming to terms on a one-year, $1,275,000 contract that triples his salary from last season. The 27-year-old outfielder and designated hitter earned $407,800 in 2007 while hitting 16 homers and 44 RBIs in 81 of the Rays' last 99 games.

At the beginning of the season, Gomes was batting .184 and was promptly sent to the minors on May 28th. He bounced back with the AAA Durham Bulls however, batting .244 with 17 longballs and 49 RBIs.

He is expected to share DH opportunities and right field patrol with Cliff Floyd and Rocco Baldelli. And here's a fun fact: Gomes' 58 homers the past three seasons are the most by any Tampa Bay player.

In other Rays news, the club traded lefty Jeff Ridgeway to the Atlanta Braves for troubled infielder Willy Aybar Thursday evening. Read more on this over at the sweet MVN blog, Rays Anatomy.

[USA Today]