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Marc Topkin Of The Tampa Bay Times Talks O's And Rays With Scott And Jeremy

Marc Topkin Of The Tampa Bay Times Talks O's And Rays With Scott and Jeremy

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times spoke with Scott and Jeremy today about the MLB, focusing on the AL East series between the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays.

Topkin, who has covered the Rays since 1987, weighed in on how manager Joe Maddon has handled the disappointing season for his team, going from a 91-71 record last year to 28-43 through 71 games. "One thing about Joe is he will not give up on his positivity, and he's been tapping into that a lot and he continues, and he'll say it again tonight if they lose, that he's confident they'll turn it around and he's confident they'll be in the playoffs this year. … He's hanging in there, he maintains that they can pull this out."

Topkin was also asked about the upside of pitcher Alex Cobb, who has a 26-16 record with a 3.35 ERA six games into his fourth season. "I think Alex Cobb is going to position himself, not just financially but in terms of a leadership role on a staff, and David Price is going to get traded at some point, he's going to leave the Rays and whether it's the next couple of weeks or it's after this season, or even if he somehow ends up staying here all of next year and leaves here as a free agent after the 2015 season, at that point I think Alex Cobb will step right into that role, and he wants that role, he's that kind of guy.

"They've got some guys that I think are just great players." Marc said about the Orioles this year. "I mean I'll tell everybody that I think Adam Jones is one of the most fascinating and interesting players, both to watch and talk to, I really enjoy watching him play. Markakis is good, Chris Davis was obviously a great find. The question a lot of people have is do they have enough pitching, and is there enough depth to this rotation?"

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