It's obvious how much the Rays are going to miss J.P. Howell. Here are some interesting stats from ESPN's Buster Olney and Mark Simon on J.P. Howell's 2009 season:

A) He made 23 appearances on consecutive days, up from 13 such appearances
when the Rays bullpen was able to go a little deeper, in 2008. Newly
obtained Ray Rafael Soriano may be a little more used to such usage. He
pitched 29 times on consecutive days in 2009, tied for second-most in the
majors (behind Pedro Feliciano's 34) with Ryan Madson.
B) He got right-handed hitters out at an extraordinary rate for a
left-handed pitcher. Consider that he ranked first among lefties in
allowing just a .159 batting average from opposing right-handed hitters. He
was second in Opp OBP (.268) and third among all lefties in Opp Slug,
allowing just a .293 mark. This out of 101 qualifying pitchers.
C) Via the data on Fangraphs.com -- and perhaps a clue in how well he
handled righties -- Howell was third in baseball among pitchers who threw
the highest rate of curveballs, behind Jason Bulger and Wandy Rodriguez.