Friday, 14. November 2008
In the spirit of trying to keep up with the goings on of the hot stove league I’ve decided to look at the possibilities and suggest five moves the Rays should make to improve their team. I will try to be as realistic as I can be while trying to view things from both sides. Let’s roll with it and see how it goes.
- Sign Joe Beimel: Starting slow and sounding as simple as possible, I know, but the addition of Beimel as Trever Millers replacement would be a huge upgrade to an already good bullpen. Beimel has done very well in the last few years with the Dodgers and, as a type B free agent, there would be no draft picks lost. Beimel could legitimately be used in more situations than just the lefty on lefty matchups if needed, but would be the ideal guy to slot in with Howell, Balfour and Wheeler in shutting teams down from the seventh inning on. There is a lot of competition out there for Beimel but I think it could be done.
- Re-sign Rocco Baldelli: One of those sentimental moves I think both sides would go for. The only problem that may arise has already started to surface. It seems that everyone is forgetting that Rocco hasn’t been able to play a full season for quite some time and he’s already being linked to Philly and Boston. If healthy I could see him bolting for a starting gig in Philly to replace Pat Burrell, but I don’t see Roc playing in Boston. Maybe it’s the homer thing here and I do know Rocco is from the Northeast, but I can’t imagine he would want to play with those guys after being on this side of the fence during his career.
- Remove Jonny Gomes from the roster: My personal favorite as we all know by now. If there is any possible way that they could trade him for anything, they should say yes. I don’t see Friedman pulling anything off like he did with Elijah Dukes (although doesn’t look that good now) but if there is something out there to be had for this guy, GET IT!
- Sign Brandon Lyon: I would love the idea of signing a Brian Fuentes but the Rays do have to be more payroll conscious than most. I’m definitely not a fan of signing Francisco Rodriguez either as he’s been abused, is erratic and is WAY overpriced. Brandon Lyon is the next best thing to me. He’s apparently willing to work the eighth inning and it would be a nice competition to see who wins the closer role between Lyon, Wheeler and Balfour. I think he could be had for two or three years as well and it wouldn’t be a disastrous hit salary-wise if he were to flame out.
- Trade Edwin Jackson, Jeff Niemann, and Reid Brignac to the Tigers for Magglio Ordonez. From slow to crazy but I think this could work. It opens the rotation spot we need for David Price, capitalizes on a prospect in Brignac who is flaming out and provides some much needed offense to the middle of the lineup. This would also stabilize our RF situation and take some pressure off of Longoria. This trade makes sense to me from the Tigers stand point as well as it gives them some salary relief, starting pitching and possible future shortstop. Ordonez is getting older and the Tigers need to get younger. They have Miguel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield and Carlos Guillen who still provide enough offense and it gives them some desperately needed arms to fill out their pitching staff. Maybe I’m crazy but this really makes sense to me.
This of course is all speculation on my part and is something I think is all possible and wouldn’t deplete the farm system. The only question here is the payroll budget. I’m no expert on the salary stuff but this would put the payroll in the $70 million range, so I don’t know if it’s truly affordable for the franchise. This is the first year I’ve ever thought about some off-season moves like this where I think they’re possible due to the team’s success. This is going to become a more attractive place for free agents to come and we should have more money to spend in the aftermath of the playoffs. Before you scoff or laugh at these ideas, think of two things. This is my first trip to the dance as far as these things go, so go easy. Also think of this roster and lineup, it looks good to me.
Lineup:
2B Iwamura
CF Upton
RF Ordonez
1B Pena
3B Longoria
LF Crawford
DH Baldelli/Aybar
C Navarro
SS Bartlett
Bench:
IF/OF Zobrist
DH/IF Aybar
DH/OF Baldelli
OF Gross
C Riggans
Rotation:
Shields
Price
Garza
Kazmir
Sonnanstine
Bullpen:
Hammel or Talbot
Bradford
Howell
Balfour
Beimel
Wheeler
Lyon
If you have any ideas, think these are bad moves or anything to add, please leave comments.
Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Andrew Friedman, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Boston Red Sox, Brandon Lyon, Brian Fuentes, Carl Crawford, Carlos Guillen, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, Elijah Dukes, Evan Longoria, Francisco Rodriguez, Gabe Gross, Gary Sheffield, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Joe Beimel, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Los Angeles Dodgers, Magglio Ordonez, Matt Garza, Miguel Cabrera, Mitch Talbot, Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Phillies, Reid Brignac, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Trever Miller, Willy Aybar
Wednesday, 30. July 2008
The Rays won today if you hadn’t heard. EJax pitched decent, Pena homered and all that good stuff. The game wasn’t televised so I couldn’t watch, but it appeared that Percival wasn’t a complete nightmare today either. A good day all around. Onto the trade deadline stuff. The Rays are currently linked to Jason Bay and are said to have the best offer on the table. What worries me about this story is that the Rays appear set in their offer and not willing to budge. I understand this with Wade Davis, David Price and Jeremy Hellickson, but I don’t understand the unwillingness to move Reid Brignac. I know he’s a “top prospect” and I understand that there is basically no depth with middle infielders in the minors. What I don’t get is the unwillingness to mortgage a little bit of the future to go for it now. Bay isn’t the ideal guy to put in RF, but he’s the exact type of bat that we need there. It’s all conflicting reports but the boys at Rays Index are saying that he’s basically untouchable and I trust what they say. On to the Brian Fuentes stuff, I don’t see it happening so that’s over. Will Ohman is still a possibility but there’s not a lot of info there. It’s crazy but fun with all this stuff. There is more and more talk now that Rocco will be back soon and I’m conflicted on this (I think we all are). There is no way you can count on Rocco, but I think we all want him back. Also, looking at the minor league games over the last week, my boy Justin Ruggiano is getting more playing time in CF. That tells me (maybe I’m just hoping) that he is being prepped for another call up. The other thing I’m excited about is the fact that all of these possible moves make it tough to see a way that Jonny Gomes is on the roster after the deadline. That would make me very happy! To wrap up my completely senseless rambling now, if the Rays do get away with getting Bay for a deal centered around Niemann, that would be a ridiculously one sided deal to me. I stated at the start of the season that I thought Niemann was a bust waiting to happen and there’s been nothing that’s gone on to make me change my mind. Oh yeah, one more thing. My scout buddy (who’s proving to be completely useless right now) also told me that most of the teams the Rays are talking to want Ruggiano put in the deal somewhere. This should tell the Rays that they have someone worth giving the shot I’ve been begging for. Good times at the trade deadline. Sorry for the inane blather here but my head’s been spinning all day.
Scott Brannelly
Links: MLB Trade Rumors, Rays Index
Technorati Tags: Brian Fuentes, Carlos Pena, David Price, Edwin Jackson, Jason Bay, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, Reid Brignac, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival, Wade Davis, Will Ohman
Sunday, 27. July 2008
There are a ton of rumors swirling around the Rays as the deadline approaches this Thursday and they’ve got everyone guessing as to what they’re gonna do. I know my stomach dropped Friday when I saw the Yankees had obtained Xavier Nady and Demaso Marte from the Pirates. I really wanted Nady and thought the Rays could’ve gotten him using some sort of package involvingguys like Edwiin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann or Andy Sonnanstine. The Pirates need pitching and the Rays have some to spare, so what happened? It’s anybone’s guess. This is hard for me to swallow for two reasons. It really helps the Yanks, who are coming fast, and it blocked the Rays from the deal. They killed us twice so to speak. This all leaves me wondering what the Rays plan to do. They’re being linked to guys like Brian Fuentes, Ron Mahay, Clint Barmes (god no), Jason Bay (no way that’s going to happen), Matt Murton, Mark Texiera and Matt Holliday (just for fun on the last two). I’m getting more frustrated with this because they don’t seem to be actively trying to move a Jackson, Hammel or Sonnanstine the way they should be. When David Price is ready to come up, one of these guys needs to be gone and they’re not looking to create an opening. This makes me think that we won’t see Price this year until September at the earliest. Their lack of moves also makes me believe that they’re are counting on Rocco to make an impact and that’s just crazy. I love Roc but we all know he’s one step away from a hospital bed at all times. I’m really curious about this whole thing. If they do get a Brian Fuentes, who’s gone? I would like to see Trevor Miller take a walk as he’s been disappointing. Any move they make for a bat must involve Gomes’ removal from the roster (finally!). If they don’t want to mortgage the future for today then they need to start using some of that future to see if it fits. Gomes has to go and Ruggiano should be given a shot to replace him if no trade is made. There is no trade market for Gomes so a DFA should be made asap. I would love to have seen the Rays capitalize on Jackson’s improvement this year and move him to make room for Price. I would like to see Sonnanstine stay because we do need an innings eater and Jackson isn’t it. I will be following these rumors closely this week and I’ll begin to list what I see as it’s close enough to watch now. I really do hope a move is made, even if it’s not a trade but a move to bring someone up and try to improve this team.
Scott Brannelly
Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, Brian Fuentes, Clint Barmes, David Price, Demaso Marte, Edwin Jackson, Jason Bay, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, Mark Texiera, Matt Holliday, Matt Murton, New York Yankees, Pittsburg Pirates, Rocco Baldelli, Ron Mahay, Tampa Bay Rays, Trevor Miller, Xavier Nady
