Rays Trade Talks To Pick Up?

I'd add Skip Schumaker to that list. The Cardinals have Rasmus knocking on the door, and a decent corps of outfielders already on hand (Duncan, Ankiel, Ludwick, Barton), and Joe Mather impressed during spring training.

The Cardinals would probably even be willing to include Anthony Reyes (who has an option remaining) in return for Hammel (probably not for Edwin Jackson).

Reggie Willits would be great for the Rays, and perhaps Edwin Jackson would be good for the Angels. But of the two, the Rays would certainly be better off getting rid of Hammel.

Now if the Rays would like a reunion with Winn, I would love to see that happen just to open a spot for Lewis or Schierholtz on the Giants. But I don't know if Sabes is looking to acquire more pitching. Jackson, though, still has enough upside to make the deal viable-- even if he seesaws between brilliant and terrible.

Oh please let the Dodgers trade Ethier, but wait do the rays even have an overated, overpayed, and Rapidly aging veteran Ned Coletti would even want? Maybe a Carlos Reyes/ Carlos Pena for Broxton/Ethier that way Loney can ride the bench again

Elijah Dukes!

Just kidding.

eesh.. neither of those pitcher are very good, but i could definately see the Angels in the market. Joe Madden (i would assume) has some knowledge of the players that are being considered, so who knows? maybe they'll match up and get another SP over to Anaheim

i can only see Coco for a trade w the rays for a pitcher like, sonnenstine for example. good pitcher, high upside, but not tremendous upside. i could see Jeremy Reed + low level prospect for Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel

No one even talking about the elephant in the room.

Barry Bonds.

Crawford Pena Bonds deadly

hey devish i think schumaker or duncan could go but not until midseason. the cards cheap owner mr dewitt wants to keep rasmus in the minors in order to postpone arbitration. i also would like to see a better return than just hammel, eventhough i like hammel. hammel and another young starter of theirs would sound great for schumaker/duncan and reyes.

The number 1 target for the rays should definately be juan rivera. The angels need pitching, and rivera is near 100%, and absolutely raked in 2006 before his injury. He is probably the only guy on that list of outfielders who could be a pure middle of the order difference maker. Batting Crawford, Upton, Pena, then Rivera would definitely add value to the the Rays team for this year and beyond.

please take Delluchi.... we will throw in a pack of juicy fruit

rivera's been raking this spring too... he'd be a good pick-up, but the price may be steep

If the Angels trade Rivera or Willits it better be for more than some 6th or 7th starter that couldn't hack it ON THE RAYS. Yeah - that same rotation that was awful last year and projects to be decent, at best, this year.

Last check a guy who can hit 5th in most line-ups is worth substantially more than a #6 starter on a team that won less than 70 games last year.

Now, if the choice is Rivera for Jackson + nice prospects then I would listen. Otherwise hold onto the guy. He's cheap and happy. No need to trade him for a guy that most likely wouldn't stick on the Angels roster anyway.

I still think that Matt Murton makes a great deal of sense as well. The Cubs are likely looking to move him, considering that they just added Reed Johnson. I'm sure Hendry wouldn't mind if he could get an Edwin Jackson or maybe even a Jeremy Hellickson or Chris Mason. If Hendry could get one of the two latter guys that'd be a pretty good haul for Murton.

And I think its astonishing that Juan Rivera isn't getting any action. A team like the Mariners or Indians, who really don't have great corner outfielders, should be going after him pretty hard. The guy is still pretty young and I wouldn't be shocked if he hit 30 homers.

Pierre to Tampa...PLEASE!

Sincerely,
Dodger fans

PLEASE take Dellucci from us.

Pierre to Tampa will never, ever happen. Pierre to any low budget team will never happen.

Willits for Edwin Jackson and a low a power arm would be perfect for everyone. I hope Joey Maddon call up his boy Sociss and gets it done

or willits and a arm for reyes to the cards. I like it all

Willits isn't going anywhere. He's still got options left and the Angels are gonna use those to put him in AAA. They already said that. Juan Rivera is the one getting traded.

Anybody hearing Randy Winn and Steve Kline plus prospect for Shoppach and Barfield

Why does Angels fans seem to care about Willits so much? As far as I can tell he is Juan Pierre V 2.0

Am I missing something?

Willits gets on at a superior rate to Pierre and is a hell of a lot cheaper.

I still say Murton makes the most sense, but if they want to shoot for the moon go for Bay.

themfightingwords ... I'll give you my take on the situation (other fans will have different opinion).

The guy has put in essentially one full season at the big league level. He has posted an OBP near 400 (which matches his minor league numbers and is lower than his NCAA numbers - he posted an absurd 472 OBP at Oklahoma).

He has big time speed potential swiping 31 bases over the course of 164 games. He plays solid defense and can play any outfield position (though his bat makes him most useful as a CF).

Last year was a tale of 2 players. The guy that played in the first half of last year was amazing. 320+ BA, well over 400 OBP, stealing bases as well as anyone other than the real elite base runners.

Turn the page ... in the 2nd half his BA and OBP nose dived. He wasn't in the lineup very often. He was incredibly inconsistent.

Right now he's got another 2 years before he is even arbitration eligible. He also has minor league options left. The Angels are under no pressure to do anything with the guy.

So, it comes down to how you view the guy. Is he the 1st half player (which makes him a top tier CF/Lead off guy), the 2nd half player (4th outfielder/pinch runner) or somewhere in between (fringe starter on most teams)? The Angels obviously feel he can replicate his first half of last year. Other evaluators don't see that as being likely.

Ethier would be nice.

“Why does Angels fans seem to care about Willits so much? As far as I can tell he is Juan Pierre V 2.0
Am I missing something?”

Nah, youre not missing anything ~ well, other than the fact that he isnt PierreV2.0 as much as he’s PodsV2.0 (just without the slight-power Pods had). Pierre is wildly-slap-happy in his approach; he solely uses his speed to get on base and hardly every walks or strikes out. Willits is more in the selective-slap category, he is willing to take a walk (or K) while watching a pitch, but it generally leads to a wildly fluctuating BA in the bigs for guys without power (see Pods).

Now, much like with Pods, we see his value being quoted as dramatically different between fans. Some (lets call them CampH) see the high BA, and inturn OBP, and huge SB and get excited over the possibilities. Some (lets call them CampG) see the likelihood of fluctuating BA, and inturn OBP, because he doesn’t make a ton of contact; and when coupled with the lack of ability to hit a ball out of the infield, think that a long career is probably not in order since similar players haven’t been able to sustain success. I personally think the Angels are just waiting for KW (who is openly in “win now” mode) to come knocking with a CarlosLe…err…PaulKonerko type offer…

I myself hail from the “strike while the hype is hot” camp; but the word is that no one is offering anything special at the moment, so its possible GMs are leaning more towards Camp-G…

Wouldnt need to find an OF if they had just kept Delmon Young. Does anyone here really think Garza will be better long term?

the delmon who made it all but certain he would never sign once he reached FA with the rays... I think Delmon has a better chance of being more valuable, but Garza is a solid pitcher on a team that had/has nothing currently beyong the 3spot in their rotation. Delmon was a clubhouse cancer (just in Tampa and Durham) so far as well, so while it may seem simple to say they should have kept him it is better that they traded him at a high point of his value. Also beyond the big names in this trade the Rays absolutely raked.

Edwin Jackson for Austin Kearns? At some point, Bowden is going to have to deal at least one of his 1b/corner OF guys and try for a pitcher better than Odalis Perez.

I know people are talking about the RedSox and Coco because they at some point need to ship him somewhere but its not going to happen too quickly. I think He won't get traded until mid season. This would mean the Keilty is gone and the Rays could have that almost free (I certainly don't want him in Boston). Yes, he's no prize but he's a low cost immediate solution in that case.

I also think that Boston could pair up with the Rays by Trading Moss or Carter and maybe trading whatever arms they get in a 3way to get some mid/low level prospects.

I highly doubt that Theo will trade Coco to the Rays . He wants value and he's going to wait until some poor team gets wounded in the OF and then he'll start to circle high in the sky squaking 'gold glove defense!"

I personally like Moss and wish that Boston would have used him on the bench for this season. I think that Moss and Carter would be far more cost effective than Casey and Keilty yet I know Terry FranComa doesn't like anyone under 30 on his bench if he can help it.

I'm sure KW would love Willits, but Konerko's 10-5 activates in t-minus 20 days or so, and neither team has room for the other player... I see what you're trying to say, though... but they simply have better outfielders in Quentin, and dare I say, Brian Anderson.

I think Ryan Freel's balls-to-the-wall style would be a good fit on the Rays, and he could probably be had cheaper than a lot of those other guys. The Reds would love to throw another young pitcher onto their roster.

This makes no sense. Why not just call up Justin Ruggiano instead? Ruggiano hit .300-20-78-73-26 with a .386 OBP in 482 at bats in AAA last season. He might hit for a worse average then a guy like Ethier but he has more pop and more importantly, he is already in their system so they don't have to give up anything to get him.
Not to mention, with Kazmir's injury unknown as to how much it will be a problem, it makes no sense why the Rays would deal Edwin Jackson (who pitched okay this spring) to get an OF who doesn't provide much of an upgrade over the platoon situation of Gomes/Floyd. Plus, Gomes has been hitting well too.

Also, Trot Nixon is now available. Nixon would be a quality veteran presence in the Rays young clubhouse. Plus as a platoon type RF, Nixon and Gomes could provide enough offense/defense for a team that doesn't exactly figure to contend this year anyways.

The problem with Trot Nixon is at this point, he pretty much sucks. His veteran presence would be nice, but the Rays already have a decent amount of that in Percival, Floyd and other guys. Right now they should persue the best player possible. But then again I like the idea of giving Ruggiano a chance. It seems like it would be more logical to give the spot to Ruggiano, and then if he struggles, then go out and get someone else. It doesn't make sense to not give him a shot when the options out there are mildly underwhelming.

But once again, got damn Matt Murton why don't they have interest in him. The Cubs would probably ask for a Hellickson or a Chris Mason or an Eduardo Morlan, but if the Rays want to rally their fans and win some more games this year, then Murton would be a good direction to go in.

A couple things about the Angels situation. First, they already have 8 pitchers, 7 if Escobar doesn't make it back this year, who are better than either Jackson or Hammel. Lackey should be back in a month and was probably robbed of the Cy Young last year because he is not as flashy as Beckett or Sabathia. Weaver is looking more and more like an ace. Garland is as solid as it gets, and perfect for Anaheim Stadium with its low homer rate and excellent infield. Saunders is left-handed, dead reliable and coming off a lights out spring. Santana has some of the best stuff in all of baseball and it appears he has gotten his control back. Mosely is also a talented guy and had an excellent spring, not to mention being about to work long and middle relief. In the minors they have Adenhart, who we all know is going to be a stud and even Nick Green can probably hang with the Rays' trade chips.

On the Angels end, Willits is a fan favorite who's only similarities to Pierre are great speed and little power. Willits walks a lot more, makes pitchers work much harder and has a plus arm, not the pea shooter Pierre carries around. Further, Willits is a switch hitter who absolutely mashes lefties. I can see moving Rivera if there is an absolute need or if he gets unhappy, but with the situation as it is and both Anderson and Matthews leaning toward being injury prone, Willits needs to be kept at a minimum.

Ruggiano isn't up because (a) he can't hit righties that well, and the Rays really need another lefty in the lineup, (b) he would strike out 200 times over a full season and (c) they want him to work on those two issues, and the only way to be able to do so is to have him play everyday, which wouldn't happen with the Rays.

“The problem with Trot Nixon is at this point, he pretty much sucks”

…But he’s the Pie-Man!!! Doesn’t that count for anything? :\

“Further, Willits is a switch hitter who absolutely mashes lefties.”

…hehehe...So a career .312/.396/.355 with a .355 BAbip is “absolutely mashes” now?

But really, if you take out the .357 BAbip over Willits’ career and give him a more normal .300-ish, well you see his numbers looks something like:
.291/.393/.339/.732 Actual with that .357 BAbip
.244/.357/.297/.654 Adjusted to more average .300 BAbip

Like I said, PodsV2.0 (minus the power, plus a bit of D)… This is Pods BA, OBP & BAbip over his career:
03 ~ .314 BA, .379 OBP, .361 BAbip.
04 ~ .244 BA, .313 OBP, .275 BAbip
05 ~ .290 BA, .351 OBP, .336 BAbip
06 ~ .261 BA, .330 OBP, .312 BAbip
07 ~ .243 BA, .299 OBP, .284 BAbip

Look at the BA, and subsequent OBP, fluctuation as the BAbip bounced around. When Willits cant sustain a .357 BAbip, well what should we end up expecting?

But are you guys really that high on him? Its extremely surprising to me since this is a 27YO with an extremely questionable skillset off a faceplant in the second half.

Yeah I don't quite understand the Reggie Willits obsession that some Angels fans have specifically, but a great number of just regular fans as well. Obviously they stopped following him after his monster first half, because in the second half he was a different player. You can say that he is actually more of the first half-Willits, but really what he was in the first half was lucky. All you have to do is look at the numbers that darkstar1661 is throwing out there to realize that Willits is part a good plate discipline slap hitter, and part a very lucky man. When that luck goes away, he becomes an average 4th outfielder. You gotta be realistic with this guy, because he's starting to be hyped as something that he really is not.