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« Another Manny Update From Feinsand | Main | Mets Starting Pitching Update »
Heyman: Burrell A Fit For Tampa Bay
Jon Heyman calls a potential Pat Burrell signing by the Tampa Bay Rays a "real possibility," in his latest blog post. Heyman says Burrell would be signed as a designated hitter.
Other free agents on the Rays' short list include Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Milton Bradley, Garrett Anderson and Ken Griffey Jr., according to the update. The Rays are focused on upgrading their offense this offseason.
Alex Walsh can be reached at alexander.walsh@gmail.com.
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As long as Pat Burrell stays away from the Mets (and the National League in general), I don't care.
Posted by: metsobsessed | December 20, 2008 at 06:21 PM
Hopefully one of Bradley, Dunn, Giambi, Burrell or Abreu (not Griffey or Anderson!) will fall down into the 8-10 million dollar range for the Rays to snatch up. Bradley and Burrell (the only two non-lefties) have the best LHOPS numbers which would help the Rays the most who struggled the most against LHP (below .500). Personally, I think Bradley fits the best for the Rays and if the Cubs sign someone else (Dunn or Abreu?), then the Rays should be able to get Bradley. Tampa Bay already makes the most sense with a patient manager, full time DH position open, and great club chemistry.
Posted by: delmonmvp | December 20, 2008 at 06:29 PM
Burrell's bat would be great for the Rays as a DH. Anyone of Bradley/Dunn/Abreu/Giamibi/Burrell would help this team out tremendously. As long as the Rays sign one of those players this will be a great off season for them, adding Joyces glove in right and a big bat on a discount that cost you nothing defensively, I love the front office in St. Pete. However, If they can't sign one of the aforementioned names and no comparable names come up in trade talks they should stick to in house options for DH.
Posted by: CubFanRaysaddict | December 20, 2008 at 06:36 PM
haha sorry Delmon accidentally copied some of your stuff, took me too long to put my comment in and I didn't see yours.
Posted by: CubFanRaysaddict | December 20, 2008 at 06:37 PM
Burrell is the 1 guy I want to see in Tampa, he will crush balls out of the trop. Bradley will return to his DL ways after getting anything over 1 year and am afraid of Abreu and Giambi. Dunn is left handed and seems like rays need righty power protection for Pena, but either would give this team tremendous offensive support for defending the AL East crown.
I still fail to see how the yankees can hope to pass this team, or the Red Sox. Give this team Burrell and they may be unstoppable in 2009.
Posted by: johns | December 20, 2008 at 06:38 PM
Giambi to the Rays would be cool, but Burrell is the best fit. They need a right hander with power.
Posted by: Rob M. | December 20, 2008 at 06:39 PM
1. Iwamura 2B
2. Crawford LF
3. Upton CF
4. Pena 1B
5. Longoria 3B
6. Burrell DH
7. Joyce RF
8. Navarro C
9. Bartlett SS
Thats just a pretty line up from top to bottom plus an amazing combo of speed, power, patience, and AMAZING defense all around. Easily the best defensive team in MLB and likely a top 10 MLB team in Runs. Also likely a top 5 rotation in baseball. Scary combo.
Posted by: delmonmvp | December 20, 2008 at 06:51 PM
It would really be in the Rays best interests to sign a RH or a SH bat. They are stacked with LH bats: Pena, Upton, Crawford, Aki, and Joyce. Navarro is a switch-hitter and Longoria and Bartlett are the only RH bats.
Bradley and Burrell are the best options for the Rays. just my opinion.
Posted by: kab21 | December 20, 2008 at 06:53 PM
Burrell would be nice. Abreu might be nice too if he would take a 2 year deal for 18-20 million. Like Rob said, they really need another RH bat in the middle of the order.
Posted by: chicubs25 | December 20, 2008 at 06:59 PM
Upton is a RHB.
Upton and Longoria are actually equally as good against LHP and RHP, as in neither of them are "lefty mashers" and have actually struggled against LHP at times. Bartlett, while he lacks power, led the AL in BA against LHP last year.
Crawford and Iwamura actually have done pretty darn well against LHP in their career, including 2007 when both of them did better against LHP, although Iwamura's BABIP was through the roof and not sustainable.
Pena and Joyce defeinately struggle against LHP. Joyce might platoon with someone (Perez, Ruggiano, or Aybar), or they could give him a shot to play everyday, so not to stunt his development.
Navarro is just a different hitter from each side of the plate. Much more of a slap hitter from the left side, more compact swing, more contact, less strike outs and less power. His swing from the right side is longer, which means he is more prone to strike outs and has holes in his swing, but he does hit for more power.
I agree that Burrell or Bradley would probably be the best fit. I would do either for 2 years with an option. Although Giambi and Abreu actually do pretty well against LHP. Further, even Dunn isnt horrible against LHP.
Posted by: delmonmvp | December 20, 2008 at 07:03 PM
Burrell had said that he didn't want to DH earlier in the year, but admittedly the lack of offers may make that decision for him.
Posted by: philsWSchamps | December 20, 2008 at 07:15 PM
"Burrell had said that he didn't want to DH earlier in the year, but admittedly the lack of offers may make that decision for him."
Although the lack of offers could also push him back to the NL. With the Angels out of it b/c of Rivera (unless they sign Burrell to play 1B), the only other AL team that needs a DH is the Rays.
Burrell could find himself patrolling LF for the Mets/Braves or even the Reds.
Posted by: melonis rex | December 20, 2008 at 07:23 PM
Burrell or Bradley are definitely the best fits for the Rays. I don't need to explain it further than its already been explained. I still think Giambi ends up a Ray; I don't see another good fit for him in terms of team. And no, the A's are not a good fit for Giambi, so let's not start that.
"However, If they can't sign one of the aforementioned names and no comparable names come up in trade talks they should stick to in house options for DH."
I completely disagree. The Rays' window of contention isn't closing, but the Rays have a very, very strong team in place right now. In that division, a legit DH is pretty much a must for the Rays to get beyond 3rd place. Pretty much, a DH type will fall into the Rays' laps (not including Griffey/Anderson), but if that does not happen(mystery suitors?), the Rays should then explore a trade for Jermaine Dye or Magglio Ordonez, using their surplus starting pitching (Niemann, etc.) as trade bait.
Grab one of the DH types, then grab Juan Cruz or a LOOGY (Ohman/Beimel/Shouse), and they'll be in great shape for next year.
Maybe adding a cheap RH RF to platoon with Joyce in RF might be smart.
Posted by: melonis rex | December 20, 2008 at 07:28 PM
I think Bradley is the best fit foe this team. He's tough from both sides of the plate, has good speed and would fit nicely into the young Rays lineup. Having a guy with fire like Bradley and Manager like Maddon and this team will be simply be a blue streak. If they hit like they did in 2007 with this pitching staff - look out. The Yankees don't have enough money to hang with the Rays.
Posted by: TriplePlay | December 20, 2008 at 07:32 PM
I read somewhere that teams are becoming more conscious of the important of defense and that players like Burrell, Ibanez, Giambi, and Abreu would have a hard time finding any jobs on the field. Its starting to seem that the days of building a team around offense regardless of thing like defense, speed, running the bases, arm, etc is becoming old a forgotten philosophy. Obvious teams like the Yankess are farthest behind as Cano, Posada, Jeter, Damon, and Matsui are all below average defensively and most are slow, bad base runners, and liabilities anywhere but the batters box. and even Swisher and Arod are average. Hopefully with Damon and Matsui off the books after next year, they get focus on getting more altheltic.
Posted by: delmonmvp | December 20, 2008 at 07:32 PM
The only team in Tampa Bay King Griffey Junior would help is an AARP softball league team.
Posted by: ctownboy | December 20, 2008 at 07:40 PM
"The only team in Tampa Bay King Griffey Junior would help is an AARP softball league team."
HAHAHAHAHAHA agreed.
Posted by: melonis rex | December 20, 2008 at 07:43 PM
delmon--
Giambi won't find a job on the field IMO. Ibanez already found his job on the field.
In this economy/saturated market, its hard to see if reduced prices on DH types are a product of the market conditions/economy or a shift in teams' focuses towards defense. Next year will be the telling year IMO.
That being said, some of the Burrell/Giambi/Abreu/Bradley coup will end up in the NL, almost inevitably. They have to, albeit probably on no more than 2-3 year deals, which is the market shift for you. There's very few AL suitors, and eventually, these guys will end up in the NL.
Posted by: melonis rex | December 20, 2008 at 07:51 PM
Burrell could find himself patrolling LF for the Mets/Braves or even the Reds.
I doubt the Mets for 2 reasons, Burrell would find it weird to play against a team he's learned to "Hate" in the last couple of years and do they have the $$ once they get their two SP's they need?
Also the Braves likely wouldn't do more than a year because of Heyward in the minors will be up by 2010 I'd expect. Maybe the Reds?? But then he's very similar to Dunn. Dunn is pretty much a Left handed version of Burrell.
Posted by: philsWSchamps | December 20, 2008 at 08:44 PM
I have a question for you guys
Since DH would have no effect on this, the signing of Burrell wont matter.
C Navarro
1B Pena
2B Iwamura
SS Bartlett
3B Longoria
LF Crawford
CF Upton
RF Joyce
Honestly, does any other team in baseball have above average defense at all 8 spots?
Posted by: RaysFan | December 20, 2008 at 09:42 PM
Bartlett = not above average defense. Average at best.
The A's are close (above average everywhere but CF/SS, and I'd probably say Sweeney's an average glove in CF, but his MLB CF experience is a VERY small sample size). For this to stay the same though, that means no Giambi signing, keeping Barton at 1B and Cust at DH.
Blue Jays also are pretty much there, with the exception of Vernon Wells (average in CF).
Posted by: melonis rex | December 20, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Thats Bull. First off, Bartlett had to deal with injuries last year including his shoulder and hip, both of which effected his defense. Secondly, he had a gold glove caliber player to his right (his stronger side) that certainly got to balls that he would have, which doesnt count into his zone rating and range, which counts against his defense. Bartlett last year, his worst defensive year, was average, i'll give you that. But Bartlett is not an average defensive shortstop. Maybe not gold glove, but definately above average.
Posted by: delmonmvp | December 21, 2008 at 12:12 AM
as a phils fan, gbood for you guys. hes a good clubhouse guy and you wont have to see him in the field which is scary. i dont know if that will affect his bat. the smallest things can send that guy into insane slumps where he cant hit a beachball. get em pat
Posted by: huey | December 21, 2008 at 07:18 AM
pat will hit sign him. that way, the phils wont have to see him again. they better make some bomb moves to keep up with the evil in the north.
Posted by: huey | December 21, 2008 at 07:21 AM
Tek can't throw out runners to save his life, so...
Gold Gloves don't really mean much. Bobby Abreu, won one.
Posted by: B3NG4L | December 21, 2008 at 12:13 PM