Rays Willing To Trade Bartlett?

you've got to be kidding on this one. seriously?

That has to be rare. has there ever been another incident of a team trading a player one year and then trading back for him the next?

This is last year switshed around. It should be Rays willing to trade Young? Not only that but have asked about Matt garza and Bartlett.

"Dye for Bartlett???"

Only if Chicago pays 3/4ths of Dyes salary. Why fix Chicago's SS with a controllable glove for the forseeable future and take on Dye's bloated salary and his aging knees, when there are numerous other bats available via free agency?

Beckham has all the tools but who knows how many years away he is.

Brignac is meh. Decent prospect, got hype from a nice cal league season. Improved his d since then but his offense has slipped.

Why trade Bartlett????

I can see this happening becuase Jason Bartlett is up for arbitration and might climb to $ 2 million a year for 2009. I would think that Denard Span actually makes the most sense since he played an outstanding right-field in the last series against the Rays last year at the Trop.

But do not forget that Ben Zobrist is a great shortstop too who got pushed out of a possible starting role by the Bartlett trade last season.

Rays Manager Joe Maddon also thinks highyl of "Zorilla" as an offensive weapon in 2009.

But taking back Young would be a huge error for the Rays. You do not need a aloof player in an energetic clubhouse.

Tim just read your chats they are excellent!!!

"it'd be surprising if the Rays dealt their starting shortstop"

I hear they could get Lugo back cheap.

look at it this way, if the rays get young for bartlett, they basically got Matt Garza for free. BRILIANT! Another fleecing of the twins. As a Giants fan, this would warm my heart a little

"Span is WAY better than Young."

Thats debatable.

Where do I sign?

Somewhat off topic, but to answer basicslop's question, the White Sox traded Gio Gonzalez to the Phillies in the Jim Thome trade, then re-acquired him in the Freddy Garcia trade, only to send him to Oakland in the Nick Swisher trade.

Which begs the question - Jermaine Dye for Gio Gonzalez? jk.

Did you get a look at the guy who wrote the article? He looks like someone you can't trust.

"No it isn't. Laugh at him and move on."

Some of us don't base player evaluations off of a half year. Young has much more talent than Span. He also has minor league numbers to back it up. It's VERY debatable if Span is better than Young.

Some of you are overvaluing Bartlett to say the least. Grittiness and heart is great, but it doesn't win games.

I think when it comes down to it you have to admit that Span and Young would likely end up with similar trade value, although it would be for different reasons.

Span will be 25 next season, but in 347 at bats posted a 294/387/432 line for a contending team down the stretch, while playing good defense and showing some pretty good plate discipline. This was his debut so he still has a lot of service time left.

Young is obviously the more talented of the two, he was the #1 pick in the draft and rated #1 in the BA handbook as a prospect, but in two full seasons has yet to display his stunning talent in a productive way. His numbers were much better after the all star break (297/345/432) but he still hasn't performed yet. His defense in left field wasn't even very good, and he's already used up a good deal of his service time.

It's close, but the argument that Span is better may be very well be valid. Young has yet to break out in two seasons, and he's still only 23 and has huge potential so he's a great buy low guy, but Span seems like a likely long term high OBP, solid power/speed, plus defense outfielder for someone, likely Minnesota.

Thank you Obsessions, was just digging up some of Young's more colorful escapades. He does have a tendency for being a bit different than most ballplayers eh? Kind of like another Rays exiled to washington last year named Elijah Dukes

The Rays could always be the "mystery team" in on Furcal. That would give them the ability to trade Bartlett for whatever comes back.

Are you kidding me the Rays are looking into trading Bartlett? He was there MVP by far last year. With out him they wouldnt even have made it to the playoffs.

"Totally agree that you can make a case. However, to say that you CAN'T make a case for Delmon being better than Span is pretty ridiculous."

I never said that. I never even came close to saying that. Where'd you get that?

"Some of us don't base player evaluations off of a half year. Young has much more talent than Span. He also has minor league numbers to back it up. It's VERY debatable if Span is better than Young."

Some of us lack the basic reading comprehension skills, which permit us to understand that ArodSuckatLife was clearly agreeing with me.

:/

A .387 OBP in 400 plate appearences when you're 24 years old is impressive. You don't do that by accident. I'm not saying he's good for a .380-400 OBP, but if he can become a .280/.360/.430 player with good defense, then he is a good player while he's still very cheap, which is a couple seasons.

"Span is WAY better than Young."

That is laughable. Span had an excellent call up, but doesn't possess near the talent Young does.

Anyone who thinks the twins would consider young or span for bartlett is fooling themselves. For one they cant do it from a pr standpoint. There is no way the twins are fleeced like this. Remember it was the Rays inquireing not the other way around. If we are willing to trade guys like Span and Young it will be in a package for a legitimate SS ie Yunel Escobar or JJ Hardy, not Bartlett who we have already had and evaluated and will never be more than a mediocre SS, While guys like Span and Young have Super star potential

I wonder how much salary Detroit would be willing to eat to trade Magglio Ordonez....

The Rays have two very interesting, arbitration eligible, trade pieces that could attract the Tigers: Edwin Jackson and Jason Bartlett. They also have guys like Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson if the Tigers want more upside, but further away. I wonder if a REALLY sweet deal for Magglio Ordonez could be put together, with the Tigers eating about 5-6MM worth of salary. Why do I say this? Because Maggs patrolling RF/DH in Tampa would be awesome, and if someone offers really good talent, the Tigers NEED the talent and youth for their team.

I agree with Rob M. If Tampa is looking for an OF power bat, then it's possible they have interest or would become interested in Thames.

Just not a fan of Delmon Young's ONE walk in 126 ABs in his first season. He hasn't improved on his plate discipline much since then. (62 walks in 1346 career at bats) Span drew 50 walks in 347 ABs, which is pretty impressive for a youngster. Granted, Span's minor league numbers never blew you away, but he did very well last year in the bigs.
I'd also expect more power from Young at this point. He's like 6'3"/205 - so you'd think he'd at least be able to keep up with Pedroia's home run totals. lol
Time will tell, but I'd rather have Span than Young. Oh wait, I forgot... Young CAN nail an umpire in the chest with a flying bat from 20 paces!! What an arm!!

They Rays defense has improved drastically since 2007 to 2008 due to the fact of Jason Bartlett. I dont know how many times I would see a ground ball go towards the shortstop in 2007 and it would go through because you had a bunch of nobody's playing shortstop. The trade of Bartlett improved every infielders defense esp. Akinori. Bartlett made his transition from 3rd to 2nd easy.

The Rays need to resign Rocco. Turn Edwin Jackson into your closer and package a deal with Sonnastine to the Tigers for Magglio.