Rays Notes: Crawford, Swindle

He wants OUT? Forget about Granderson Yanks get Crawford ASAP gogogo

As a Yankees fan I have always been looking forward to getting Crawford over Bay or Holliday or anyone this year just because the Yankees need the top of the lineup speed and defense he provides but that was for next year because he will be a free agent then. That was always what I was hoping for that's why I want Damon back for this year and then Crawford in 2011.

I hope the Yankees do whatever to get CC. He is way better for the Yankees then either Bay, Holliday or Granderson. Then next year get Cliff or Doc, without the expense of prospects.

As a Rays fan, I think its time to trade CC to the Giants or some other NL team that can sign him long term.

And if the Yankees fans on here actually READ the articles above, they'd see that the story is bogus. Maybe try to read pass the forst couple of words?

Mets trade Pelfrey/Maine, F.Martinez and B.Parnell/J.Niese for Crawford

"and he would not be traded to the yankees. why would the rays do that?"

I never said that he would. I said wait it out. He should be a free agent next year.

As a Met fan, I would accept that trade..

Mets acquire OF Carl Crawford

- Rays acquire OF-Fmart, SP-Pelfrey, and SP- Parnell

And God forbid a big time FA have the audicity to consider signing with someone other than the Yankees.....

Crawford is the best LF in the game. I believe that whoever misses out of Holliday and Bay this year will be glad.

Speed and defense is becoming more and more important in MLB (thank you, lack of steroids)and Crawford is the best at both.

As a Braves fan, there is no one I would rather have in LF for us, but of course that won't happen unless they go all out for perhaps Bobby's last year.

Wow, this has potential to be a HUGE story!

Oh and I personally wouldnt trade Montero for anyone. Hes 20 and mashed AA ball when he came up. He has a bright future.

"As a Met fan, I would accept that trade..

Mets acquire OF Carl Crawford

- Rays acquire OF-Fmart, SP-Pelfrey, and SP- Parnell"

If you are comfortable in what you are giving up for a star player in his prime, 99% of the time it means you aren't giving up enough.

The Rays got a better package than this in the Kazmir trade, and Crawford is much more valuable.

for Crawford it would probably take something like Fmart, Parnell, Niese, and Flores

@yanksfan1

Carl Crawford is exactly what the Yankees need. They have plenty of good hitters already they need a guy that can run and play good defense, that can also get on base enough (and steals) to be a very useful hitter to set the table. He's the perfect number 2 hitter. That's why I say sign Damon for one year and put him at 2 next year then sign Crawford for 2011 and beyond and make him the number 2 guy.

Funny that "Crawford, Swindle" is in the title of this report.

The Rays aren't looking to swindle another team on Crawford, they're just going to loot their farm system, IMO.

Crawford in not what the Yankees need at all! He does not hit lefties well. He does not see pitches. He will be overpaid as well. NO THANKS!

Rays fans don't let them upset you, people who don't watch Crawford play and just look at his statistics aren't overwhelmed with him. When you see everything he brings to the game everyday, you can see how he is one of the best players in the game.

MLB in the Know

Fine Ill stop talking about him. you are right, I dont see him everyday and i cant judge him. I apologize. Same way i say how much damon means to te Yankees. Hes always coming through, Gardner is a game changer.

Watching Gardner, I have observed that he has a neck like a horse, but not that he is a game changer.

"Hes a game changer. You know in the late games that once someone gets a hit, u have Gardner steal second and have a chance to tie/ win. there have been games that hes won just by what he has done on the bags. Hes a 4th outfielder, but he could be/ already is a great base stealer."

Exactly he's more valuable as a bench player than he ever will be (unless he learns how to get on base within the next year) as an everyday player.

withpower
-douchebag.

"Is Crawford really trading all ur prospects for and spending 13 million for a year. hes good but he aint that special. Good speed, good feilder, hes a borderline .300 hitter that hits about 12 homers a year."

You may want to watch a few more Rays games. This guy IS the Rays core player, not strikeout king Pena, can't hit Upton, or needs a couple more years under his belt Longoria, but GG caliber OF'er, speed demon and consistent .290-300 hitter Carl Crawford, that also has an excellent OBP to boot.

He has -0- reason to sign any kind of extension with the Rays, not after they have proven they care nothing about getting to the playoffs this past season by trading Kaz with Boston heading to town and them still in the WC race, that should have shown him the Rays are nothing more than a tight fisted bunch of penny pinchers that promote rookies when anybody wants close to what they are worth, unless they sign extensions for 1/3 of market value like Longoria, Kaz and Crawford himself previously did.

This is a guy who is worth 12-15M over 4 seasons far more than either Bay, or Holliday and will produce.

I called him a dbag for this "We can talk about Jackson, but TB has Desmond Jennings. So.. in reality, you'll take Zach McCallister, Mark Melancon, one or two maybe-ish guys, and some money.. and you'll like it."
But thanks for chiming in.

ericbrat-hollidays career wOBA-400 Crawfords-.343, wOBA includes steals, Craws three best years WAR wise combine to be like 15, Hollidays last three years total of war is nearly 20, If I had the money and had to choose b/w the two (no matter how much I love CC) I would pick Holliday 10 out of 10 times.

Alright sorry for bein ga Jerk to you ericbrat, I did not see his second comment, but ya if ya'll want CC he's all yours and shouldn't cost too much either (15-16mil maybe?), i'm just concerned that the Rays trade him before the deadline and get some good prospects in return.

I still want Crawford over Holliday because Crawford has proved he can hit in the AL Holliday has not done that yet. In addition to the fact that the Yankees already have plenty of hitters that can do the same thing Holliday can I'd much rather have Crawford's speed and defense over Holliday's hitting.

"Alright sorry for bein ga Jerk to you ericbrat, I did not see his second comment, but ya if ya'll want CC he's all yours and shouldn't cost too much either (15-16mil maybe?), i'm just concerned that the Rays trade him before the deadline and get some good prospects in return."

Yeah that's fine. If you guys do pawn off Crawford before the deadline and get some value for him that would probably be the best case scenario for the Rays. But yeah I just think the way the Yankees are being rebuilt he would fit in perfectly. If they can get him for 15-16 mil a year That would be awesome considering how durable he's been in the past and how valuable he can be as a table setter on a team like the Yankees.

Mets get crawford

Rays get one of holt or mejia and fmart

Sounds good?

Keep in mind my knowledge of the East is scrappy at best, so im looking to learn a bit.

patsfan-
Austin Jackson is a CF, Crawford refuses to play CF and to bat leadoff, so they probably wouldn't get in each others way. Also I think the Rays need a C/1B of the future over a great LF prospect like FMART, though I guess you should take the best player available to you in a trade.

So in the case that A. Jackson would be coming up..
And Crawford would be playing Lf. Does a Hughes + Melky + low A prospect sound reasonable for CC? For both sides i mean.

Eric's got it right Patsfan
One more thing the Rays really don't need a CF'er like Melky, because they have BJ Upton and a top 10 prospect in all of baseball who is a CF, a team that would give up a good C or 1B prospect would be ideal for the Rays. Also thanks for reaching out for ideas/knowledge instead of just trying to state an uninformed opinion it's refreshing.

Well I know as a Twins fan, that CC is out of the question for us lol!

I'm just looking forward the Twinks FINALLY using some of that richest owner in MLB money. Im the type of guy that likes long hard fought seasons. So heres to the Twins and Yanks seeing each other in the playoffs again soon!

Hughes and Montero would be a really good deal for the Rays. Makes me think then the Twins BETTER sign Mauer now, cuz if the Yanks trade Montero, they would really be hardcore after Mauer.

Oh and curious, has any east coasters heard of our high catcher prospect Wilson Ramos? Makes me think that Mauer might not have the flexibilty that most think...

How about the White Sox trading Bobby Jenks straight up and maybe throwing in Torres? If they don't want to mess with Jenks' arbitration then maybe Viciedo, Torres and John Shelby? The Sox need a left fielder that can lead off. Move Quentin to right and Rios to center. He doesnt like to hit lead off but with a little Ozzie persuasion I can see him in the 1 hole for the southsiders next year.

I would even consider giving up Jordan Danks

if they want Jenks, do Carlos Torres and Bobby Jenks for Carl Crawford

if they don't want Jenks, do Jordan Danks, Carlos Torres and John Shelby.

Bottom line, i would almost say whatever it takes to land him, I have a heard time believing Kenny isn't in talks.

"However i still dont think the rays will trade him to a team that we will see almost every other day."

Probably not but that's why I think the Yankees will just go after him in 2011 when he becomes a FA.

Dan. The problem is you have to continue to show tendencies after your first go around the Mlb when pitchers haven't ;earned you yet. I've seen Gardner, he was stellar in his rookie campaign, but i do believe it was a very small sample size.. when given actual time to play, his low OBP showed. Coreect me if im wrong though.

"LOL...Gardner did fine getting on base during his rookie season!"

If you consider a .283 OBP in 2008 a fine job getting on base ... Heck he was at least better this year with a .345 OBP but that's still not very good.

Don't know about the validity of the story, but I can see Crawford being traded next month and signing a long-term deal with his new team.

I don think however CC is a very good LF and overall ballplayer, but is he the best in baseball, I don't think so. He may cover a lot of ground in LF, but his arm is below average. Offensively, I love his aggressiveness and I would rank him in the top 2 or 3 LF in the league.

What is with the speculation that the Yanks would do everything possible to Crawford if he was available in a trade or if he is a free agent after the season?

I know the media loves to include the Yanks in every rumor since it will get a ton of attention and agents love to say the "Yanks are interested too" to drive up the price.

I think the Yankees have made it pretty clear they have enough high priced-long term deals on the team. Cashman is aware of the value of having a plethora of young talent and other low priced contracts. Having too many huge contracts would just start hand cuffing the Yanks like it did when they had Giambi, Sheffield, Brown, R. Johnson.

With players like Melky, Gardner, Swish, Hairston etc....it gives you flexibility and some competition. If the Yanks go out and sign a Bay, Holliday or Crawford than there is no other options, the amount of money they make and the length of their deals forces the Yanks to play that guy every day. You need the core players (Jeter, Arod, Tex, CC, Rivera) on your team, but when you have too many of those players you have no options.

Thank god Cashman now has full control of operations and Hal Steinbrenner has a level head. If the team really did get passed to Hank Steinbrenner we would now have Manny playing left, Cano would have been traded along with Montero, Ajax, and now Mcalister at the first sign of trouble and probably another 3 stupid moves along with that.

Hal Steinbrenner will be the greatest thing to happen to Yankee fans since Derek Jeter mark my words!

This story is pure New York bullshit.

Posted by: TriplePlay | November 14, 2009 at 08:38 PM
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Except for the fact that it was written by a local Florida reporter and the Yanks were never mentioned in it?

"I don think however CC is a very good LF and overall ballplayer, but is he the best in baseball, I don't think so. He may cover a lot of ground in LF, but his arm is below average. Offensively, I love his aggressiveness and I would rank him in the top 2 or 3 LF in the league."

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LMAO!

I find it funny that a few Yankees fans come in here and say that Crawford isn't that good, and everybody and their mother overreacts and says "Ohh typical NYY fan. Wharped mind blah blah blah."

I don't care what anybody else says. I'm a Yankees fan, and I'm hoping to God that the Rays don't extend Crawford. I would make him a good offer next off season, because he's a heck of a player. He would add a new dimension to the top of our lineup.

In a perfect world (for me, anyways)... I would sign Damon for 1 year. Then, next off season, I'd sign Crawford for leadoff, and slide Jeter back to the number 2 spot in the lineup. The problem with this is the fact that I don't think Damon would accept ONLY a 1 year deal.

Agent

That's essentially what I've been saying this whole time but I don't think Crawford would want to be the leadoff guy since he has been against it as a Ray from day one.

Let me go ahead and save everyone some time on their speculations:

If your favorite team does not have a great catching prospect or 1st baseman/power hitter, the Rays aren't likely to bother.

People who keep throwing out pitching prospects(particularly starters) and outfielders don't understand the Rays minor league system.

The Rays have too many starting pitchers. Price, Davis, Shields, Garza, Niemann, Hellickson...that's 6 guys. No help needed there.

In the outfield, they have Joyce, Upton, Jennings, and Zobrist if necessary. I'm not saying they would say no to an outfielder, but it's not a need.

Relievers are also not likely to be a factor, because they're so fickle. Outside of a few closers, there are very few relievers in baseball that are consistently dominant. For that reason, the Rays prefer to pick up cheap guys and work with them, like Howell and Balfour.

The Rays would like a young power hitter to fill either the 1B or DH slot, because both Pena and Burrell will be gone after 2010. Even more of a need is catcher, because Navarro was atrocious last year and I believe the team has lost faith in him ever being consistent. They have some prospects deep in the minors, but nothing that appears extremely promising or likely to fill the position any time soon.

So again, the Rays won't say no to great outfield/SP/relief prospects, but if you don't include a catcher or a young power hitter, don't bother.