4:25pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times talked to Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman, who said the team is open to exploring a long-term deal with Upton.
10:15am: The Rays' biggest additions this winter have been catcher Kelly Shoppach and closer Rafael Soriano, as well as the re-signing of extra outfielder Gabe Kapler. Their losses have included Mitch Talbot, Akinori Iwamura, Gregg Zaun, and Jesse Chavez (who was acquired for Iwamura and then traded for Soriano).
They've also got one arbitration case in B.J. Upton. A hearing seems silly given a gap of only $300K. Upton isn't worried about the difference and even told MLB.com's Bill Chastain he's "definitely all for" discussing a long-term deal. The Rays might want to see if Upton's power returns before offering multiyear security.
Is that it for the Rays this winter? Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune suggests they're still looking for another reliever. An earlier article from Topkin indicated manager Joe Maddon wanted more competition in the pen and at second base. Among right-handed relievers, Kiko Calero might be the best remaining free agent. He shouldn't cost much. Chan Ho Park, Russ Springer, Mike MacDougal, and Kevin Gregg are lingering as well.
There's also the Jim Thome rumor, which Mooney notes would make a lot more sense paired with a Pat Burrell trade.
lol at Garza and the Rays not settling yet even though they agree on Garza’s value.
Actually I made a mistake – they did settle on the filing day and I missed it. Sorry.
Tsk tsk. Haha, just kidding keep up the great work. Tim, if you could somehow keep the Mets healthy this year that would be much appreciated.
Kiko Calero is now considered better than Kevin Gregg?
Calero had a rough year in 2007, but if you consider that an outlier, I would take Calero over Gregg. I would venture to say that Calero is somewhat underrated.
“Joe Maddon wanted more competition in the pen”
Oh god. I watch 100+ Tampa games and this guy really loves to make pitching changes. I understand match ups but Maddon uses a computer, quite annoying.
Maybe he doesn’t want to tire out his starters and his relievers?
penpaper, I agree with you with Joe Maddon 100 percent. The musical relievers does not work in MLB. Every MLB team must have a reliable a 7th, 8th and 9th inning guy not lefty vs lefty or a certain pitcher has an advantage over a hitter based on numbers in the past. I had been a Rays fan since 1998 and I seen too many games blown via bullpen. If Maddon continues this strategy, he has no business managing another baseball franchise ever again.
Tim – thanks for linking the players name to BR!
No problem…we are still ironing out a few kinks, so the b-ref links might be a little haphazard for a little while.
whens the next q/a session tim.
more competition at 2B? Maybe they want to look at Delwyn Young of the Pirates 😀
I would rather see bj upton traded to the yankees in exchange for maybe melancon and brackmen if that sounds right. then we wont have to spend bick bucks on crawford next year and save some of that for pitching. he is younger hits for more power and is almost just as fast. with that saved money we can go after cliff lee and or matt cain next winter how would that sound
CC
Lee
Cain
Aj
Vasquez or Hughes or Chamberlin
Totally agree. But Rays would want more for Upton, b/c he still has great potential. How ’bout Upton for Melancon, Romine and Gardner.