Pat Burrell has cleared waivers and is now a free agent, according to the Tampa Tribune (via Twitter). As Tony Fabrizio of The Tampa Tribune reported, the Rays designated Burrell for assignment on Saturday to free up a roster spot for Hank Blalock, who joined the team over the weekend.
Burrell can now sign with any team for a pro-rated portion of the major league minimum. In other words, it would cost teams just under $300K to sign him at this point. The Rays will be responsible for the remainder of his $9MM salary.
Burrell, 33, has been a major disappointment since signing a two year, $16MM contract prior to last season. Brought in to help balance out the lineup against lefties, Burrell has hit just .218/.311/.361 in 572 plate appearances since signing. He's been even worse than that against southpaws, if you can believe it.
What the hell happened to this guy? Wasn’t it just a few years back he was a perennial 40HR/100RBI guy? A league change and all the sudden he can’t hit his way out a paper bag?
I guess he was never a 40HR guy but 30+ a ton.
Did you ever watch him play? His numbers were better than his talent. Not that I thought he’d be this bad, but Philly was happy to upgrade with Ibanez, and the Rays blundered into this one.
Back to the NL? Can’t imagine the league change makes THAT much difference, but maybe in his case, it did.
No matter what, he’ll never pay for another beer in Philadelphia.
Oh. so THAT’s how the Mets blew it two straight years! Thanks for clearing that up.
get the hell outta here the phillies dont steal signs… all the other teams (such as the fourth place mets) just know they cant beat em
its good to know that whether ur winning in the world series or getting ur ishh kicked in..the mets are on ur mind either way.
u lost
Just admit it already.
i’m tired of hearing about the stealing signs thing the mets have bad pitching they why they get shelled as much as they do, pat was in a deep lineup and a hitter frendly ballpark with philly so thats why the numbers looked so good, once he clears wavers seems like a guy the giants may take a flyer on
LOL
Mets fans. Of course the Phillies steal signs. Who cares? As a Yankee fan I know I sure don’t, considering my team beat them anyway because the NYY don’t suck.
I’m guessing the team they are cheating against care. But not a shock a Skank fan is cool with cheating.
About time…
Wow, it sounds like Philly folks arguing with New Yorkers that Philly Cheesesteak is better than New York Style Pizza, haha. I quote an episode of Family Guy: “Ya stupid gavone!”, let’s talk some baseball here! I think Burrell will end in Seatle. He couldn’t be worse than the Sweeney/Griffey DH combo can he? I don’t think it would take too much to get him either. Maybe a mid-level pitcher?
I think they could probably get him for some low-minors pitcher.
Hope Burell goes to the Braves and then send Melky to the minors if he still has an option.
Burrell on the Braves in place of Melky is like being hit by a truck instead of being hit by a car. They both suck, but one sucks less than the other.
First of all, Cabrera is out of options, and despite his total inability to hit, he can still play all three outfield positions. Burrell can play…none of them. Dumpster diving isn’t becoming, and I say this as a Braves fan.
Padres?????
As much as he has sucked I would expect him back in the NL maybe with the marlins
Exactly where in the field are the Padres going to play him? This guy has defensive ability somewhere between a five year old girl and Ted Williams’ frozen head.
Not sure why everyone is talking about what it will cost to trade for him, I can’t imagine giving up a bag of balls for him. I’d say you were getting taken because the balls don’t take up a roster spot and can actually be used in BP. I don’t understand why anyone would go anywhere near this guy. He left CBP and has been exposed for what he really is. This isn’t Andruw Jones folks. He’s done. Anything you give up for him is a waste. Spoken as a hater and a realist.
Not sure why everyone is talking about what it will cost to trade for him, I can’t imagine giving up a bag of balls for him. I’d say you were getting taken because the balls don’t take up a roster spot and can actually be used in BP. I don’t understand why anyone would go anywhere near this guy. He left CBP and has been exposed for what he really is. This isn’t Andruw Jones folks. He’s done. Anything you give up for him is a waste. Spoken as a hater and a realist.
Burrell could easily replace Griffey Jr. in the M’s org (Although I expect fans to say “no thanks” as a reply to that comment.) The Pirates could also obtain him in the hope that he could “resurge” and serve as trade bait at the end of the year. The Yankees are hurting, so Swisher to the DL and Burrell to the plate. Any thoughts to Burrell on the land of misfit toys (aka the White Sox) and trade away one of their associates for some prospects? Maybe the A’s?
“Burrell, 33, has been a major disappointment since”…
… forever.
Maybe Burrell’s not taking the proper “supplements.”
Baaaahahahahahahahahaha
Took a year off from stealing signs in ’03?
Come on, every team steals signs, most just don’t get caught. That Phillies bullpen coach was just a complete idiot. Did you ever think the decline was maybe because Burrell is aging? Don’t be like those constant spygate pushing idiot fans from the NFL.
They’re also putting laxatives in the visiting team’s Powerade and replacing regular coffee with off brand, weeks old decaf. Time to blow the cover off these shenanigans once and for all.
The smile on your face is because there is no longer a Shea Stadium for Pat to rip the cover off the ball of as he sends it out of the park for a homerun over and over and over again!
Eh, to be fair, the Mets have a 4.32 FIP, 11th worst in the Majors.
Aging? He was 32 when his production fell off a cliff.
ahthankyou
I guess I can see how that could have been a joke, but I couldn’t really tell at the time. I’ve seen fans on this site base arguments around much less promising things than that in the past. Players often exit their primes around their mid 30s, and this I believe is another case of that. I’d be on board with you if you wanted to credit the short porch in left in Philly for him having better seasons there. If it’s true that he swung for the fences every time, that takes a toll on the body.
The spygate thing was very wrong, I agree. But what annoyed me was bringing that up every time the undefeated talk came up. It shouldn’t have been brought up even 2 weeks after the incident, but it was a big story for about a year. The whole thing was extremely overblown and they would have obviously won the game anyway. The main penalty was the voiding of the Pats 1st round pick by the way…
Only using electronic equipment when stealing signs is illegal. It doesn’t matter who is doing it. It’s not cheating. Quit crying.
Ok so you want to bring the Patriots into it now too. It’s ironic the only fans that harp on the cheating is the 2 NY teams and their names rhyme the Mets and the Jets and they both suck anyway like Charlie says don’t cry about it show whatcha got on the field.
But “actual results” have far less predictive value than a stat like xFIP.
Tell me who you’d rather have going forward:
Pitcher A: 1.02 ERA, 4.62 xFIP
Pitcher B: 4.23 ERA, 2.86 xFIP
Extreme example, I know, but I’ll take Pitcher B (Dan Haren) over Pitcher A (Livan Hernandez).
How old was Cecil Fielder? Rocky Calavito? Eric Byrnes? Burrell also had a benefit of a small stadium.
Exceptions proving a rule, yes.
Uh didn’t Rocky C get busted in the eye? Byrnes was never all that good. One huge, probably juice fueled year. Fielder’s weight & age got him I recall, he wasn’t that young.
Show me in the rules where sign stealing in any form is illegal.
As far as the electronic device issue goes, I was basing it off of this article which mentions a memo put out by Sandy Alderson 10 years ago:
link to sports.yahoo.com
“”Please be reminded that the use of electronic equipment during a game is restricted. No club shall use electronic equipment, including walkie-talkies and cellular telephones, to communicate to or with any on-field personnel, including those, in the dugout, bullpen, field and — during the game — the clubhouse.
“Such equipment may not be used for the purpose of stealing signs or conveying information designed to give a club an advantage.
“Monitors for videotape of batters/pitchers should be in the clubhouse or, if in the tunnel, well away from the dugout and view of players/coaches on the bench. No television camera replay should ever be turned toward the dugout.””
“Well, seeing how I’m not a psychic, I’m not really that worried with “predictive values” in baseball.”
It seems to me you’d be worried about predictive values unless you WERE a psychic.
Right, but couldn’t Burrell be one of these exceptions? Admittedly most players whose production falls off to sub-ML levels after age 30 weren’t stars to begin with and so had a limited life cycle, but I don’t think that studs like Delgado, A-Rod, Jeter, etc. are the norm.
Unless 38 to 14 is close, you don’t remember it as well as you say. I’m fine with bringing it up for the Super Bowl, in saying that they don’t deserve to win after what they did. I’m not a huge fan of Philly fans either. I typically pull for the Philly teams for some reason, but none of them are my favorite. But I’m not so sure about Burrell being a low life or untalented, but I don’t really know much about the guy. I have players I dislike too, like Miguel Cabrera, so I can understand feeling that way.
Unless 38 to 14 is close, you don’t remember it as well as you say. I’m fine with bringing it up for the Super Bowl, in saying that they don’t deserve to win after what they did. I’m not a huge fan of Philly fans either. I typically pull for the Philly teams for some reason, but none of them are my favorite. But I’m not so sure about Burrell being a low life or untalented, but I don’t really know much about the guy. I have players I dislike too, like Miguel Cabrera, so I can understand feeling that way.
I didn’t mean to imply he that it was impossible, only improbable — especially given the fact that he has slumped just as extremely and for just as long before, when he was young.
I didn’t mean to imply he that it was impossible, only improbable — especially given the fact that he has slumped just as extremely and for just as long before, when he was young.
That’s true, he could bounce back. I hadn’t noticed his slump year before (I don’t really follow the Phillies). I hope he does, it would be cool.
That’s true, he could bounce back. I hadn’t noticed his slump year before (I don’t really follow the Phillies). I hope he does, it would be cool.
I hear what you’re saying, but where are you drawing the line? When you are forced to choose between players, you make your choice based on some criteria. I don’t think you’d ever argue that all criteria are of equal value, which means you necessarily agree that some measures have better predictive value than others.
Given all of that, even acknowledging its flaws, I think the argument against xFIP or anything else has to take place at a higher level than “sports are unpredictable”.
I hear what you’re saying, but where are you drawing the line? When you are forced to choose between players, you make your choice based on some criteria. I don’t think you’d ever argue that all criteria are of equal value, which means you necessarily agree that some measures have better predictive value than others.
Given all of that, even acknowledging its flaws, I think the argument against xFIP or anything else has to take place at a higher level than “sports are unpredictable”.
And yet league officials said it was inconclusive. I wonder what that means.
And yet league officials said it was inconclusive. I wonder what that means.
1- I agree that the Jets would have had a much better chance if the Pats didn’t know everything about their defense, but the only time that game was close was before the opening kickoff. It was just an uneven match-up from the get go.
2- He WAS on the 2008 World Series winning team
1- I agree that the Jets would have had a much better chance if the Pats didn’t know everything about their defense, but the only time that game was close was before the opening kickoff. It was just an uneven match-up from the get go.
2- He WAS on the 2008 World Series winning team
They why were they warned? Why are they getting so defensive & butt hurt about it? Manuel acted like such a classless buffoon about the whole thing. As always, Stay Classy Philly.
Screw FIP. It’s about results, not about what MIGHT happen. Those results are from games already in the books, so the future doesn’t matter it that respect.
If you paid attention to anything you know the reason Victorino was on the phone to tell Billmeyer to get rid of the binoculars. The umpire was standing at the top of the dugout when the phone call was made. Get you head out of your you know what and only talk about your sluggishvillemets-but then again I would rather talk about the best team in the NL rather than your mutts any day