Rays big leaguers B.J. Upton, Sean Rodriguez, Reid Brignac, and Wade Davis are drawing heavy interest, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, but the team's "preference is to use their prospect depth to land a hitter." The Rays specifically feel that they can't match Upton's defensive skills with internal options.
The Rays' farm system is among the best in the game, so they can easily make prospect-only deals. Even if you take Desmond Jennings and Jeremy Hellickson out of the mix, Tim Beckham, Matt Moore, Alex Colome, and Matt Sweeney were considered top 100 prospects heading into the season. It's quite possible the Rays go even further down their prospect list. Look at the Angels – they just acquired Dan Haren without surrendering any top 100 guys.
As usual, the Rays have kept their targets close to the vest. Few players have been connected to them in recent weeks aside from Jayson Werth, and Yahoo's Tim Brown tweeted three days ago that a Rays source seriously doubts they get the Phillies outfielder.
“Look at the Angels – they just acquired Dan Haren without surrendering any top 100 guys.” Yeah, what a telling statement. The Lee & now Haren trade proving the NYY are held up – literally -to a higher standard for a trade. Give the trader one good suspect & add a few bodies, the tradee gets a MLB SP. Smacks of collusion against the Yankees to me.
God I hate Yankee fans.
lol. Lee is understandable, Smoak is a big catch and you can easily go either way with him vs. Montero. Barring a big time prospect being the PTBNL, the Haren trade is a headscratcher for Az and seems worse than the Yankees packages floated out there. Collusion is a hell of a stretch though.
Yep – it’s why I used it. LLOL
Hate is such a strong feeling.
God
Oh please. The Yankees supposedly (if any of these rumors can be true after the Saunders trade happened out of left field) offered a strict prospect trade and nobody significant. Neither Nova or Mcallister were ranked in the top 100 of prospects. The Rays at least have major league ready pitching back.
Oh yeah, the Yankees are always up to something. Every other team is 100% pure altruism.
Good point on Nova and McAllister. Both names were pushed into the spotlight over the last several days, neither are top 100 prospects and project to be #4 starters.
In the age of twitter and other “instant news” its important to consider where alot of this information is coming from before reporters share it.
Sounds like the Yankees not having/offering what the Mariners & D-Backs wanted to me.
Nova is projected as a #4 starter if if he reaches his potential, he’s still young. And he was the headliner of that trade proposal. Though subpar, the Angels offer was still superior to that of the Yankees and thats even if you believer in Macallister.
Both relative & accurate, seeing as how the Yankees didn’t get either guy
That makes no sense. Teams in the AL might have reason to collude against competitors, but is there any logical reason that Arizona would pass on a better deal?
What you’re saying is that Arizona would rather see Anaheim win than the Yankees.
That’s stupid. By extension, you’re a fool.
Arizona took what they thought (likely wrongly) was the best package available.
When the Yankees hype “prospects” like Drew Henson, Brenden Claussen and countless other filler, teams are eventually going to get wise.
Yea, busts are exclusive to the Yankees’ system. It rarely if ever happens to any other teams.
I don’t think you know what collusion means.
Still would like to see a Werth for Wade Davis trade. The Phils ditch the contract of werth and can call up Dom. Brown. The Rays get that OF they covet and don’t really lose out on SP with a call up of Hellickson.
except that werth is a rental(even with the 2 comp picks), wade davis is worth much more on the market.
Wade Davis is a #3 starter at best and a AAAA guy at worst. He’s consistent and a horse, but he’s not a potential ace. Werth could put the Rays over the top and could bring a championship to Tampa.
Perhaps if it was close, the Phils could put in one of their prospects from A ball.
Werth for that David Price guy.
Werth’s home/road splits make me skeptical that he could really put the Rays over the top. If they’re going to trade a young, cost-controlled pitcher for a bat rental, they might as well go for Dunn.
I’m not saying two months of Werth is worth Wade Davis, but this is one dumb a$$ argument against him. Werth’s home OPS is about 200 points higher than his road OPS so far this year. So is Evan Longoria’s. If you were a GM with another team, would that make you think twice about dealing for him? Also, the first half of this season is an anomaly for Werth. His splits have been much more dramatic than usual (in his first year in Philly, he actually had a higher OPS on the road than he did at home; in each of the past two years, his home OPS has been fewer than 50 points higher than his road OPS.) And here’s one reason why you might want to go for Werth instead of Dunn: Werth’s WAR since 2008 is 12.2, Dunn’s is 5.2.
Longoria’s a better player on the road, has more defensive value, is younger, and is under team control for the entirety of his 20s. Apples and oranges.
If I’m the Rays, it’s really just the bat I’m looking for. I’d rather acquire Dunn to play at DH than Werth to play right.
except Dunn’s bat (which the Rays want and need) is far superior. Werth has value b/c he plays good defense and plays a tougher position, but Dunn’s offensive numbers far outweigh Werth. Since 2007 Dunn’s batting value in determining WAR has been 33.3, 26.4, 35.5 and 23.4 this year. Werth’s over the same time are 12.8, 19.9, 27.6, 17.2 this year. It’s not even close between the two of them. Dunn’s worst offensive season over the last 4 years is as good as Werth’s best.
Now Werth might have more equal value as Dunn if Dunn is a DH and gets that neg. positional value, but that is exactly what the Rays are looking for. Werth wouldn’t be playing the field so really only the nuances of his bat are in play. And considering how much Pena has been slumping if any position would need a replacement it would be 1B not corner outfield
Are you stupid? Are you a Phils fan or something? Davis has been a top 20 prospect for numerous years.
Davis has been pitching for a little less than a year in the majors and you and your vast knowledge is projecting him at best a #3. HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!
Davis has been compared to our young pitcher Phil Hughes and the Red Sox guy for Clay Bucholz for years now. All three throw a plus low-mid 90’s fastball with movement and control and 3-4 good, not great secondary pitches that can be thrown for strikes. They all have been rated right around each other for at least 2 years. And its funny each one of them pitched about a year’s worth of major league games before turning around. Boston will tell you Clay struggled last year and now look him he is pitching great. Phil, well it took him a couple times, to make it and he made as a reliever and then into the rotation before making it. Davis is 3-0 for the month I believe.
Stop being an idiot. Even though we might not like each other’s teams, we at least respect them for being quality; as a matter of fact, many will say the top 3 teams in baseball when healthy. The AL East is just head and shoulders above everyone else again this year and that does not look to change for next several years.
“Tim Beckham, Matt Moore, Alex Colome, and Matt Sweeney were considered top 100 prospects heading into the season.”
“Were” is the key word in that sentence. Sweeney is hitting .196/.263/.276 in AA. Beckham’s hitting .235 in A ball. Colome is just 6-6 with a 3.80 ERA in low A. Moore is 4-9 with an ERA over 4 in A ball.
If the Rays think they can still sell these guys as top 100 prospects, they should think again.
You should think again before using minor league win-loss records to judge prospects. Matt Moore is a lefty who’s reasonably young for his level, has great stuff, and has huge strikeout rates. He’s still a top 100 guy. Same with Colome. Great stuff, great peripherals, top 100 guy. And given how little Haren cost, guys like Beckham and Sweeney have pedigree and upside enough to be worth something.
Agree, I would be happy if the Phillies landed any of those guys besides Sweeney
I know my friend, a Yankees scout, mentioned a couple days ago he saw Nick Barnesee (something like that) pitch and he out pitched Aumont from Philly and really is held in high regard in the scouting circuit. I do not see him mentioned anywhere, so you might want to throw that name in there.
Hahahaha Wow Dave shows he knows nothing about Baseball, using 6 months to determine the worth of a prospect. He probably should go see what the definition of a prospect is and then look at years before and how they performed?
Thank god you are not my GM. Or hell even a scout for my organization
I mean if you are going to use 6 months to determine the value a player go tell me my team’s prospect, Montero is an average AAA hitter and not a top 5 prospect.
SOOOO STUPID ITS FUNNY….
In addition to how stupid Dave and Abraham are.. I saw the Rays have the minor league leader in home runs and is batting over .300 in AAA and is in his mid 20’s
So I guess Dan Johnson is the best prospect in the minor league and is better than my Montero.
Wow, I have davineg is indicative of how the Rays feel about their prospects because i couldn’t disagree more. Why trade for Werth ? Besides all the obvious reasons 🙂 when you could trade for Bautista ! I would be extatic to get any or those guys: Matt Moore would be amazing to get and I would def buy low on Jake McGee if the Rays wanted to swap him for Scott Downs and if they want to get rid of Nick Barnesse then im up for that too.
The Rays have the best system in baseball hands down if they want to only trade prospect they are still sitting pretty with some of the best in the minors.
Just because the Yankees offered what you determine to be a better deal, doesn’t matter if the other team doesn’t like it as much.
Who are you to say something about it, are you apart of the trade negotiations? No.
I wonder if the Rays would be interested in Garrett Jones. He under team control for 5 years and can play the outfield and 1st base. Maybe the Bucs could pry Brignac from the Rays for Jones.
He’s a 29 year old first baseman with a .755 OPS and you want a capable young shortstop for him?
I remember on another post I said they could use Garrett Jones, but i’d go along the lines of trading a catcher (Navarro?) and a prospect, maybe Matt Moore, Alex Colome, or Matt Sweeney?
I thought this story was about they Rays, not a bunch of crybaby Yanks fans complaining that they didnt get what they want.
I’d love to see the Phillies get Matt Moore (Ks a lot of batters and is only 20) or Alexander Torres (LH power pitcher). Either one of those would be a good pickup for the Phillies. I think they need to look toward the future and get young pitchers (not Oswalt)..Dan Haren would have been nice, but Oswalt is WAY too expensive. They need to look ahead and not make any deals that willl prohibit them on extending Rollins, Utley, and Hamels when their time comes.
Tim Beckham would be nice if the Phillies choose not to extend Rollins and with the emergence of Brignac they may not need him….but I think their focus (as always) is pitching.
Diddnt mean to like that comment. The Rays have too high of hopes from Beckham to dish him. Hes struggled a little in A ball but what do you expect out of a 19-20 year old kid. His upside is very high still.
Yeah, that’s why I didn’t include him the first time. I agree, in 2009 he was pre-ranked in the top 30 at just the age of 19…he’s definetely solid. The Phillies will be looking for pitching anyway. I really think the Phillies will like Moore (6’2 and over 200 lbs) they love big body pitchers, esp. Lefties.
The only thing I would worry about Werth as a Rays fan is whether or not he could handle the switch(haunting memorys of Pat Burrell). Also, I think the Rays are looking for more of a DH, not another position player as all of our position players have at least solid if not above average defense, including Zobrist in Right. Not saying Werths defense is bad, I dont know much about how well he plays Right.
Jayson is a very good Right Fielder…tops in the league (not THE top, but def. top 3-5). In fact, many baseball analysists say he could be a CF on most teams. He covers a lot of ground and has a strong arm.
That would be a major plus then. That would make the DH time split btween Sean Rodriguez, Matt Joyce. Brignac would continue alternating with Jason Bartlett at SSand getiing Zobrist breaks at 2B
Rumors have it Werth is a Padre.
Bartlett will be gone next season. Maddon told the NY Post that Sean Rod. and Reid Brignac are going to be the starting SS/2B for the Rays in the forseeable future. It would make since for the Rays to trade Jason in the winter as Reid and Sean have played a decent amount of time and have shown that they can play great defense and hit at an average clip.
Plus Bartlett will look to another arbitration raise for next season.
You can that Reid and Sean are better right now because they have huge range defensively.
That would work and they Rays would be looking to make that kind of deal, they would hate to trade Wade Davis or even BJ
What are they gonna do if Hellickson blows out his arm again?
One can dream right? 🙂 The Pirates were able to deal Nate McLouth last year for what looked like decent prospects. I was hoping lightning would strike twice I guess.
They need to keep Davis, Brignac, and Sean Rod. That’s their future. But Upton nees to GO… he’s starting to not hustle as much and a change of scenery will do wonders for him.
I think TB should go after Corey Hart or the Prince they would get 2 years of the playoff run and get draft picks if they can’t sign them. And they have the pitching wanted by the Brewers good for both teams. And best of all the Yankees don’t get them.
Have any real baseball people linked the Yankees to either of those guys?
And by real baseball people I mean people other than ignorant Yankee fans that want Prince as a full time DH.