Now that Matt Garza is officially a Cub, his former team has a little extra money burning a hole in its pocket. The right-hander earned $3.35MM in 2010 and was due a raise in his second trip through the arbitration process, perhaps into the $5-6MM range. Rays GM Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times that the club will now reallocate that money, and look to add one or two hitters and one or two relievers (Twitter link).
Tampa's offseason has been more about subtraction than addition to this point. In addition to Garza, shortstop Jason Bartlett was traded away, while Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Randy Choate, and Dan Wheeler all left via free agency. Rafael Soriano, Chad Qualls, and Grant Balfour remain unsigned as well. It's possible that Qualls and/or Balfour (a Type-A free agent) could return now that the team has some extra money, but it would be an upset if Soriano came back. Right-hander Joel Peralta has been their only significant signing so far.
The Rays could look to add a bat at first base, DH, or in the outfield. They're said to have interest in Vladimir Guerrero as well as Johnny Damon, and we can't discount Jim Thome or Manny Ramirez. Fred Lewis' name has popped up as well. On the relief pitcher front, they've been connected to both Manny Delcarmen and Brian Fuentes recently, but plenty of other free agent options still remain.
Tampa only has $18.43MM tied up in 2011 payroll right now (according to Cot's), though arbitration raises to B.J. Upton and Andy Sonnanstine are still to come, ditto quite a few pre-arbitration signings. Principal owner Stuart Sternberg has indicated that payroll will dip below $60MM next season, but right now they appear to be well below that.
Jim Thome or Vlad would be great. Might be a bit more than 3mil though.
3 mil for Thome, 4 mil for Fuentes, and then give Nick Johnson a 500k minor league deal.
i would imagine fuentes goes for higher than 4mil with the crazy contracts relievers have gotten. probably no less than 2yr/10mil
They should just let their rookies play this year, and use the money for the draft, I like the Rays don’t get me wrong, but they’re in the wrong division to compete in when you lose your best players in Crawford, Pena, Soriano, and Balfour. Just call it a bridge year, and get the rooks some ML experience.
How about bring back Rafael Soriano?
It’s nice to see they’re not rolling over with a new rebuild. Friedman has a lot of success with picking the right players for short deals, not to mention his drafting ability which he’l demonstrate later this year. Though I don’t see them committing to Manny or Thome to be strictly a DH. While neither are great in the field, Vlad or Damon might be able to split time between DH and the outfield. Also if they can get Fuentes on a short deal to be closer I think they can still be quiet threat in the division.
Yeah. They should have a real gold mine coming up in the draft if they will exploit it.
Still think they are going to get “stuck” getting Balfour back tho, hard to imagine anyone giving up a 2nd round, much less a 1st round pick for this guy, just too many negatives. The age, every other year he seems to lose it etc.. 1 year contract with Tampa next year and 2m tops is what i see and the Rays hoping he slips to B status as a FA.
Kinda ironic what you’re proposing for Balfour. You think the Rays will have to sign him on a one year deal but they’ll be hoping he does badly enough to slip to a type B FA?
Don’t think i made myself understood perhaps.. The Rays are hoping he falls to a B after the season so they can get a pick out of him in 2012 FA season, since I don’t see anyone giving up a 1st or 2nd pick this year.
Don’t think the Rays are willing to go multi year either with his age and always cheap finances, plus hoping they can get a supplemental pick if he slips a little, or others pass him and he does become a type B.
I understand what you’re saying, but FA rankings are based on 2 year performances and Balfour is coming off of a very good year. In order to drop to a type B status he’d have to have a bad year. Ultimately then if the Rays wanted Balfour for a year with part of the hope being he’d be a type B FA next off season then they’d be gambling the Balfour probably wouldn’t be worth his contract. Which again, makes no sense.
Why wouldnt you hope for a great season so that if hes signed for a year and he becomes a type a free agent again, a team will likely see it as hes performing well enough to warrant giving up the draft pick.
Agreed. Maybe add Vlad and Manny/etc. and Fuentes and Balfour
No way Vlad plays OF again. Did you see the WS?
I did and felt the Rangers might have been better off with monkey in the field, but I’d still take Vlad in the field over Manny. Believe it or not, Vlad actually had a positive UZR last year.
Depends on what kind of monkey. I could see spider monkeys being excellent fielders, but your basic Old World monkeys like baboons, macaques, and colobus seem like they would be too slow.
Dan Johnson re-signed for $1M in order to avoid arbitration back in early December
My bet would be signing Rauch and Balfour for 3.5 and 4.5 each (Balfour for 2 years) to solidify the backend of the bullpen. The hitter would be probably Vladimir Guerrero or Jim Thome, either for about 6.5-7 million. That would give the Rays a DH and a complete 7th/8th/9th inning setup in Balfour, McGee, and Rauch (in no particular order), with the total payroll being about 34 million, which leaves room for a trade for someone like Clippard/Meek/Hanrahan/etc. if necessary, or possibly a Fuentes signing. the rest of the money left will go to the draft signings.
It would be more than $34 million. Upton and Sonny have arb raises
Sternberg is a NY Carpetbagger. He is pocketing the Revenue Sharing money. I hope that the taxpayers of Hillsborough or Pinellas County don’t build this creep a stadium
I like Vlad, but the Rays need a left handed bat. I’d love Fuentes, Delcarmen. I’m not confident the Rays can compete next year but it;s still possible. We filled the voids pretty well… replaced Bartlett with Brignac, replaced Garza with Hellickson, replaced Crawford with Jennings, replaced Pena with Johnson. Now we just need a DH, RP(s), CP and were set.
Less Vlad talk, more Manny talk.
Lucas Duda for Jake McGee? Lol jk?
Give Fuentes $10 mil over 2 years with a couple more mil in incentives for games finished. Tampa needs to replace Soriano to stay competitive.
I get the feeling Dan Johnson could break out in a full time role. We shall see.
So their payroll is less than what Carl Crawford alone will make and theyre cutting payroll from last years division winners? Dont know who the bigger losers are here, the cheapskate owner or the fans who dont care either way? Actually the players who work their tales off to win the east are the biggest losers. Very disappointing to watch even as a rival fan!
I’m pretty certain they are not finished. They projected their own payroll to be in the 45-55 million range.
Pretty sure the payroll will be more than $20 million…
Well they had better get to spending then! I wouldn’t be happy at all if the rays were my favorite team!!!
Why not? This was a great trade for the Rays and it wasn’t like they were ever going to be players for Crawford.
Maybe they’ll use the money to put towards a new stadium. In another city.
The Rays are ready to make their moves, they traded Garza at the right time and got some good prospects. Now they will pick up a closer- Fuentes and DH – Vlad or Thome. If they do that with their starters they will be contenders in the east. Their young pitchers could be the best staff in the east.
I agree it was the a great trade for the Rays to pick up Archer, Lee, and Chirinos, but to say their staff could be the best in the East is hard to say. They have a very solid starting 5, but after Price, there is Shields, who had a terrible year last year, Neimann with a 4.39 era, 1.26 whip, Davis with a 4.07 era and 1.35 whip, Sonnastein wasnt great, 4.44 era and a 1.36 whip. Hellickson only had 36 IP but if he has the season he like the beginning of what he started last year, he could be a great compliment to Price. I’d have to say the Red Sox’ rotation exceeds the rays though. With Lester, Bucholz, Beckett, Lackey, and Dice-K, if all these guys stay injury free, it could give the Phillies Rotation a good challenge.
I know it’s hard to doubt the Rays given their past success, but when I was looking at their projected 25 man roster the other day, I just felt like it wouldn’t be surprising to see them stuck in the basement of the division. Baltimore and Toronto have very deep lineups now and the Rays have Longo, Zobrist who regressed horribly, and an inconsistent Upton, and everyone else is pretty much unproven. If they bring in Thome and keep Soriano they still might have a chance, but it will be hard to rely on all of Brignac, Rodriguez, Jennings, Joyce, and Johnson to break out at the same time.
The Rays are like the old Dodgers of the 60s, they don’t have to score alot of runs to win. There pitching and defense keep them in games. That is their formula for winning. They do have money to get relief pitching and a DH, if they do that they will be competitive in the east.
I know it’s hard to doubt the Rays given their past success, but when I was looking at their projected 25 man roster the other day, I just felt like it wouldn’t be surprising to see them stuck in the basement of the division. Baltimore and Toronto have very deep lineups now and the Rays have Longo, Zobrist who regressed horribly, and an inconsistent Upton, and everyone else is pretty much unproven. If they bring in Thome and keep Soriano they still might have a chance, but it will be hard to rely on all of Brignac, Rodriguez, Jennings, Joyce, and Johnson to break out at the same time.
I love when this scumbaggy agent can tilt different division races, and consistently point his clients to the big markets. Any way to push this bozo out of the game?
The Rays will finish in the top 2 in the East, the Yankees are the team that will struggle in 2011,finishing 3rd or lower. The Rays are building a strong fanbase, it just takes time with the 10 year start that they had. A stadium in a more central location would certainly give an attendance boost. Those that think Rays fans dont care about the team are dead wrong. My advice to those people would be, dont believe everything you hear through the media, think for yourself. The Rays are winning more fans every year they field a winning team, you can see the fan base growing in numbers and not just locally, but nationally.
Look at the attendence last year, thats all you need to know about Rays fans. They should move that team, I feel sorry for their players. Half the population in that area can’t even sit through a game, and root for the Yanks!
Look at the attendence last year, thats all you need to know about Rays fans. They should move that team, I feel sorry for their players. Half the population in that area can’t even sit through a game, and root for the Yanks!
The Rays will finish in the top 2 in the East, the Yankees are the team that will struggle in 2011,finishing 3rd or lower. The Rays are building a strong fanbase, it just takes time with the 10 year start that they had. A stadium in a more central location would certainly give an attendance boost. Those that think Rays fans dont care about the team are dead wrong. My advice to those people would be, dont believe everything you hear through the media, think for yourself. The Rays are winning more fans every year they field a winning team, you can see the fan base growing in numbers and not just locally, but nationally.
Not sure how much they are wanting to spend beyond the Garza money. But there are a few guys who would intrigue me if i was Andrew Friedman.
1st is Bengie Molina. I know you just got Chirinos and you still have Shoppach. But with the young staff they could use a veteran guy back there along with Jaso makes up a nice RH LH platoon. Then move Shoppach to a team in need of a backup for a relief arm. Perhaps SD, SF, or Seattle who all could use a solid backup catcher.
2nd guy is of course Brian Fuentes. They need a guy who can close. We have seen how ineffective they are when they dont have a true closer (2009) and how great they can be when they do (2008 & 2010).
I dont see Dan Johnson as the answer at either 1B or DH so my next guys fit that mold and there are 2 of them. I dont think that Thome or Vlad are going to fall into the current price range so looking at who is out there i could see either one of Russell Branyan or Troy Glaus fitting into that DH/part-time 1B role.
As far as pen guys idk about Delcarmen. He wasnt very good in Boston. A combo of Balfour, Todd Coffey, and maybe a Jon Rauch would work.
Then you might ask who i play defensively at 1B? i put zobrist there and take a flier on Lastings milledge to play RF. still allows flexibilty defensivly and who knows milledge could have a decent year on a minor league deal
Not sure how much they are wanting to spend beyond the Garza money. But there are a few guys who would intrigue me if i was Andrew Friedman.
1st is Bengie Molina. I know you just got Chirinos and you still have Shoppach. But with the young staff they could use a veteran guy back there along with Jaso makes up a nice RH LH platoon. Then move Shoppach to a team in need of a backup for a relief arm. Perhaps SD, SF, or Seattle who all could use a solid backup catcher.
2nd guy is of course Brian Fuentes. They need a guy who can close. We have seen how ineffective they are when they dont have a true closer (2009) and how great they can be when they do (2008 & 2010).
I dont see Dan Johnson as the answer at either 1B or DH so my next guys fit that mold and there are 2 of them. I dont think that Thome or Vlad are going to fall into the current price range so looking at who is out there i could see either one of Russell Branyan or Troy Glaus fitting into that DH/part-time 1B role.
As far as pen guys idk about Delcarmen. He wasnt very good in Boston. A combo of Balfour, Todd Coffey, and maybe a Jon Rauch would work.
Then you might ask who i play defensively at 1B? i put zobrist there and take a flier on Lastings milledge to play RF. still allows flexibilty defensivly and who knows milledge could have a decent year on a minor league deal
Can anyone name one team in the past, who has traded a quality 27 year old arm like Garza, and has been serious about winning?
padres with Peavy?
I’m not driving up from sarasota paying 12 bucks to park and $18 for a beer and pretzel after paying for a seat to watch this team play
I am so tired of people judging the upcoming rays season before the Rays roster is even set. The Rays might of lost 3 starters but out of the 3 only 1 Carl will be hard to replace and last I heard one player can’t win a division ask Seattle. The bull pen is in rebuild mode with it still in progress and not compete yet so how can you judge before all the parts are set and it already looks better then the world series year. So all you disbelievers dont judge yet. The best thing that is happening this year is the negativity toward the rays because the most dangerous team is a good team that no one sees coming until it is to late