Rays Rumors

Rays Sign James Loney

By Steve Adams | December 6, 2012 at 1:48pm CDT

Last winter, the Rays signed a low-average, high-power hitter in Carlos Pena to man first base in Tampa. A year later, it seems the Rays are turning to Pena's polar opposite. The Rays have officially signed James Loney to a one-year deal worth $2MM, plus an additional $1MM in incentives. Even if he hits all of those incentives, Loney's total payday will be less than half of the $6.375MM he earned in his final year of arbitration last offseason.

The 28-year-old CAA client batted .249/.293/.336 with six homers in 465 plate appearances for the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2012. He was included as part of Boston's return in the blockbuster trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to Los Angeles. Last year marked the first full season of Loney's career in which he posted an OBP lower than .329 and fewer than 10 homers.

The Dodgers selected Loney 19th overall in 2002 out of high school, and he served as the team's primary first baseman from 2007 up until the time of the trade. He never put together the tools that landed him on Baseball America's Top 100 list from 2003-07, however. To Loney's credit, he's regarded as a solid defender and has been incredibly durable throughout his career. He's averaged 156 games per year over the past five seasons.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported (on Twitter) the agreement between Loney and the Rays, after Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reported late Sunday night that the two sides were nearing an agreement. Heyman (on Twitter) and Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio (on Twitter) added the financial details. Luke Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2012 Rule 5 Draft Results

By Steve Adams | December 6, 2012 at 9:03am CDT

Each year, Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings conclude with the Rule 5 Draft. For those who are unfamiliar with the event, MLBTR offers an in-depth description, but here's a quick overview.

Players are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if they aren't on the 40-man roster four or five years after signing, depending on the age at which they signed. Teams draft in the reverse order of the previous season's standings but aren't required to make a selection. If they do choose a player, they pay his former team $50K and must keep that player on the Major League roster all season or offer him back to his original team for $25K.

The results from the Major League phase:

Astros take righty Josh Fields from Red Sox
Cubs take righty Hector Rondon from Indians
Rockies take lefty Danny Rosenbaum from Nationals
Twins take righty Ryan Pressly from Red Sox
Indians take first baseman Chris McGuiness from Rangers
Marlins take outfielder Alfredo Silverio from Dodgers
Red Sox take second baseman Jeff Kobernus from Nationals; traded to Tigers for infielder/outfielder Justin Henry
Royals
Blue Jays
Mets take lefty Kyle Lobstein from Rays; traded to Tigers for cash considerations
Mariners
Padres
Pirates
Diamondbacks take righty Starling Peralta from Cubs
Phillies take outfielder Ender Inciarte from Diamondbacks
Brewers
White Sox take infielder Angel Sanchez from Angels
Dodgers
Cardinals
Tigers
Angels
Rays
Orioles take lefty T.J. McFarland from Indians
Rangers take righty Coty Woods from Rockies
Athletics
Giants
Braves
Yankees
Reds
Nationals

Second round of Major League phase:

Astros take first baseman Nate Freiman from Padres
Marlins take lefty Braulio Lara from Rays

Overnight Links: Burnett, Phillies, Giants, Rays

By Steve Adams | December 6, 2012 at 3:55am CDT

It's the middle of the night, but news rarely stops coming in over the course of baseball's Winter Meetings. Here are some links from around the baseball world for those who are still awake…

One of the reasons that Sean Burnett's two-year, $8MM deal with the Angels was so affordable was because he had surgery to remove a bone spur this offseason, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. For comparison, Jeremy Affeldt signed for three years and $18MM.
Danny Knobler of CBS Sports writes that the Phillies have a list of five center field targets that includes Michael Bourn, Josh Hamilton, Dexter Fowler, Curtis Granderson and Ben Revere. This is the first they've been linked to Revere, who Knobler says the Twins will move for young pitching despite already having traded Denard Span.
Scott Boras told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle that he's spoken to Giants team president Larry Baer about established closers like Rafael Soriano and Jose Valverde (Twitter link). There doesn't seem to be a match there in my opinion, given Sergio Romo's excellence and reports that the Giants are at their payroll threshold.
The Rays have hired former Astros scouting director Bobby Heck as as special assignment scout, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

Rays Sign Jason Bourgeois

By Tim Dierkes | December 5, 2012 at 11:21pm CDT

Outfielder Jason Bourgeois has popped up as a non-roster invitee on the Rays' official site, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, suggesting the Rays signed him to a minor league deal.

Bourgeois, 31 in January, has a .261/.306/.324 line in 497 career big league plate appearances for the White Sox, Brewers, Astros and Royals. He's stolen 51 bases in 61 tries in that time.

AL East Notes: Rays, Yankees

By Tim Dierkes | December 5, 2012 at 9:58pm CDT

The Orioles' re-signing of left fielder Nate McLouth sums up the Winter Meetings Day 3 action coming out of the AL East. The latest around the division:

The Rays pursued right fielder Nate Schierholtz to the end and finished a close second, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Schierholtz ultimately signed a one-year, $2.25MM deal with the Cubs.
"There's a few potential outcomes that are really exciting to us and we're going to work toward trying to make them materialize," Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times earlier today.
The Yankees never made offers to Jeff Keppinger and Eric Chavez, tweets Jack Curry of YES Network.
Scott Boras questioned the Yankees' choice to reduce payroll, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. Responded president Randy Levine, "Scott’s a great agent, but he’s an agent. Last I looked, he had zero experience running a professional sports team. I think the Yankees have done pretty well following our own course. My advice to Scott is stick to your day job representing players."

Marlins, Rays Interested In Juan Francisco

By Luke Adams 2 | December 5, 2012 at 3:30pm CDT

The Braves' current depth chart features Martin Prado in left field and Juan Francisco at third base, but that could change if the Braves acquire an outfielder. If Atlanta were to add an outfielder and move Prado to third base, the club may trade Francisco, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The Marlins and Rays are among the teams that would have interest in Francisco, says Knobler.

Francisco, 25, received a career-high 192 plate appearances in 2012 and hit .234/.278/.432. As a pre-arb player, his salary is likely part of the appeal for cost-conscious teams like the Marlins and Rays.

After locking up B.J. Upton, the Braves are reportedly not overly interested in other free agent outfielders. However, various reports have suggested the club is still perusing trade options.

AL East Rumors: Rays, Jays, Keppinger, Ellsbury, O’s

By Luke Adams 2 | December 5, 2012 at 12:59pm CDT

As the third day of the 2012 Winter Meetings gets underway, let's round up a few items out of the AL East…

Keppinger was the Yankees' first choice as the right-handed part of a third base platoon, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. With Keppinger signing with Chicago, the Yankees are forced to move on to Plan B.

Earlier updates:

Teams that have spoken to the Rays have come away thinking Tampa Bay is more likely to move James Shields or Jeremy Hellickson than David Price, says Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
With Darren Oliver still uncommitted to returning for the 2013 season, the Blue Jays continue to seek bullpen help, according to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.
The Yankees are one of six teams vying for Jeff Keppinger's services, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Although we heard overnight that Keppinger could receive a three-year deal worth around $4MM annually, Sherman suggests that something in the two-year, $10MM range could work too
Within the same column, Sherman writes that he's receiving "strong indications" the Yankees don't intend to pursue A.J. Pierzynski
The Red Sox and Phillies haven't engaged in talks for Jacoby Ellsbury, a source tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link)
Despite agreeing to three-year deals for Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino already this week, the Red Sox still have plenty of room to spend, says Alex Speier of WEEI.com
WEEI.com's Kirk Minihane believes the Victorino signing was a mistake by the Red Sox
The Orioles met with Nick Swisher's agent in Nashville, and Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com wonders if there's a fit there.
The Red Sox announced that they've signed 26-year-old right-hander Anthony Carter to a minor league deal, writes Speier at WEEI.com.

Free Agent Rumors: Rolen, Bourn, McCarthy, Drew

By Luke Adams 2 | December 5, 2012 at 11:46am CDT

A number of free agents have found deals in Nashville this week, but there are still a ton available, including 29 of our top 50. Here's the latest on a few of the remaining options:

Scott Rolen remains undecided on whether he'll retire or continue his playing career, his agent tells John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. If Rolen decides he wants to play, Fay believes the Reds could be interested in bringing him back in some role.
Former Rockie Ryan Spilborghs is drawing serious interest in Japan, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

The Mariners like Michael Bourn "very much," though the Phillies and Rangers remain in on the speedy outfielder, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
A couple reasons the Angels' interest in Brandon McCarthy has picked up in Nashville are his age (29) and the fact that he likely won't command more than a two-year deal, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
Stephen Drew figures to land at least a two-year deal, which would probably take the Tigers out of the running, says MLB.com's Jason Beck. The Red Sox continue to be in on Drew, however, according to WEEI.com's Rob Bradford.
In their hunt for left-handed relief help, the Cardinals have inquired on Manny Parra and explored what it would take to sign Sean Burnett, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards are expected to find their man fairly soon, says Goold.
Dan Johnson, who was non-tendered by the White Sox last week, is interested in returning to the Rays, but may end up in Japan, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Justin Upton Rumors: Wednesday

By Steve Adams | December 5, 2012 at 11:29am CDT

11:29am: Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers tells Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com (Twitter link) that he prefers to deal directly with one club, since three- or four-team talks "kind of muddies the waters." He's still exploring all possibilities though. Heyman, following up on his Rangers/Upton report, says the current scenarios involve three or four teams (Twitter link). The Royals may also be in on talks with the D-Backs and Indians, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (via Twitter).

11:11am: The Rangers are "working hard" trying to acquire Upton, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

10:44am: The Rays, Rangers, Indians, and Diamondbacks have re-opened the four-team trade talks mentioned below, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

9:17am: One executive involved in the Bauer/Cabrera discussions tells Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) that it has some legs, but is probably a long shot.

7:46am: The D-Backs and Indians have discussed the framework of a deal centering around Cabrera and Trevor Bauer, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com reports. The sides have been talking about the deal for two weeks, but talks have picked up at the Winter Meetings. There's no indication that a deal is close to completion at this time, however.

7:25am: It wouldn't be the Winter Meetings without talk of potential blockbuster trades, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Rays, Rangers, Indians and Diamondbacks have discussed several combinations of three-, four- and even five-team trades.

It all boils down to the fact that the Rangers would like to add Justin Upton and/or James Shields, the Diamondbacks want Asdrubal Cabrera, and the Rays would like to trade a pitcher to improve an offense that ranked 11th in the AL in runs scored and 12th in OPS (and that's before losing B.J. Upton). The Rangers, in all of this, would likely be dishing out prospects to other teams.

Rosenthal is quick to note that while many possibilities have been discussed, it's not necessarily likely that a blockbuster gets completed. The Rangers are splitting their attention between trade talk and the pursuit of Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton.

Rosenthal writes that so many combinations have been discussed, several team officials he's spoken to aren't even sure which possibilities are still alive and which are dead. If no blockbuster happens, various combinations of these teams are still in negotiations regarding standard two-team exchanges.

The Winter Meetings are often the site for blockbuster trades. Recent examples including 2009's Ian Kennedy–Curtis Granderson–Max Scherzer–Austin Jackson three-team deal and the eight-player trade that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers in 2007.

Mets Not Targeting Vinnie Pestano

By Luke Adams 2 | December 4, 2012 at 11:58pm CDT

11:58pm: Rubin was told by a Mets person there's nothing there regarding the team pursuing Pestano.

10:33am: In search of late-inning relief help, the Mets are targeting Indians right-hander Vinnie Pestano, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Though it's not clear whether the Mets have made an offer to Cleveland, New York has been pursuing Pestano at the Winter Meetings, says Rubin.

The Mets have also attempted to engage the Rays and Royals about bullpen pieces, but haven't made any progress on either front, according to Rubin. New York inquired about Joel Peralta, but found Tampa Bay's asking price too high. The Rays just re-signed Peralta to a multiyear deal a couple weeks ago.

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