Rays Rumors

AL East Links: Rays, Bautista, Yankees

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 14, 2011 at 11:16am CDT

The latest from Florida, where pitchers and catchers are reporting to AL East Spring Training camps…

Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Erik Hahmann of DRaysBay that "starting pitching, position players who can help you on both sides of the ball, and impact talent up the middle" are difficult or impossible for the Rays to obtain on the open market. That's why the Rays expect the upcoming draft to be some of "the most important days in the history of [the Tampa Bay] franchise." Friedman admits that the Rays face different challenges than, say, the Yankees or Red Sox, but expects his club to compete in 2011.
Jose Bautista, who set a deadline for extension talks with the Blue Jays, told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he is "still very hopeful” about signing long-term with the Jays. Bautista's arbitration hearing is scheduled for today, so we'll know by tomorrow whether he's going to sign an extension or make $10.5MM or $7.6MM this year.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that some aging players are crucial to the Yankees' success in 2011.

Rays Sign Chris Bootcheck

By Steve Adams | February 13, 2011 at 3:00pm CDT

The Rays have signed Chris Bootcheck to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, reports the Tampa Tribune (Twitter link).

Bootcheck, 32, last appeared in the Majors in 2009 with the Pirates, though the results weren't pretty. The right-hander allowed 18 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings while walking nine and whiffing 13 batters.

Bootcheck owns a 6.54 career ERA through 147 1/3 Major League innings with a 6.4 K/9 and a 3.9 BB/9. He's mostly a fastball/slider pitcher, with his heater averaging 92.2mph for his career (93.6 in his limited 2009 action).

A product of Auburn University, Bootcheck was drafted 20th overall by the Angels in 2000. He is represented by Scott Boras.

AL East Notes: Vlad, Anderson, Delcarmen

By Dan Mennella | February 12, 2011 at 6:59pm CDT

Here are a few AL East items of note for Feb. 12. On this day in 1981, a contract violation by the Red Sox made catcher Carlton Fisk a free agent. Pudge eventually signed with the White Sox, with whom he spent the balance of his 24-year, Hall of Fame career.

Vladimir Guerrero's physical with the Orioles is scheduled for Wednesday, blogs Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. The Orioles' and Vlad's verbal agreement was first reported Feb. 4, so it's been an unusually long period between the agreement and scheduled physical, but O's president Andy MacPhail said that Guerrero's agent, Fernando Cuza, has signed an agreement that he can't accept another offer in the interim.
Brian Anderson is in Yankees camp and trying to make the team as a reliever, writes Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. The former outfielder and first-round pick of the White Sox was DFA'd by the Royals in December after spending 2010 in the Kansas City organization, converting to life as a hurler. Anderson, signed to a minor league deal by the Bombers, said he was told by the Yankees that he has a chance to make the team out of camp, but if he doesn't, he will return to the minors to contine working.
The Rays were one of two finalists to sign reliever Manny Delcarmen, blogs Alex Speier of WEEI.com, but the right-hander ultimately chose Seattle over Tampa Bay. Both clubs offered minor league deals, and as we noted Thursday, Delcarmen also turned down a Major League offer from a National League team.

AL East Links: Guthrie, Bard, Balfour, Rays

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 11, 2011 at 4:41pm CDT

Yankees officially announced that they signed Luis Ayala, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Warner Madrigal, Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez to minor league deals. Here are some notes on the Yanks and the rest of the AL East…

Jordan Parraz, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees, cleared waivers, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (Twitter link).
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun asks if you'd extend any of the seven Orioles who were arbitration eligible this offseason.
If you answered Jeremy Guthrie, think again. The right-hander, who avoided arbitration with the Orioles today, told Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun that the Orioles appear to have ruled out an extension for him, though he wouldn't rule one out himself and doesn't have hard feelings about the team's decision.
Here's a fun fact from Zrebiec on Twitter: Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has never gone to an arbitration hearing with a player in 25 years of running baseball teams. Pretty astounding.
Daniel Bard told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he would like to try starting again and has not discussed an extension with the Red Sox.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the latest on some creative discussions between Kevin Towers and the man he worked for last year, Brian Cashman.The Yankees, who considered completing a sign-and-trade with Arizona to acquire Carl Pavano without surrendering a draft pick, discussed a similar deal with the D'Backs about Grant Balfour. The Yankees were moving toward Balfour before they signed his former teammte, Rafael Soriano.
Justin Ruggiano and Leslie Anderson both cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The Rays designated the players for assignment to create roster space earlier in the week.

Rays Designate Leslie Anderson For Assignment

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 8, 2011 at 12:35pm CDT

The Rays designated Leslie Anderson for assignment to create roster space for Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter). The Rays designated outfielder Justin Ruggiano for assignment in a related move earlier today.

The Rays officially signed Anderson, a Cuban defector, to a four-year, $1.725MM contract in April. At the time, Rays director of international operations Carlos Alfonso said the 28-year-old was appealing “because of his athleticism, and the fact that he can play all three outfield positions, as well as first base.”

Anderson reached Triple-A last year, hitting .302/.359/.442 with 31 extra base hits across three levels. The left-handed hitter split his time between first base and left field.

MLB Teams Sign Six Dominican League Prospects

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 8, 2011 at 10:52am CDT

The Dominican Prospect League announced that Major League organizations have signed six of its top prospects. Here are the details on the deals:

The Yankees signed 20-year-old center fielder Freiter Marte for $100K. Marte had been selected to play in the DPL All-Star Game.
Elvis Rubio, who was also chosen to play in the All-Star Game, signed with the Brewers for $95K. Rubio is a 17-year-old corner outfielder.
If you think Rubio is young, look at who the Rays signed. Tampa Bay signed 16-year-old left-hander Luis Cepeda for $60K. The Rays get another DPL All-Star in Cepeda.
The Cardinals signed Fernando Gonzalez, a 16-year old right-hander, for $66K. Gonzalez has drawn comparisons to a young Leo Nunez, according to the league.
The Indians signed Kevin Calderon for $80K. The 16-year old made this year's All-Star team and is considered a top defensive catcher.
The Pirates signed Leandro Rodriguez, a 17-year-old right-hander with a loose arm, for $80K.

Rays Designate Justin Ruggiano For Assignment

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 8, 2011 at 9:14am CDT

Justin Ruggiano told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he's being designated for assignment (Twitter link). The 28-year-old outfielder loses his roster spot since the Rays had to create space for new acquisitions Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon.

Ruggiano, who played for the Rays in 2007 and 2008, spent last year at Triple-A Durham. He hit 15 homers for the second consecutive season and posted a .287/.357/.453 line. The 25th-rounder has a .561 OPS in 96 big league plate appearances.

Quick Hits: Diamondbacks, Guerrero, Marcum, Pence

By Luke Adams 2 | February 6, 2011 at 8:49pm CDT

Football will dominate today's sports headlines, but ESPN.com's Jayson Stark tweets some good news for baseball fans – Super Sunday also represents the start of the last week without baseball until November! Here are today's links, as the Packers and Steelers prepare to square off in Texas….

The Diamondbacks could hit it big in the draft this year, a rival scout tells Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Arizona will hold the No. 3 and No. 7 picks this June.
It's time to give Peter Angelos and the Orioles credit for signing Vladimir Guerrero, writes Kevin Cowherd of The Baltimore Sun. The big ticket signing is the latest move made by the O's who will see their payroll jump from $73MM in 2010 to $93MM in 2011.
Francisco Liriano's $4.3MM salary could impact the Brewers' negotiations with Shaun Marcum, writes MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Both pitchers submitted a $5MM figure. Milwaukee countered with $3MM while the Twins offered Liriano $3.6MM before settling on a $4.3MM mark last week.
An arbitration hearing for Hunter Pence and the Astros has been set for February 18th, reports Stephen Goff of the Houston Astros Examiner. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Pence is Houston's last remaining case, and the two sides' figures are $1.75MM apart.
Within a piece on the Rays' bullpen, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune writes that the team is waiting until early this week to make roster moves to free room on the 40-man roster for Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez.
The Yankees' hunt for starting pitching and the Mets' financial issues will get more attention, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post thinks the more intriguing stories in New York involve the futures of the two starting shortstops.
John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer previews some storylines and poses some questions for the Reds as they prepare for the season.

Rays Sign Juan Cruz

By Dan Mennella | February 3, 2011 at 6:12pm CDT

The Rays have signed right-handed reliever Juan Cruz to a minor league deal, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.

After a successful three-year stint with the Diamondbacks from 2006-08, Cruz signed a two-year deal worth $5.5MM with the Royals prior to the 2009 season. However, Cruz never found his form in Kansas City. He was released in April 2010 and underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in May.

Still, the Rays continue a solid offseason with another low-risk, high-reward signing, bringing in a reliever in Cruz, 32, who has a career ERA of 4.15 and averaged 9.1 K/9.

Quick Hits: Guerrero, Kawakami, Johnson, Dodgers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 2, 2011 at 4:27pm CDT

Some links from around the majors as the market for Vladimir Guerrero becomes a little clearer…

When I looked at possible destinations for Guerrero last week, I listed the Rangers, Angels, Orioles and Blue Jays. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that the Rays are not in on Guerrero, which makes sense, since they already added Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez (Twitter link).
The Braves would like to trade Kenshin Kawakami this spring, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter). The Braves have a number of starting pitching options without Kawakami, especially now that they've signed Rodrigo Lopez.
D'Backs GM Kevin Towers told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that he considers Kelly Johnson's arbitration case a tough one, but hopes to "create some dialogue" before the sides go to a hearing. As our Arb Tracker shows, Johnson asked for $6.5MM while the D'Backs countered with a $4.7MM offer.
Longtime Astros right-hander Brandon Backe, who last pitched in the majors in June of 2009 and is recovering from a pair of shoulder operations, told Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner that he is working toward a possible comeback.
The Dodgers signed right-hander Merkin Valdez to a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The 29-year-old appeared in two games for the Blue Jays last year after spending parts of three seasons with the Giants.

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