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A’s Acquire Adam Kennedy

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SATURDAY, 7:18pm: According to the Associated Press, via the Miami Herald, the A's have sent minor league infielder Joe Dillon to the Rays to complete the trade.

Dillon, 33, has been on the Triple-A Sacramento disabled list all season with a lower back injury.  He hit .263/.374/.409 in 171 minor league at-bats last season and will simply provide organizational depth for the Rays.

FRIDAY, 6:48pm: Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune gathered a nice quote from Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman, on why the club felt compelled to make the deal:

"It's an extended opportunity for Adam and we weren't going to stand in the way," said Friedman.  "We feel like we're going to get a guy that's going to help us some depth-wise, and that was our understanding with Adam coming in — we're not a group that's going to stand in the way of someone, especially someone that hadn't played in the minor leagues in 10 years."

4:31pm: According to Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse the Rays traded Adam Kennedy to the A's for a player to be named later. Kennedy, 33, was playing at Triple-A Durham for the Rays and the A's have assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate, Sacramento. Kennedy gives the A's the infield depth they need after losing Mark Ellis, Eric Chavez and Nomar Garciaparra to the disabled list.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bay, Holliday, Hudson, Cameron, Mets, Yankees, Rays

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On this date 27 years ago, Adrian Gonzalez was born. The former first overall pick by the Marlins has been traded twice. He was originally dealt to the Rangers in a deal that sent Ugueth Urbina to the Marlins. Later he was dealt to the Padres along with Chris Young for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka. As we enter the second month of the season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • Around the Majors looks at Jason Bay and Matt Holliday in an effort to find the best value in the free agents-to-be.
  • Feeling Dodger Blue declares Orlando Hudson the best free agent signing of 2009…so far.
  • The Eddie Kranepool Society thinks it might be time to break up the core of the Mets by shopping Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.
  • The Fowl Balls makes a case for the Yankees signing Paul LoDuca.
  • River Ave. Blues argues that the Yankees have gotten lazy with the roster and have missed opportunities to improve the bench.
  • Brew Crew Ball writes that Mike Cameron has been a great signing for the Brewers and wonders what the team should do with him as he nears free agency.
  • Over at my home base, Rays Index, we are playing a game with other Rays bloggers (and Tim Dierkes) called "The Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool," based loosely on "The Dead Pool."

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Odds And Ends: Hinch, Manny, Longoria

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Links for Friday…

Stark On Pitchers, Vlad, Sabathia, Crawford

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More from Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings column today…

  • Stark rattles off a bunch of starting pitchers teams are "tracking" in advance of the trade deadline: Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Aaron Harang, Erik Bedard, Kevin Millwood, Mark Buehrle, Doug Davis, Chris Young, Andy Pettitte, Bronson Arroyo, Jonathan Sanchez, Andy Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann, Jason Marquis, Vicente Padilla, Jeff Suppan, and Russ Ortiz.  Not all of these guys are actually available, so check out the article for more analysis.
  • Teams are "backpedaling away" from Vladimir Guerrero as a free agent option after the season.  One scout sees Vlad as a DH right now.
  • C.C. Sabathia downplayed the importance of the out clause in his contract, talking to Stark.  Sabathia said it was "just something my agent came up with, and I just went with it."  Stark is skeptical though; he thinks the clause was specific to New York.
  • Stark talked to a baseball man familiar with the Rays' thinking who sees "zero chance" they don't exercise Carl Crawford's $10.125MM option for 2010.  The Rays have a three-year outlook on the budget.
  • With Jason Isringhausen ready within a few weeks, the Rays may have a surplus in the bullpen.  Stark doesn't expect Dan Wheeler or J.P. Howell to be moved, but teams are tracking them.
  • Stark sees Jorge Cantu as a trade candidate after the season.  He figures to make $5-6MM through arbitration.

Odds & Ends: Nationals, Garcia, Bonds

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Links for Wednesday…

2010 Options: Tampa Bay Rays

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Let's take a look at the 2010 options facing the Rays.

  • Carl Crawford – $10MM+ club option with a $1.25MM buyout.  According to Cot's, Crawford's 2010 option may increase to $11.5MM with escalators.  His defense may make him worth the money even if his bat doesn't bounce back.  He'll turn 28 in August.
  • Akinori Iwamura – $4.25MM+ club option with a $250K+ buyout.  With a typical Iwamura season, this figures to be exercised.  If not, Iwamura can become a free agent despite having only three years service time (a typical arrangement for Japanese players here).
  • Brian Shouse – $1.9MM club option with a $200K buyout.  So far Shouse has done his job shutting down lefties.  He turns 41 in September.

Rays Looking To Brazil For Talent

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According to Kevin Kaduk from Yahoo Sports, the Rays are planning on becoming the first team to open a training center in Brazil. The Rays will invest $6.5MM in the camp, located in Marilia, over the next five years. Up to 4,000 young people will have the chance to learn baseball in a free after-school program.

Kaduk points out that strides have been made in other new regions of the world, including China and the Pirates' recent signings from India.

Andres Reiner, the Rays' special director of development, mentions the athleticism of Brazilian soccer players, and wonders if that athleticism could transfer over into baseball as well:

"Brazil has been good at producing athletes … Brazil has a lot of people, millions of young people and not everyone can play soccer. If they aren't good soccer players they can be good baseball players."

Offseason In Review: Tampa Bay Rays

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Next up in the Offseason In Review series, the Rays.  Here's what we wrote about them on October 30th.  Changes for 2009:

Additions: Pat Burrell, Lance Cormier, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Nelson, Brian Shouse, Matt Joyce, Gabe Kapler, Aneury Rodriguez, Adam Kennedy

Subtractions: Edwin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Jonny Gomes, Cliff Floyd, Trever Miller, Eric Hinske, Rocco Baldelli, Al Reyes

The Rays rose up last year to win the AL pennant.  The offseason went according to plan – sign a righthanded slugger, tweak the bullpen, and get value for excess starting pitchers.  Let's take a closer look.

Last year the Rays ranked 9th in the AL with 4.78 runs scored per game.  This year's lineup subtracts Hinske and adds Kapler, while also slotting Burrell into the middle of the order.  Burrell's two-year, $16MM deal was widely applauded when he signed on January 5th.  The new lineup projects to score 5.23 runs per game, according to CHONE projections and the Baseball Musings lineup analysis tool. That seems optimistic, but the Rays should score more runs this year.

The Rays' '08 rotation ranked 2nd in the AL last year with a 3.95 ERA in 973.3 innings.  The '09 rotation subtracts Jackson in favor of a probable Jeff Niemann/David Price fifth starter combo.  It should be stellar once again, projecting at 3.98 or so.  And unlike most teams, the Rays have the depth to cover injuries.  Highly regarded prospect Wade Davis awaits his turn.

Andrew Friedman did not rest on his laurels in regard to the bullpen, which was good for a 3.55 ERA in 484.3 innings last year.  He traded Hammel to the Rockies and let Miller go while importing Nelson, Shouse, Cormier, and Isringhausen.  They may not be able to match last year's ERA, but still project well at 3.72.

According to The Fielding Bible II, the Rays' defense ranked 4th in the AL last year.  There's no reason to expect any less in 2009.

Can the Rays win 97 games again?  The projections suggest they can, though as I said 847 runs scored seems optimistic.  Still, if the Rays are behind the Yankees and Red Sox, it's not by much.  It's a shame that one of these three teams won't make the playoffs.

Bottom line: Friedman stretched a limited budget to bring in Burrell, and made other bargain signings as well.  He moved surplus pitching for value and still has plenty to spare.  The Rays look very strong once again.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Opening Day Payrolls

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On this date 33 years ago, Andy Messersmith signed a three-year, $1M contract with the Atlanta Braves after being granted free agency by an arbitrator in the Seitz Decision. This move was historic in that the ruling effectively nullified baseball's reserve clause, seven years after Curt Flood first challenged the clause. This led to the inclusion of free agency after six years of service in the next collective bargaining agreement, a rule still in place today. Since then, payrolls have skyrocketed. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • The Biz of Baseball takes a closer look at opening day payroll, the highest paid players in baseball and which teams have the highest average player salaries.
  • Astros Country breaks down the Astros' 2009 payroll.
  • Bleed Cubbie Blue has details on the Cubs' payroll.
  • Rays Index breaks down the Rays' opening day payroll.
  • YanksBlog tries resolve different reports of the Yankees opening day payroll.
  • Purple Row takes a look at service time and options remaining on the Rockies' roster, among other things.
  • Baseball Analysts takes a look at payroll efficiency for the last three years.
  • On a side note, The Sports Banter put together a list of the best off-season moves, and the worst.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here and followed on Twitter.

Stark On Olsen, Willingham, Millwood, Peavy

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ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new column up.

  • Stark looks at a few trades that didn't happen.  Aside from the Angels' run at Aaron Harang at the end of Spring Training, they also talked to the Nationals about Scott Olsen.  Stark says Dustin Moseley, Shane Loux, and Jason Bulger were three names kicked around in the Olsen talks.
  • Earlier this spring, the Rays inquired on Washington's Josh Willingham,  apparently dangling Jason Hammel.  Willingham is currently unhappy about being on the Nationals' bench, a situation that probably would not have improved in Tampa Bay.
  • Kevin Millwood could be attractive midseason trade bait, if his Opening Day start was any indication.  Millwood's contract allows the club to decline his $12MM 2010 option unless he pitches 180 innings this year.  He also has a limited no-trade clause.
  • Stark talked to an executive of a team that has Jake Peavy on its radar.  This exec noted that teams did not overpay in deals for Rich Harden and Johan Santana, so the Padres may not be able to demand a ridiculous bounty for Peavy.
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