Rays Have Little To Spend
ESPN’s Keith Law has some Rays info in today’s blog. He says the Rays want to address holes at right field and DH, but are willing to use a platoon in one of those spots. They don’t have much money to spend.
Cork Gaines at Rays Index projected the ’09 payroll, arriving at $54.5MM. A few million could be saved if the arb-eligible Edwin Jackson is traded for a cheaper player. What kind of payroll increase are the Rays comfortable with? They were at $43.7MM on opening day. My Pat Burrell prediction may be unreasonable.
Brown’s Latest: Teixeira, Crede, Friedman
Yahoo’s Tim Brown filed a column late last night; let’s take a look.
- Scott Boras doesn’t know of any kind of contingency where the Dodgers would have to unload Andruw Jones‘ contract before signing Manny Ramirez.
- The Angels have not yet made an offer to Mark Teixeira, but they’ll deal with that situation before moving on to other needs. Boras is suggesting Teixeira pays for himself.
- Boras compared Joe Crede to Magglio Ordonez. I think he is implying that he may seek big money for Crede but allow a team to opt out after a year if he hits the DL for back problems.
- Ken Williams spoke up manufacturing runs, while Billy Beane still prefers walks and homers.
- Rays GM Andrew Friedman doesn’t have a contract, but he isn’t concerned.
Davidoff’s Latest: Sabathia, El Duque, Heilman
A few notes from Newsday’s Ken Davidoff, who has blog posts here and here.
- C.C. Sabathia‘s agents met with the Yankees yesterday, among other teams. As you know, teams can only talk contract with their own free agents currently. Sabathia is certainly open to playing for the Yankees.
- Orlando Hernandez not only wants to pitch in 2009; he wants to close. He’s thinking big after missing all of 2008.
- Davidoff gives a 10% chance of the Yankees re-signing Jason Giambi, and a 1% chance of re-signing Carl Pavano.
- The Rays like Aaron Heilman, though not as much as they once did.
Rockies Rumors: Holliday, Atkins, Podsednik
Let’s check in on the Rockies next.
- Matt Holliday may be selling his Denver-area home, not that it means anything. Tracy Ringolsby has the Nationals, Rays, Cardinals, and Mets as teams interested in Holliday. Meanwhile, Troy E. Renck explores a Yankees scenario.
- Renck can’t see the Rox trading both Holliday and Garrett Atkins. Ringolsby says the Angels are more interested in Atkins than Holliday. Renck has the Indians and Twins as suitors for Atkins.
- Scott Podsednik is open to returning to the Rockies, and they could have a place for him if Willy Taveras is dealt.
- Renck expects the Rockies to be in on Carl Pavano if the Yankees don’t re-sign him.
Rockies Shopping Holliday, Atkins, Taveras
9:11pm: According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves are not interested in Taveras after all.
10:47am: According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post and Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, the Rockies are shopping Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, and Willy Taveras.
Holliday, a Scott Boras client, is set to earn $13.5MM in 2009 before reaching free agency. Ringolsby says the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Mets, and Phillies have shown interest. Renck has the Cardinals as a lurker. The Nats may also be interested. The Rockies will target young pitching in return.
Atkins is under team control for 2009 and 2010. Ringolsby has the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Mets, Phillies, White Sox, and Twins as interested parties. Renck sees the Indians as another possibility.
Taveras is also under team control through 2010. Ringolsby says the Royals, Yankees, White Sox, and Braves are in on him, while Renck adds the Nationals.
Rays Decline Options On Floyd, Miller
According to Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times, the Rays declined their 2009 options on Cliff Floyd and Trever Miller.
For Floyd, the Rays chose a $250K buyout over his $2.75MM option. He may decide to retire. For Miller, the Rays chose his $400K buyout over a $2MM option. Miller is a Type B free agent, but the Rays don’t figure to offer him arbitration. The Rays may be in the market for a lefty reliever and DH/right fielder this winter.
Rays Hope To Talk Contract With Baldelli
According to MLB.com’s Bill Chastain, Rays executive VP of baseball operations hopes to talk to Rocco Baldelli‘s agent about a contract soon. Baldelli may be viewed as a free agent bargain, but he’s a lifelong Ray with a special relationship to the club. Dealing with a rare mitochondrial disorder, Baldelli hit .263/.344/.475 in 90 plate appearances and nailed two home runs in the playoffs.
Offseason Outlook: Tampa Bay Rays
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Rays. Their likely 2009 commitments:
C – Dioner Navarro – $413K+
C – Shawn Riggans – $400K
1B – Carlos Pena – $8MM
2B – Akinori Iwamura – $3.25MM
SS – Jason Bartlett – $417K+
3B – Evan Longoria – $550K
IF – Willy Aybar – $402K
IF – Ben Zobrist – $400K
LF – Carl Crawford – $8.25MM
CF – B.J. Upton – $413K
RF – Gabe Gross – $414K+
OF – Fernando Perez – $400K
DH – Jonny Gomes – $1.275MM+
SP – Scott Kazmir – $6MM
SP – James Shields – $1.5MM
SP – Matt Garza – $405K
SP – Andy Sonnanstine – $400K
SP – David Price – $750K
RP – Troy Percival – $4MM
RP – Chad Bradford – $3.5MM
RP – Dan Wheeler – $3.2MM
RP – Trever Miller – $2MM (club option)
RP – Grant Balfour – $500K+
RP – Edwin Jackson – $413K+
RP – J.P. Howell – $400K
Other commitments: Cliff Floyd – $250K, Jeff Niemann – $1.04MM
That’s about $49MM committed, plus arbitration raises to Navarro, Bartlett, Gross, Gomes, Balfour, and Jackson. Payroll could approach $60MM to bring this group back. I’m not sure how high the Rays can go, but they started the year at $43.7MM.
The Rays had a middling offense in 2008, but still reached the World Series. They didn’t hit lefties very well, so it makes sense to acquire a righthanded hitting slugger for right field or DH. Pat Burrell, Magglio Ordonez, Josh Willingham, and Casey Blake could fit the bill. Milton Bradley too, if the Rays want to go there. Matt Holliday is technically available. The Rays could, of course, expand their search to include lefthanded hitters.
The bullpen could be tweaked, but a major signing is probably unnecessary.
The Rays are one of the few teams in baseball who can boast of a legitimate starting pitching surplus. When Jackson and Wade Davis can’t crack your rotation, you’re in good shape. Trading the arb-eligible Jackson could make sense this winter. This is entirely speculation, but would Jackson for Ryan Ludwick, Jermaine Dye, or Billy Butler make sense for anyone?
It’s a great time to be a Rays fan – they have a young, affordable, contending club. Andrew Friedman only needs to tinker this winter.
Odds and Ends: Rivera, Floyd, Peavy
Links for Tuesday…
- The Red Sox added pitcher Virgil Vasquez while losing infielder Gil Velazquez.
- Dave Cameron has another free agent bargain: Juan Rivera.
- The Astros made their first Taiwanese signing: 22 year-old righty reliever Chia-Jen Lo.
- Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi hopes to try MLB eventually (but not in 2009).
- Viva El Birdos figures the Cardinals will check in on Kenshin Kawakami.
- Bud Selig has praise for Padres owner John Moores.
- Rays Index passes along a report that Cliff Floyd‘s injury could end his career. This could open up some free agent possibilities.
- River Ave. Blues says the latest Jake Peavy news is the nail in the coffin for the Yankees.
- MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince is not a big fan of the rumors.
Odds and Ends: Phillies and Rays
A few notes regarding the Phillies and the Rays, since this is all anyone is talking about today:
- Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that arbitration-eligible Ryan Madson could be in for a nice raise this winter.
- The Biz of Baseball ranked all 30 teams by marginal payroll/marginal win. I’ll let them explain the mathematical details, but unsurprisingly, the Rays win by a healthy margin.
- Howard Bryant discusses Carlos Pena‘s success with Tampa and how he resisted requests to change his hitting approach while he was struggling with Texas, Oakland, Detroit, New York, and Boston.
- A lot of writers published stories today on tonight’s scheduled starter for Philadelphia, Jamie Moyer, but Amalie Benajmin in the Boston Globe does an especially nice job following his long, circuitous career.
- And finally, this headline appeared in today’s Newsday: Mets Deeply Regret Letting Kazmir Go To Rays.
Sarah Green writes for Umpbump.com and the Boston Metro.