Yesterday was the trading deadline for Major League Baseball. The Rays did not make any additional trades. The key word is “additional”. Over the course of this past weekend, Andrew Friedman made three trades moving Ty Wigginton, Seth McClung and Jorge Cantu to other clubs in order to strengthen the bullpen. Of course, a quick look around the internets and you would think Friedman and Company spent the past week on the golf course.
The Headlines…
No deals, no problem [tampabay.com]
The Rays didn’t make any trades by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline
Yes they did. In fact, they made three.
So uh…That’s it? [DRays Bay]
The deadline has came and gone without any moves
They actually made a bunch of moves. Three trades in addition to several other roster moves.
Rays Stand Pat As Trade Deadline Passes [TBO]
Pleased with the bullpen he remade during the weekend, Andrew Friedman was dealing from a position of strength as the phone calls swirled around him Tuesday.
In defense of TBO, Marc Lancaster did acknowledge the trades made previously in the opening paragraph unlike the others. However, we would hardly call an overhaul of the bullpen as standing pat.
Rays listen, pass at trade deadline [tampabay.com]
For all the talking, all the thinking, all the projecting and analyzing, when it came down to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline for non-waiver trades, the Devil Rays didn’t have another deal they considered worth making.
People…THE DEVIL RAYS MADE THREE TRADES THIS WEEKEND.
But we save the best for last.
Shelton: Rays sit out deadline, and that’s standup move [St. Pete Times]
Gary Shelton argues that not making any trades was the correct move.
Not trading any of their coveted relievers was the right message to send to fans and players
Gary Shelton believes that Andrew Friedman is more worried about team image than team talent. Gary Shelton is saying that no matter what was offered to the Rays, they would not have traded one of their relief pitchers because that was the “right message to send to the fans and players”. Umm. No. The Devil Rays did not trade the players because they did not have to make a move (Reyes and Wheeler are not free agents-to-be) and other teams did not make an offer worth accepting. If a strong offer had been made that would have improved the ballclub, the team would have made a deal.
Of all of the do-nothing days in the history of the Devil Rays, this one was the best.
They didn’t trade Al Reyes.
They didn’t trade Dan Wheeler.
How about all the days this past off-season when the team did not trade BJ Upton? Having Upton around these parts for the next 4-5 years might be slightly more important than having Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler around until the trading deadline next season. Or how about all the days the team turned down offers for Carl Crawford even though every team between here and Walla Walla inquired about his availablity? And how about the time last year when the team did not cave into Julio Lugo’s contract demands? This year Julio Lugo is hitting .221 with a .612 OPS and a brick for a glove. Right now Red Sox fans hate Julio Lugo more than Bill Buckner. And Lugo is making $8.25 million. Brendan Harris is hitting .301 with a .800 OPS to go along with an average glove. He is making $386K.
They didn’t trade the largest contract in the room in exchange for not having to pay it.
Hmm? Reyes has a $1 million option for 2008 (An extremely cheap price for a closer) while Wheeler made $2.1 million this year and is set to make approximately $3 million in arbitration. On the other hand, Wigginton is making $2.7 million this season and is likely to make $3.5-4 million in arbitration next season. It has been a while since we took first grade math, but we think Wiggy’s contract is bigger.
In other words, on trade deadline, the Rays didn’t do anything. And bully for them for resisting the urge.
[For those not familiar (we had to look it up) "Bully for them" is an old western slang that means "Good for them". We envision Gary Shelton sitting in his one-room studio somewhere in Carrolwood typing on his computer wearing Billy the Kid underoos. And we are frightened.]
Actually, they did make three trades, demoted Shawn Bleepin’ Camp, and activated Josh Paul. We needed an abacus to figure out who was on the roster Tuesday night.
Is Gary Shelton saying that a team on their way to their second consecutive 100-loss season, should not try to improve the team? Apparently the Devil Rays are ready to contend with this roster.
If no deals could be made to make the team better then don’t make a deal. But we are fairly certain that not making a trade for the sake of “standing pat” is not exactly what Andrew Friedman had in mind yesterday.
