Nov 14
The 2008 40-man roster prediction is based only players currently within the organization and will be updated when trades are consummated and free agents are signed.
On November 20th, all teams have to set their 40-man roster. At that time any player that has 4 years of experience (5 years if signed at 18 or under) must be protected on the 40-man roster or be made available for the upcoming rule 5 draft. Of the players not to be protected on the 40-man roster, they may still be added to the Durham Bulls roster in order to be protected from the AAA version of the rule 5 draft.
First, second and third year players will have their salaries determined by the team, but will fall close to the major league minimum which is 390,000 for first year players. Minor leaguers on the 40-man for the first time make $31,250 and second-year players make twice that amount. In addition, six players are arbitration eligible. The 2008 salaries for these players are estimates. We are not including signing bonuses or incentives. For example, Evan Longoria signed a standard minor league contract, but was given a $3 million signing bonus.
A FEW NOTES ON THE 40-MAN ROSTER…
- The Rays 40-man roster currently has 37 players. Three players that are currently on the 60-day DL (Rocco Baldelli, Shawn Riggans, Ben Zobrist) will need to be added to the roster by November 20, giving the Rays 40 players.
- The Devil Rays have eight players that would be eligible for the rule 5 draft. At this point, we are predicting that three of these players will be added to the 40-man roster. This includes third baseman Evan Longoria, catcher John Jaso and relief pitcher Dale Thayer.
- To make room for these players, the Rays will need to remove three players from the roster. The team has a 2008 option on Greg Norton that they are not expected to exercise. In addition, at this point we are predicting the Rays to designate for assignment Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour. Balfour seems like an easy choice as he is arbitration eligible. Dohmann still has one year left until he is available for arbitration and the Rays may choose to keep him. The only other arbitration eligible player that could be subjected to release would be Gary Glover, but his major league experience gives him the edge.
- This leaves 6 players that will be made available in the Rule 5 draft
- Jason Pridie: Could be a tough decision after a trong showing at AAA in 2007. A former rule 5 selection by the Twins.
- Fernando Perez: No experience above AA. Can’t see anybody taking a chance on the speedster in the draft. Will be added to Durham roster to protect from AAA version of draft.
- Greg Dupas: Will not be protected
- Nick DeBarr: Rule 5 pick by Red Sox in 2007. Has yet to show dominance in minor leagues. Not likely to be protected
- Chuck Tiffany: Injured in 2007. Will not be protected.
- Chris Nowak: No experience above AA. Similar to Wes Bankston in that he is a big first baseman that has yet to develop power that has been predicted. Likely added to Durham roster to protect from AAA version of draft.
- Based on the current roster, the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays will include only 1 player (Al Reyes) with at least 6 years of major league experience.
- On opening day, the Rays 40-man roster will feature only three players that will be 30 years old or older (Reyes, Glover, Wheeler).
Nov 14
Just when you thought the Elijah Dukes story had run its course and was finally under the radar…Along comes the 2007 Sportshuman of the Year (SHOTY) Tournament. For the second consecutive year, Deadspin is holding a tournament-style bracket featuring 16 of the most entertaining sports personalities of 2007. In an ironic twist, Barbaro was named the 2006 Sportshuman of the Year.
OK, folks … it’s time for the voting to begin. Let’s all give big-up to the genius that is Jim Cooke for his official SHOTY graphic. The 2007 SHOTY voting will run every Tuesday and Thursday until, well, 2008 probably. We love Kige there.
Voting will remain open until the end of the first round … so let’s get started. It’s No. 4 seed Elijah Dukes vs. No. 13 Jeff Reed. A look at the nominees:
Elijah Dukes garners a #4 seed based on such accomplishments as threatening his wife and kids with a picture of a gun, impregnating LOTS of women, including a foster child, and was accused in court of using drugs and steroids.
Jeff Reed, on the other hand, is the #13 seed because he…ummm…he likes to…well…how do we put this gently?…He likes to take “pictures” of himself.
Dukes is heavily favored because nobody wants to see naked pictures of kickers. Quarterbacks? That’s a different story.
In April we envisioned Mr. Dukes making a run at Rookie of the Year. By the end of May we wondered if he would ever play for the Rays again. In November we get a chance to honor the 2007 accomplishments of the Mischievous Little Badger.
So let’s Rock the Vote! And show Elijah how much we love him.
SHOTY First Round: Elijah Dukes Vs. Jeff Reed [Deadspin]
Your 2006 SHOTY Winner: Barbaro [Deadspin]
An Open Letter To Elijah Dukes [Rays Index]
Another Open Letter To Elijah Dukes [Rays Index]
Nov 14
Al Reyes, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Chris Mason, Dale Thayer, Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes, Evan Longoria, Fred McGriff, Greg Norton, John Jaso, New Stadium, Rocco Baldelli Cork Gaines
Team USA 4, South Africa 2.
Evan Longoria went 1-4 with a triple and Justin Ruggiano went 0-4 as Team USA moved to 5-1 and clinched a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. They have one final game in the preliminary round versus Taipei with the quarterfinals set to played on Friday with the opponent yet to be determined. Longoria was the team’s DH while Andy LaRoche played third base.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Baseball Musings took a look at the “Probabilistic Model of Range” for centerfielders in 2007 and the Devil Rays centerfielders finished next to last, ahead of only the Brewers. The number must be taken with a grain of salt. When we look at Range Factor, BJ Upton was above the league average of 2.71 with a 2.91. On the other hand, Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young, who had the next two most innings played in center field were both well below the league average with a 2.30, which likely brought the Rays overall Range value down. Rocco Baldelli only played 20 games in center, but came in with a 3.61 range factor. [Baseball Musings]
- Four of the 12 players named to the Topps Double-A All-Star team are Devil Rays farmhands. The list includes Evan Longoria, John Jaso, Chris Mason and Dale Thayer. [The Raw Feed]
- More hardware for Carlos Pena. This time it is the fictional 2007 Andre Dawson Award, presented to the best player on a last place team. No word on what exactly the trophy looks like, but we are guessing it is a hawk with bad knees. Pena is the second Devil Ray to win the award. Fred McGriff won the award in 1999. [Home Run Derby]
- The Cubs are trying to put together a package to land Carl Crawford. No word on whether or not discussions have already occurred. [Herald-News]
- According to team officials, there are no deals being worked on that involve Carl Crawford. The denial is interesting and possibly unnecessary as we haven’t actually heard any rumors involving CC. All we have seen and read is that other teams are targeting CC. But who wouldn’t want CC on their team? [Bradenton Herald]
- Al Reyes and Greg Norton both filed for free agency. The Rays still have until tomorrow to pick up options on both players. Reyes’ option will be picked up. Norton is likely to be granted free agency. [TBO]
- The Rays are one of 10 teams interested in signing Troy Percival. While Marc Lancaster sites Percival’s close relationship with Joe Maddon as a reason the Rays may have an edge, it didn’t seem to help last year when he ultimately signed with the Cardinals, so we are not sure why it would help this time around, except to add another team to the bidding process and ultimately raise the price. [TBO]
- In the end, we were a little high with the target dollar amount, but as we predicted, the Yankees went to four years on their contract offer to Jorge Posada and the catcher decided to not even test the free agent waters. The Yankees re-signed Posada for 4 years and $52.4 million. The Yankees will have to pay the devil on the back end of the deal, but that is the advantage they have. They will be able to swallow that cost when Posada is a 40-year old part-time DH. The Rays are in no financial position to assume such a cost. [TBO]
- Redeveloping Tropicana Field and the land on which it rests is key to the Rays moving to the St. Pete Waterfront in 2012. According to Aaron Sharockman this will not be a problem as land developers are already drooling over the prospect of building a residential and office space development on the 70 acre lot that is close to the interstate. [St. Pete Times]
Transforming the Tropicana site is “the kind of thing you dream about,” said Craig Sher, the chief executive of the Sembler Co., which developed BayWalk in St. Petersburg and Centro Ybor in Tampa.
“There’s a real potential to build a really neat mixed-use project, residential and office,” Sher said. “There’s just not a lot of land left in St. Pete. Any time you get a critical mass of land, you can get something spectacular. Hopefully, we’d be on somebody’s list of people to call.”
- Now that the Devil Rays have changed their name to “Rays”, has the team automatically eliminated itself as a potential destination for a small segment of players? Would Ray Durham have ever signed with the Tampa Bay Rays? Not likely. [Home Run Derby]
