[ANDREW FRIEDMAN] Rays Had A Deal With Tim Lincecum In Place Prior To 2006 Draft
Andrew Friedman, Evan Longoria, Tim Lincecum February 11th. 2008, 2:38pmYesterday Andrew Friedman appeared on Blog Talk Radio on the show “Talking Baseball” with Carl the Cabbie and Dugout Joe. The audio can be found HERE. While the show is two hours long, Friedman’s segment is over at about the 35 minute mark after approximately 20 minutes of questions from the hosts and one question from a caller. The first 10 minutes of the show made us want to stick chopsticks in our ears. If you can fight past the random inexplicable laughter after such humorous comments such as “you must be on your cell phone” and “we are coming to the (Rays) tank!”, the Friedman segment begins at the 10:35 mark.
Most of the interview is standard company-line non-talk, but we did learn one intriguing piece of information. In the 2006 draft, Friedman’s first at the helm for the Rays, the Rays actually expected Evan Longoria to be drafted by the Rockies, and had arranged a pre-draft deal with Tim Lincecum.
We had Evan Longoria first on our board…We thought Longoria was going to go two to Colorado, and we had cut a deal with Tim Lincecum, to take three. Colorado didn’t take Longoria two. We found out at like 2:30 in the morning, the night before and we ended up taking Longoria, and we are ecstatic with how that turned out.
We apologize if this has ever been mentioned elsewhere, but this is the first time we have heard it. Don’t get us wrong. We love the Dirtbag, but what would the Rays rotation look like right now if it included Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and Tim Lincecum, with David Price, Wade Davis and Jake McGee waiting in the wings?
SWEET FANCY MOSES!
Baseball Talk featuring Andrew Friedman [Blog Talk Radio]
the interesting hypothetical to play with here is whether or not the Rays would take Lincecum if they could go back and do it all over.
I doubt that the Rays would trade Longoria for Lincecum now, but that is different than if Longoria had never been in the system.
Obviously it appears as though you can’t go wrong with either, but pitching is pitching.
If you could go back in time, I’d be willing to bet they would take Lincecum knowing what he would do in his first season and a half.
i know Lincecum’s track record, but i still think there are some legitimate longterm concerns about him. He is right handed and only 5-10.
I think the Rays are happy with their Longoria/Price combination.
i dont know which one was which, but those two guys are awful. one guy sounded like he was still laying in bed and talking with his face buried in a pillow.
if the rays had lincecum, would they still have pulled the trigger on Garza?
[...] One year ago on Rays Index we learned that the Rays had a deal in place with Tim Lincecum prior to the 2006 draft, but when Evan Longoria was still on the board at pick #3, the Rays took the Dirtbag. [...]
[...] Two years ago on Rays Index we learned that the Rays had a pre-draft deal in place with Tim Lincecum. The Rays backed out when Evan Longoria was still available at the third pick. [...]
Who knows how good Lincecum would be in the AL East far different ball game. Gotta love Longo.
was just going to say this. dh vs no dh
[...] (1)We’ll begin with the biggie. Reynolds, of course, was selected second overall by the Rockies in 2006. He was selected right after Luke Hochevar, and right before Evan Longoria. The Rockies’ selection of Reynolds was thought to be a reach, and it took the Rays by surprise. The Rays had another plan, assuming the Rockies would take Longoria. That plan? Andrew Friedman: [...]
Certainly interesting to reflect back on this almost 6 years later. As good as Lincecum is (granted, in the NL and in the west no less), pitching is certainly not our biggest issue. Imagine if we didn’t have Longo. We’d never hit anything or score any runs.
Hard to believe not getting a guy like Lincecum could actually have been a good thing.