[2009 TAMPA BAY RAYS] Projected 2009 Tampa Bay Rays 25-Man Roster
25-man Roster November 5th. 2008, 3:11pm25-Man Roster Projection (notes and explanations on the projection can be found following the roster). You can find the 40-man roster and payroll projection HERE…
Notes on the 25-man roster projection
- Projection is based only on players currently in the organization. The projection will be updated when players are acquired via free agency or trades.
- Lineup: Unless a player is traded (Carl Crawford?) the only spots up for grabs are right field and DH. Right now, we suspect that there would be a rotation that involves Fernando Perez and Gabe Gross with Willy Aybar and Ben Zobrist seeing time in one or both spots. More likely, one or both spots will be filled through free agency and/or trades. If Crawford is traded, Rays save almost $8 million and Perez would then be the left fielder.
- Bench: Unless Willy Aybar is traded, he and and Shawn Riggans appear to be locks. Ben Zobrist is pretty close to being a lock as the backup middle infielder. Jonny Gomes is far from secure. The Rays used their final minor league option on Gomes in ’08. This spot seems destined to belong to Rocco Baldelli. If the Rays can’t find a trade partner for Gomes, they will likely decline to offer arbitration.
- Rotation: Here is where it starts to get messy. The top 3 are locks. The 4th spot belongs to David Price but it might not happen right out of the gate. We give Andy Sonnanstine the nod over Edwin Jackson for the 5th spot, but we would not be surprised if it goes the other way. It could also be Sonny and Jackson with Price in the minors for a couple of weeks. Can anybody make an argument for Jeff Niemann?
- Bullpen: Four of the spots are locks. A fifth, Troy Percival, is a lock if he does not retire. That leaves two openings. One will go to a long reliever. Edwin Jackson, Jeff Niemann and Jason Hammel are all out of minor league options, and one figures to be the long reliever. The other spot will most likely go to a lefty specialist acquired either through free agency or via trade. At least one trade has to be made this off-season. There are just not enough chairs for when the music stops. Can you argue for Hammel on the roster? Should the Rays keep Sonny and trade Jackson and Niemann and keep Hammel in the ‘pen? Or should the Rays trade Sonnanstine, whose value may never be higher? There are several possibilities here, and a Percival retirement only makes this mess even more muddied.
i really wonder who has more value to other GMs, Sonnanstine or Jackson? I am willing to bet that if you polled 30 GMs youl get close to an even split depending on who values results and who values upside.
Trading CC makes a lot of sense now, given the Rays’ poor financial situation that is being reported this offseason. It’s starting to sound like they’re going to need every bit of that 8.2 mil. Same for Kaz, but I bet that’s more likely to occur next year (2010).
Also….any speculation on who the PTBNL for Bradford might be?
good question. not sure why we haven’t heard of that one yet. usually a team is given a list of players they can choose from and have a certain amount of time to scout the list. but there is no scouting going on unless the Rays are scouting the AFL (possible). sometimes teams don’t like any of the players and they accept a predetermined amount of cash instead. if that happened, it might have flown under the radar.
for the love of god will somebody PLEASE PLEASE teach grant strike3 a changeup
james shields…im talking to you
I don’t think that there’s a spot for Hammel on the roster next year… I feel that Sonny is a better option than Nuke… I’m all for a Crawford trade that lands Perez in LF… Gomes is gone regardless… I’ll be disappointed if Aybar gets traded considering that he proved he can play great D and swings a nice bat too.
I think a Kaz trade might be sharp now, considering what we might get for him.
Jackson has a higher ceiling than Sonny, hence Nuke probably is perceived as the better arm. If Aybar is overvalued, I bet he will be dealt. Give credit to the Rays wheelers and dealers – they are willing pull the trigger, however GMs may be reluctant given how well the Garza/Bartlett for..what was his name again???.. went well for the Twinkies.
I agree with the Prof, CC would be good to keep, but a grass field is still too many years away. His value dropped like a rock this past year. If CC starts hot – he may be dealt, but I bet there aren’t many call backs for him at 8 million per year.
I hope Maddon keeps the bullpen by committee – this would pretty much assure use that Percy will quit. Unless there is something we don’t know, if I were a player on the Rays, I would be a bit miffed at Percy for his lack of presence during the playoffs.