Archive for January 7th, 2009

Jan 07

[ROCCO BALDELLI] Rocco Baldelli Close To Signing With Red Sox

Rocco Baldelli Cork Gaines 10 Comments »

Peter Gammons is reporting that the Red Sox are close to signing Rocco Baldelli, with an announcement expected Thursday night.

The Boston Red Sox were close to signing free-agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli on Wednesday night. It is expected to be announced at the Boston Baseball Writers Dinner, where Baldelli will be honored.

The Boston Baseball Writers Dinner is scheduled for Thursday evening. Baldelli will be in attendance to receive the Tony Conigliaro award.

Wow. Just wow. We knew this was certainly possible but man. It is very weird to think of Rocco wearing a Sox uniform. And that is going to be a sad day in April when he is in the lineup against the Rays.

Red Sox believe Baldelli can contribute [ESPN]
Baldelli appears set to find new home [The Heater]

Jan 07

[2009 TAMPA BAY RAYS] Projected 2009 Tampa Bay Rays 25-Man Roster

25-man Roster Cork Gaines 18 Comments »

Earlier today we projected the 40-man roster and payroll. Now let’s take a look at the 25-man roster and lineup.

25-Man Roster Projection and Lineup (notes and explanations on the projection can be found following the roster)…


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: The only remaining question mark is right field. The recent report that the Rays are interested in Gabe Kapler suggests that they are leaning towards a platoon with Gabe Gross to start the season. That leaves Matt Joyce in the minor leagues.
  • Bench: Willy Aybar and Ben Zobrist figure to see plenty of playing time at various positions and both could be part of the right field rotation. Shawn Riggans seems safe, as he looked solid with the bat. But he needs to show marked improvement behind the plate. Base stealers were 24-25 against Diesel, and the one caught stealing was on a pitch out. The final spot is wide open but figures to be a player that can bat right-handed and play right field. Gabe Kapler, Rocco Baldelli, Fernando Perez and Justin Ruggiano all fit the bill.
  • Rotation: The only question remaining is whether David Price is deemed ready in spring training. We have already made a case for King David starting the year in triple-A. If he does, the last spot will go to Jason Hammel, Mitch Talbot or Jeff Niemann, with Niemann having the edge.
  • Bullpen: Six spots now appear spoken for if and when Troy Percival is healthy. That leaves one spot for a long reliever. Jeff Niemann and Jason Hammel are out of minor league options, and one figures to be the long reliever. The other could start the season in the rotation or be traded. If David Price is in the rotation and Percival is on the DL, both could be used in the bullpen to start the season to give the rotation extra rest in the first month or two of the regular season. At this point, the Rays’ lefty-specialist appears to be right-hander Joe Nelson. Only the Rays.
  • As a Rule 5 draft pick, Derek Rodriguez must be on the major league roster or be offered back to his original team. We don’t see a spot for Rodriguez, but we think the Rays will work out a deal to keep Rodriguez in the organization. It would likely cost the Rays a low-level minor leaguer or cash.
Jan 07

[2009 TAMPA BAY RAYS] Projected 2009 Tampa Bay Rays 40-Man Roster And Payroll

40-man Roster Cork Gaines 4 Comments »

With the recent additions of Joe Nelson and Pat Burrell, let’s update the 2009 40-man roster projection. We will be back later today or tomorrow morning to look at the 25-man roster and lineup.

40-Man Roster Projection (notes and explanations on the projection can be found following the roster)…

Notes on the 40-man roster projection

  • Ages are as of today.
  • Shaded players are projected to be on the 40-man roster, but not on the 25-man roster
  • Italicized players are currently on the 40-man roster but are not projected to be on the roster in ’09.
  • There are currently 39 players on the 40-man roster. Jae Kuk Ryu is out of minor league options and we do not see a spot for him on the 25-man roster.
  • The Rays have 5 players that will be arbitration-eligible following this season. Salaries for those players are educated guestimations based on contracts of similar arbitration-eligibles in the past few years. Anybody you think we are way off on?
  • Troy Percival’s 2009 salary was bumped up by $445K due to escalators in his contract for appearing in 50 games and finishing 38.
  • The Rays appear to be stuck with Troy Percival and Chad Bradford. Their $7.95 million combined salaries stick out like a sore thumb.
  • As a Rule 5 draft pick, Derek Rodriguez must be on the major league roster or be offered back to his original team. We don’t see a spot for Rodriguez, but we think the Rays will work out a deal to keep Rodriguez in the organization. It would likely cost the Rays a low-level minor leaguer or cash.
  • The opening day payroll now projects to be $60.3 million, but we also need to include Rocco Baldelli’s buyout ($4 million). While not technically part of the payroll, it is a cost that cannot be ignored. That brings the projected payroll up to $64.3 million. This amount will certainly go up with free agent signings (DH) and any additional long-term contracts given to young players (Upton, Garza, Navarro).
  • $60 million is most likely at the high-end of where the Rays want their payroll to be and may even be above the threshold. If the Rays want to add another player (Gabe Kapler, Rocco Baldelli), they would most likely have to trade an existing contract. The Rays tried moving Chad Bradford but could not find any takers. Other possibles would be Carl Crawford and Gabe Gross.
  • A year ago, the Rays projected to have 7 million dollar players. That number has now more than doubled to 15.
Jan 07

[PHRAUDS] 2008 World Series Champs: Philadelphia Phillies*

JC Romero, Philadelphia Phrauds, World Series Cork Gaines 79 Comments »

[Update: MLB says they wanted to suspend Romero for the playoffs but instead allowed him to negotiate his way out of it. The claim is that the normal appeal process would have lasted longer than the postseason]

The Tampa Bay Rays won’t say it…Major League Baseball won’t say it…the mainstream media won’t say it…So we will. The Philadelphia Phillies cheated their way to the World Series title, and Major League Baseball let them.

JC Romero of the Philadelphia Phillies has been suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games for testing positive for a banned substance. And despite his pleas of innocence, Romero tested positive for a substance that comes in a bottle with a warning label indicating that it may be a banned substance. And despite testing positive twice, he was still allowed to pitch in four of the five World Series games.

Romero tested positive twice prior to the World Series
Romero first tested positive on August 26 with the Phillies nursing a half-game lead in the NL East. The results of that test came back positive on September 23. The results of a second test came back positive on October 12, just ten days prior to the start of the World Series.

Two positive tests and yet Major League Baseball refused to immediately suspend a player participating in the postseason. Romero was granted an arbitration hearing without having to file an appeal. The arbitration hearing was held during the first two games of the World Series.

Supplement had clear warning
Romero intentionally used a supplement (6-OXO Extreme) which has a label that reads “use of this product may be banned by some athletic or government associations (including military).” We can’t speak for Romero, but we are pretty sure the label wasn’t referring to the US Badminton Association. 

He tested positive twice. He was given an arbitration hearing. And he was still allowed to pitch in the World Series. A World Series in which he was the winning pitcher in two games. He appeared in four games, allowing no runs on just 2 hits and no walks. He struck out 4 in 4.2 innings.

Why was Romero not suspended after the first test? Why was he not suspended after the second test? Why did Major League Baseball allow an arbitration hearing without first suspending the player?

And if Romero is as innocent as he claims, why is he not appealing the suspension?

World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies*
Questionable substance on the brim of pitcher’s cap? Check.

Performance Enhancing Drug user? Check.

Would the Rays have won a fair World Series? We will never know. But we do know that Phillies fans love asterisks.

Phils’ Romero a casualty in baseball’s drug war [Philadelphia Inquirer]
J.C. Romero Rises Up For [Dumb] Puerto Ricans Everywhere [Deadspin]
Filthy Joe Blanton says that’s just filth on the brim of his hat [Big League Stew]
Phils or Phrauds? Y*u decide [Daily News]

Jan 07

[THE HANGOVER] Arbitration Deadline Looms For Five Rays

Dioner Navarro, Gabe Gross, Gabe Kapler, Grant Balfour, Jason Bartlett, Pat Burrell, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines No Comments »

The Rays have five players that are arbitration-eligible: Dioner Navarro, Jason Bartlett, Gabe Gross, Grant Balfour, Willy Aybar. The Rays will have until January 19 to reach an agreement with each of these players prior to filing arbitration numbers. The Rays have a strict “file-and-go” policy. Once arbitration numbers have been filed, they will no longer negotiate with a player.

The Rays have an excellent track record for getting these deals done prior to the deadline, so look for each of these players to have a new contract in the next two weeks.

Typically, players that avoid arbitration sign one-year deals. Of the above players, the Rays seem most likely to give long-term deals to Navarro and Balfour with Bartlett as a possibility.

Balfour already hinted that his participation in the World Baseball Classic could be contingent on the deal offered by the Rays.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • A very thorough biography for Patrick B. Burrell. His idol was George Brett.[JockBio]
  • Ken Rosenthal reports that the Rays have kicked the tires on Gabe Kapler as a potential right fielder. Kapler played 96 games for the Brewers last season hitting .301/.340/.498. The Rays interest in Kapler further suggests that Matt Joyce will begin the season in the minor leagues. In theory, Kapler would be used as part of a platoon with Gabe Gross in right field until Joyce is deemed ready to be the everyday guy. Kapler posted a 1.001 OPS against lefties in 87 plate appearances in 2008 and has an .828 career OPS versus lefties. [Fox Sports]
  • Buster Olney takes a look at how much the Rays lineup may improve in 2009 with the addition on Pat Burrell and healthy seasons from the returning position players. [ESPN]
  • The Rays Party of America takes the MLB Network and Harold Reynolds to task for their portrayal of the Rays’ success in 2008…Speaking of which, yesterday afternoon was a treat as the MLB Network broadcast game 2 of the World Series. You know, the good game. [The Rays Party of America]
  • The Rays announced a couple more signings of former major leaguers to minor league deals. This time it is a pair of pitchers. Randy Choate is a lefty who has spent parts of 8 seasons with the Yankees and D-Backs. Last year he spent the year at triple-A in the Brewers organization posting a 5.08 ERA with 31 Ks and 20 walks in 39 innings. Julio DePaula is a righty that appeared in 16 games for the Twins in 2007. Last year he was at triple-A and posted a 5.70 ERA with 65 Ks and 41 walks in 77.1 innings. [The Heater]