Mar 02
Andrew Friedman announced this morning that Rocco Baldelli has been hired by the Rays to serve as a “special assistant” and will work primarily with minor leaguers.
Baldelii will be a special assistant, working with young players. Said he is “not ready to retire” and has a shoulder issue, but has no set plans to return to field as a player…Baldelli, 28, will be a roving instructor concentrating on outfield and baserunning…“Obviously we’re thrilled to add Rocco and his experience and what he can bring to our young players,” Friedman said. “We think he’ll be a tremendous asset for us. And he looks better in blue.”
Baldelli added about the Rays organization: “I feel like this is my home.”
Baldelli has an undisclosed shoulder ailment that may require surgery. He could DH at some point this season and Friedman did not rule out the possibility of that happening with the Rays.
Friedman said the deal was not done with the idea of having Baldelli play for the Rays in 2010, but “anything’s possible.”
Rocco hit .253-7-23 in 62 games for the Red Sox this season. There was some speculation that the Yankees were interested in his services earlier this off-season.
Mar 02
Below you will see three polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. We will present these same polls every Tuesday (and randomly during the off-season). The results will be presented in graphical form on Thursday, and will be displayed permanently in the sidebar. The goal of the Confidence Graph is to get a feeling of how Rays fans feel about the team and the franchise and track how that level of confidence changes through time.
Mar 02
A couple of days ago, the Yankees designated relief pitcher Edwar Ramirez for assignment. This led to the following speculation from Dave Cameron (via Twitter)…
Be interesting to see which SABR friendly team makes a move for recently DFA’d Edwar Ramirez. I’m betting on Tampa Bay.
Ramirez is what some would call the classic four-A pitcher. He has a top-notch change-up and a fastball that can reach the low-90s. In the minors he posted a career 2.50 ERA, 12.0 K/9 and a 4.3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But in 98.1 innings, big leaguers have feasted on his fastball that lacks movement and he has a strong tendency to give up walks and longballs (2.45/9, 18.2%/FB in ’09). That’s a deadly combination.
So why would the Rays be interested? For one, some might think his tendency to give up home runs is unlucky. Only seven relievers in all of baseball had a worse rate in 2009 (min. 20ip).
But maybe more importantly, the Rays LOVE a relief pitcher that has at least one dominating pitch and the ability to work more than one inning. Ramirez has both. In addition to his change-up, Ramirez has averaged almost 5 outs per appearance the past three years in the minors.
Of course, the Rays may only offer a minor league deal and no promise of playing time. That could easily be trumped by another team. But if Ramirez clears waivers, expect to see the Rays in on the bidding.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Rob Neyer writes about Edwar Ramirez’ big league struggles. [ESPN]
- Tomorrow is the first game of the spring and Joe Maddon will play some of his regulars in the opener and hold some back for Thursdays game. Sean Rodriguez will be the shortstop in the opener. [The Heater]
- Roger Mooney writes about the adjustments Jason Bartlett will have to make this year with new double-play partners. [Tampa Tribune]
- Bill James ranked the Rays as having the best young talent. [The Heater]
- Dock of the Rays wonders what the Rays would have to do to land Adrian Gonzalez. [Dock of the Rays]
- Roger Mooney has 5 questions for Tim Beckham. [Tampa Tribune]
- Joe Smith writes about Jeff Niemann’s new-found confidence. [St. Pete Times]
- Roger Mooney has the results from the Rays charity golf outing Monday. [Rays Report]
