Both Justin Ruggiano and Russ Canzler, players that were removed from the 40-man roster to make room for recent acquisitions, now find themselves out of the organization all together.
Ruggiano, who was designated for assignment after the signing of Carlos Pena, chose to become a free agent rather than accept an assignment to triple-A. Ruggiano hit four home runs for the Rays in 46 games last year. He was the final piece in the 2006 trade that sent Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickson to the Dodgers for Dioner Navarro and Jae Weong Seo.
In addition, Canzler, who was designated for assignment to make room for Jeff Keppinger, has been traded to the Cleveland Indians for cash. Canzler would have likely chosen to become a free agent anyway.
Off-Season (click image for random Wikipedia page)
In the latest, “Joe Maddon will sign an extension soon, we swear” story, Marc Topkin reports that the two sides are closing in on a three-year extension.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Carlos Pena turned down an $8 million offer from the Indians (he took a $7.25M deal with the Rays). [Cleveland.com]
JB Long interviewed Matt Joyce recently for Bay News 9. Admits he was not looking forward to playing first base, so he was happy the team signed Carlos Pena. [Video]
Rocco Baldelli is happy and comfortable with the way his career ended. [HeraldNews.com]
Here are some pics from a recent fundraising event Jeremy Hellickson attended at his high school. [Des Moines Register]
BRaysBall Talk looks at how to survive FanFest. [BRaysBall Talk]
Rays Colored Glasses takes a look at the history of professional baseball in the Bay Area prior to the Rays. [Part 1, Part 2]
Visit the Dolman Law Group blog to learn more about traumatic brain injuries, from mild to severe. It’s an excellent resource, one that is sure to make the typical football fan look at concussions differently.
Dolman Law Group has developed a statewide reputation for litigating traumatic brain injury claims and the webpage delivers good information on this ever evolving and fluid area of law and medicine.
Dolman Law Group is a Pinellas County and Manatee County personal injury law firm that routinely handles claims and litigates cases involving closed head injuries as a result of an automobile accident. Dolman Law Group actively litigates auto accident and motorcycle accident related cases in Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Sarasota County, Manatee County and Pasco County.
With the addition of Carlos Pena, the Rays 25-man roster is now nearly set, barring any trades. And really, we don’t see a lot of jobs up for grabs in spring training.
Let’s take a look…
A few notes on this projection…
Barring a trade, the 13 positions spots seem set to us. Can you make a case for Elliot Johnson? Or maybe you think Robinson Chirinos has a shot to beat out Jose Lobaton for the second catcher’s position? Seem like long shots to us.
The only question we see with the hitters is determining who will play shortstop. Our belief is that, unless there is a bat that is clearly superior on an everyday basis, Reid Brignac will be the shortstop versus righties. His wOBA was 100 points higher in 2010 than in 2011 and he will be given a shot to get back to that level. Against lefties, we see Jeff Keppinger at shortstop and Sean Rodriguez at second base. But you could easily flip-flop their positions.
We put question marks next to Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann because we feel the recent signings (Carlos Pena, Luke Scott) tell us the Rays are going for it in 2012. That means James Shields is not going anywhere and if somebody is moved to make room for Matt Moore it will be The Giraffe or Big Dub. The Rays could send Davis to the minors, but that seems unlikely.
Josh Lueke and Burke Badenhop have the best shots at crashing the bullpen party. But it might take a monster spring training to beat out Cesar Ramos or Jake McGee.
We have argued this before, but why are so few spring games aired? The obvious answer is that the ratings don’t justify the production cost.
But on games without the full crew, would it kill MLB.com to send one person to each game with a nice webcam and just point it at the field from the pressbox? Geez. We want the games. Give them to us!
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
The Orioles are in the mix for our old pal Edwin Jackson but are considered a long-shot. Also, it doesn’t sound like Johnny Damon will end up in Baltimore. [MLBTR]
BRaysball Talk takes a look at the Rays attendance woes and calls on fans to get to the park. [BRaysball Talk]
Jose Bautista’s random drug tests don’t appear to be very random at all. But the only way that can happen is if Major League Baseball has reasonable cause. Hmmmm. [BI Sports]
Mark Dominic discusses the process behind the Bucs hiring a new coach. [Joe Bucs Fan]
For a pretty steep price, you can now guarantee yourself the autograph of your favorite player at FanFest.
The Rays are calling it an “Exclusive Signing Opportunity.” And for $400, yes $400, fans can meet the player of their choice, without waiting in line, and have an object (that the fan provides) autographed. The Rays are only selling 15 of these per player, and it will come with access to the general autograph line.
The list of players available for $400 includes Evan Longoria, David Price, James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore, and Carlos Pena. There is also a second list of nine players that are available for $200.
The good news is that proceeds will go towards the Rays Baseball Foundation, so it is not just a money grab on the part of the Rays.
We are not sure if this particular issue is out yet, but it appears that Ben Zobrist is on the cover of the latest Eastbay magazine. Here is the cover. And below, you can see a video of Zorilla talking about being on the cover…
Matt Moore is the top prospect in baseball according to MLB.com. And overall, the Rays are well-represented on the first top prospects list of the year, with six players total.
Joining Moore on the list are Hak-Ju Lee (46), Chris Archer (74), Tim Beckham (92), Mike Mahtook (96) Taylor Guerrieri (99). Lee and Archer came over to the Rays organization via the Matt Garza deal. Tim Beckham was the number one overall pick of the 2008 draft. And Mahtook and Guerrieri were drafted by the Rays this past season.
While it is nice to see six players on the list, it also shows that with the promotions of Jeremy Hellickson (#2 in 2011) and Desmond Jennings (#11 in 2011), Moore is now the only big-time prospect in the system. Last year, the Rays had four players in the top 50. In addition to Hellboy and Jennings, Moore was #27, and Archer was #47.
Both Justin Ruggiano and Russ Canzler, players that were removed from the 40-man roster to make room for recent acquisitions, now find themselves out of the organization all together.
