Welcome to the 2nd Annual Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool where members of the Rays blogosphere determine who is the best at predicting which members of the Rays organization will be traded this season (this contest is based loosely on the “Dead Pool“).
The Rules:
Each blogger submitted a list of 5 players they believe have the greatest chance to be traded this season. All players in the organization are eligible.
The bloggers ranked those 5 players, giving the highest rank (#1) to the player they think is most likely to be traded.
If one of the players they chose is traded prior to the end of the season, that blogger will receive points based on where the blogger ranked the player. If Carl Crawford is traded and a blogger has CC ranked first, they will receive 5 points. If they have CC ranked second, they will receive 4 points and so on.
The blogger with the most points at the end of the season wins.
We also want YOUR lists in the comments. Let’s see if you guys can beat the experts. And by “experts” we of course mean a bunch of people with too much free time on their hands.
First let’s sum up all the results and see who the group as a whole thinks is most likely to be traded. We summed up the ballots with an MVP-style ranking. A player received 5 points for each 1st place vote, 4 points for each second place vote and so on…
Three of the 10 bloggers picked Hank Blalock as the most likely player to be traded, and three picked Andy Sonnanstine. Twenty-three different players showed up on at least one list.
Now let’s look at each blogger’s ballot…
Notes on the rankings
The difficulty in these rankings is predicting whether the Rays will be “buyers” or “sellers” this season. If they are in the playoff hunt, they are more likely to trade prospects. If they fall off the pace they are more likely to try and move expensive veterans.
Hank Blalock and Andy Sonnanstine each appeared on the most lists (6).
10 different players appeared on more than one list.
Thanks to all who chose to participate including…
Tommy Rancel, Steve Slowinski and Ricky Zanker of DRays Bay
Fernando Perez and the Rays have finally dropped the switch-hitting experiment. And so far it is taking pretty well. Insert the usual “DANGER, DANGER, small sample size ahead” alert.
Still, it is nice to see he is off to a decent start. You gotta figure this is the adjustment period and that it will only get better.
Now if the Rays would just do the same with Dioner Navarro.
“Twelve Angry Mascots” is a “sports-comedy variety talk show” in NYC that we have had the pleasure of seeing a couple of time. And they are the geniuses behind this video discussing the struggles of big leaguers that make the league minimum, and starring the Rays very own Fernando Perez.
It’s official. ‘Nando Calrissian is now our favorite Rays and as soon as we are done typing this sentence we are ordering a #38 jersey.
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
It was an off-day for the Rays, but David Price still got his work in, throwing 60 pitches in a minor league game. He is expected to make his next start on Saturday. [St. Pete Times]
Rays Prospects is running a series this week in which each day several Rays bloggers will give their take on a particular question. First up is Wade Davis versus Jeremy Hellickson. [Rays Prospects]
Fernando Perez lost most of the 2009 season because he was “endorsing” a type of glove he has always hated. [Tampa Tribune]
The Rays want to feature local high school drum lines to be a part of their 2010 advertising campaign. Why? “…to create a unique connection across the Tampa Bay region.” Bands that want to be consider can apply at this link. [Rays Drum Line]
The Rays want to turn Friday nights into a “baseball nightclub.” Sounds fun, right? Fireworks and t-shirts! Yeah, not so much. [Tampa Tribune]
Joe Smith writes about Reid Brignac’s hot start in a quest for a big league job. [St. Pete Times]
The St. Pete City Council won’t have anything to with the ABC group, but the Pinellas County Commission will listen to what they have to say. [Tampa Tribune]
Guess who has a mohawk again? Yep, it is that “Crazy Bitch,” Jonny Gomes. [Bugs and Cranks]
Rays Revolutionary takes a closer look at what we have learned early on in spring training. [Rays Revolutionary]
Fernando Perez was recently on “MLB Home Plate” on Sirius/XM radio in which he discussed “Jersey Shore,” proper baseball pluralization and his childhood nickname.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jonny Gomes wants to reunite with Lou Piniella and hopes it will feel sooo good. [Sports Untapped]
Safe to say that Bert Blyleven’s knowledge of the Rays is limited to circling Twins fans at The Trop, but that didn’t stop him from chiming in. [Rise of the Rays]
Hal Bodley writes about why Don Zimmer is good for baseball. [MLB]
The Rays signed catcher Alvin Colina who was in triple-A for the Braves last year. The Rays will need extra catchers the first few weeks of spring training and Colina is the right type of guy.
The Rays #1 pick from the 1997 draft, Jason Standridge has signed with the Phillies. He last appeared in the majors with the Royals in 2007.
Ortiz didn’t file for free agency after a 2002 season in which he slugged .500 for the Twins in 125 games, because he wasn’t eligible for free agency yet. The Twins didn’t like the idea of going through arbitration with him and instead released him a few days before the non-tender deadline. The Red Sox happened to have an opening at DH and an affinity for guys like Ortiz who hit for power and controlled the zone, so they gave him an almost riskless contract for just one year; if his knee acted up again as it did in 2002, or he didn’t perform up to expectations, he was barely making a dent in their budget and was playing a position that’s relatively easy to fill, but if he performed, the Red Sox controlled his rights into 2004. Ortiz hit .288/.369/.592 with his new club, as the Red Sox gave him playing time and encouraged him to swing away instead of focusing on contact, and he topped those slash stats in each of the following four years as the Red Sox won two World Series with his help.
It is hard to disagree if you look at Big Papi’s entire tenure with the Red Sox. But for that one season, Ortiz was only worth 3.4 wins. Compare that to Carlos Pena who was worth 6.1 wins in 2007. That year the Rays paid Pena $800K.
But as Law pointed out, it was essentially a two-year deal as Ortiz would not hit six years of service time until after the 2004 season. The Red Sox paid Ortiz $4.59 million in 2004 and he was worth 4.7 wins. For about $5.8 million the Red Sox got 8.1 wins and a key contributor to the 2004 World Series. For $800K, the Rays got 6.1 wins.
Based just on those initial contracts, we still give the edge to the Red Sox and Ortiz. But it’s close.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
BJ (née Melvin) Upton is now on Twitter. [TheRealBJUpton]
This is just speculation on his part, but Phil Rogers thinks Fernando Perez could be an option for the Cubs…Even though there is not a need for Perez at the big league level, it would still require a legit prospect to pry him from the Rays. The reason is, Perez still has at least two minor league options and gives the Rays depth and insurance at almost no cost. If needed, they know he can contribute. So unless the Cubs are going to give a very good low-minors prospect or a young, cheap arm that can contribute in the bullpen this season, there is little reason for the Rays to trade Perez. [Chicago Tribune]
Buster Olney looks at what money some teams have left to spend in free agency and speculates that the Red Sox and Yankees may have already reached their payroll limits or are very close. That could mean that neither team will make any additional significant additions prior to the season such as Jason Bay. [ESPN]
One name you can scratch off the Rays free agent shopping list is Kelvim Escobar, who signed with the Mets. [Newark Star-Ledger]
Reid Brignac is playing winter ball in Mexico working on his defense at second base and his pitch selection at the plate. [St. Pete Times]
Jayson Stark ranked Pat Burrell as the 8th Least Valuable Player of the decade. [ESPN]
Bill Chastain did a Q&A with Dan Wheeler about Christmas. [MLB]
David Price spoke to 150 kids at a recent baseball camp and said he was more nervous than he has ever been on a baseball mound. [Cullman Times]
Joe Maddon recently spoke with the baseball team at Lafayette College where he played baseball and Football in the mid-70s. [Lafayette]
The next important dates for the Rays are December 10 and 12.
December 10 is the Rule 5 draft. Aneury Rodriguez is a candidate to be selected off the Rays roster by another team.
December 12 is the deadline to tender contracts to all players with less than six years of service time, including those that are arbitration eligible. Two of these players, Gabe Gross and Dioner Navarro are candidates to be non-tendered.
So don’t be surprised if the next Rays to be traded are Gross and Navi. The Rays won’t receive much in return (a mid-level prospect?), but it is better than just letting them walk as free agents.
Either way, we have probably seen the last of the Gabe-of-the-Day and The Fat Catcher eras.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
From Marc Topkin: “Executive VP Andrew Friedman said there’s no thought right now about trading All-Star LF Carl Crawford and the that the mutual goal remains a long-term deal.”…well, that was carefully worded. The right offer comes along and the Rays will start thinking about it real quick. [The Heater]
In the same piece, Marc Topkin reports that Fernando Perez is “a little behind” in his rehab from shoulder surgery but should be ready for opening day. [The Heater]
Around the Majors takes an in-depth look at what the Kelly Shoppach trade means for the Rays, Gregg Zaun and Dioner Navarro. [Around the Majors]
The Hardball Times has a list of several teams that could be interested in Dioner Navarro. [The Hardball Times]
Would the Mets be interested in Dioner Navarro? [Mets Today]
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: Not In Contention. Why is that good? Have you seen the ACL lineup this year? We’re going to be busy this weekend…Oriole Killer. Ben Zobrist hit his 27th home run last night. It was his 7th against the Orioles.
THE BAD: Oh Crap. We have been unable to confirm, but we are being told that Jeremy Hellickson is a Scott Boras client. Does anybody know if this is true? If so, and Hellboy turns out to be the real deal, it will be 6 and out…Dioner Navarro. A bad season just keeps getting worse. 0-2 last night and now 6 for his last 42 (.143).
THE TELLING: Carl Crawford was given a night off to rest for the upcoming off-season (he did pinch hit in the 8th)…The Rays have now scored 783 runs, a franchise record…
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ben Zobrist
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Fernando Perez speaks about the struggles he has faced since returning from the DL. [Tampa Tribune]
Driveline Mechanics evaluates exactly how good Ben Zobrist is and will be moving forward. [Driveline Mechanics]
The Rays and the Pirates teamed up to renovate a ballpark in Bradenton. [MLB]
One year after pitching in the playoffs despite a positive PED test, JC Romero might miss the playoffs this year. Why? We are guessing they ran out of ‘roids at the cheater store. [New York Times]
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: Death by Singles. The Rays scored 7 runs in the 8th and 9th on 6 singles, 3 walks, a hit by pitch and scored the go ahead run on a Fernando Perez safety squeeze. Again, why teams don’t have all of their infielders 10 feet from home plate when Perez is batting left-handed is beyond us, but we’ll take it…The New Bucs. Or is it The Old Devil Rays? Either way, the Rays are still not the worst team in the Bay Area.
THE BAD: David Price. 94 pitches in 5 innings. Only 58 for strikes. Not his best day… Randy Choate. After scoring 3 in the top of the 8th to pull within 2, Choate can’t give up a home run in the bottom of the 8th. Just can’t happen. That is the sort of the thing that will usually kill a team’s hope. And to think he got the Win for that effort is sad…Improbable And Rare. The Rays rallied from down 3 in the 9th for the win. How many times did they do something similar in ’08? Once a week? Once every 2 weeks? This year, we can probably count them on one hand that is missing a couple of fingers…That’s Gross. As Gabe Gross goes, so go the Rays? Gross went 0-3 and is now 3-31 (.097) in September.
THE TELLING: With 7 games remaining, the Rays need only finish 3-4 for a winning record…The loss by the Rangers moved the Red Sox one win or one Rangers loss away from clinching at least a tie for the AL Wild Card…Next up for the Rays is Baltimore, who just lost their 10th consecutive game. Who was the last team to lose to the Orioles? If you answered the Rays, you win!
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ben Zobrist.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
David Price had Right Guard caked on his forearm? Not sure we can blame the umpires for making him wipe it off. It’s been a while since we had anatomy, but the forearm is not exactly a hotbed for sweat glands. [Tampa Tribune]
JP Howell has been shut down for the season. [St. Pete Times]
Marc Topkin looks at which options the team might not pick up this off-season, who might be non-tendered and who could be traded. [St. Pete Times]
Marc Lancaster looks at some moves the Rays could make this off-season, noting that the bullpen is the top priority. He also suggests that the Rays could choose to keep Gregg Zaun and non-tender (essentially release) Dioner Navarro. [Tampa Tribune]
Bruce Levine says the Rays are “very interested” in trading for Milton Bradley and suggests Pat Burrell could be part of the deal. [ESPN]
Ken Rosenthal says the Rays will likely look to see what they can get for BJ Upton this winter, but says they will only move him if it is a good deal…Also, Rosenthal feels the Rays will be one of the clubs interested in trading for Milton Bradley. [MLB Trade Rumors]
Jayson Stark spoke with a scout that is very high on Wade Davis (scroll to the bottom). [ESPN]
The Hardball Times compares Ben Zobrist and Chase Utley. [The Hardball Times]
Joe Maddon does not think there will be any changes to the coaching staff for next season, but will meet with each of his coaches next week. [MLB]
The Rays Party picked up on a change David Price made to his approach on the mound. [The Rays Party]
Baseball America tabbed Wilking Rodriguez as the 3rd best prospect in the short-season Appalachian League. [Baseball America]
Baseball Prospectus caught up with Fernando Perez and Gabe Kapler for an interview. Or did Perez interviewed Kapler? Or Kapler interviewed Perez. Or! Perez and Kapler interviewed Perez and Kapler! Our head just exploded. [Baseball Prospectus]
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The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
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