Dec 13
Andrew Friedman and Co. are neck deep in their sixth hot stove season. We know the Rays are great at making trades. And we have a sense that they are pretty good at drafting. But how good are they at free agency?
The Rays are well-known for picking up hidden gems like Carlos Pena and Joaquin Benoit. But they have also missed terribly with guys like Pat Burrell and Troy Percival.
So let’s see if we can quantify how World B. Friedman has fared with his free agent picks.
We already saw last week, that in 2010, the Rays only received $7.1 million in production from their free agents, despite paying those players $23.8 million in salary. This was the second-straight year the Rays overpaid their free agents.
After the jump, let’s look at the totals for 2006-2010 by breaking it by every free agent signed by Friedman that spent time on the Rays active roster (plus Shinji Mori). The “Value” for each player is measured as the difference between how well they played and how much the Rays paid that player.
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Mar 09
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: Clutch Hitting. Fernando Perez drove in the winning run with a single in the 10th. It was the Rays 3rd walk-off win and 4th win in their final at bat. Joe Maddon said he wanted better at bats late in games. Of course if any of the guys that are coming through in the clutch now are on the roster in April, the Rays are screwed…Matt Garza. Garza worked 3 strong innings, striking out 5 and walking none…Alex Torres. Torres made his second appearance a good one pitching 2 scoreless innings of relief, striking out 1 and walking 1…Speed. As in the Rays were just showin’ off yesterday when they started an outfield that included Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Desmond Jennings.
THE BAD: Pat Burrell. The Bat has a big hole in it so far. Another 0-2 and he is now 1-10 on the spring. So much for coming to spring training in better shape and more determined. It hasn’t translated to the field yet…
THE TELLING: Carlos Pena was given the day off with Chris Richard getting the start at first base…Rafael Soriano will make his first appearance next week.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays signed Hank Blalock to a minor league deal. He will make $925K plus he can earn $350K in bonuses based on the number of plate appearances he receives…No word on whether there is an opt-out clause for Blalock [Update: He can opt-out on April 1. See comments]. [The Heater]
- There are 14 former #1 overall picks in camp this spring. Four of them are in Rays camp (2 others were drafted by the Rays and play for other teams now). Only two other teams (Twins and Royals) have more than one. [Jayson Stark Blog]
- Hal Bodley looks at some recent comments by Stuart Sternberg on the Rays payroll as the biggest problem with competitive balance in baseball. That is, small-market teams can win, but it is difficult for them to sustain that success. [MLB]
- Tampa Bay Rays Fan makes a case for Dioner Navarro being the starting catcher. [TBRF]
- Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News interviewed Grant Balfour. [Daily News]
- The Biz of Baseball names the Rays as having “The Best Series of Promos” in 2010 including the promo of the year, the Carlos Pena toothbrush holder (including picture). [The Biz of Baseball]
- Around the Majors lists Carlos Pena as one of the first basemen most likely to be traded during the season. [Around the Majors]
- Noah Pransky suggests that the only way the Rays could move to Hillsborough is if they moves to a new stadium on the Seminole Indian property near the Hard Rock Casino…Of course the biggest problem is one Pransky lists: “Major League Baseball would have to sign off on the deal.” And they won’t. MLB won’t let a team move to Las Vegas because it would be near casinos. There is even less chance they will let a team be closely associated with a casino. [Shadow of the Stadium]
- Ben Zobrist talks about how this spring training differs from last year. [Bradenton Herald]
- Joe Smith writes about the non-roster invitees in camp trying to find their way back to the majors. [St. Pete Times]
- Tony Fabrizio has 5 questions for Kelly Shoppach. [Tampa Tribune]
- Fire Brand of the American League wonders if the Rays pitching is overrated calling James Shields “a good start”, saying Matt Garza is a benefactor of great defense, Jeff Niemann “has plenty of questions about his skills,” Wade Davis “struggles to control his pitches and walks to [sic] many hitters,” and David Price “could be back to the pen or even the minors”…We know, that last one made us giggle also. [Fire Brand of the American League]
- Kelsie Smith of the Twin Cities Pioneer-Press writes that Delmon Young might have finally grown up. *Golf Clap*[Pioneer-Press]
- Troy Percival is back to coaching, and this time it might be for good. [LA Times]
Feb 25
Joe Maddon spoke about what he expects from BJ Upton…
When you’re coming in injured or off of surgery, you have all those questions in the back of your mind. You have to break all those mental adhesions to get yourself going again. It was a tough year for him last year—he didn’t really have a spring training and really had to get himself in shape during the major league campaign. So now he’s coming off a full offseason with good health, and he’s had a chance to work with Shelty [hitting coach Derek Shelton] for a couple months now. I know he’s coming in here with a different feeling and attitude. I think he looks really good—he looks a little bit stronger, bigger. And I know he’s going to really get it going. The meeting we had was very informative and good.
We know it is unusual for JoeMa to sing one of his players praises. Wait. Reverse that. Still…oh mama.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays released part of their Summer Concert Series which is a who’s who of AARP acts. [St. Pete Times]
- Willy Aybar came to camp and reported that the wrist injury he suffered during winter ball was completely healed. Well, he didn’t even last one workout as he has been shelved for a week after he felt pain when hitting. [The Heater]
- Joe Maddon on Rafael Soriano: “Just think of him as Troy Percival…He resembles Percy in his game planning and how he wants to get ready for the season”…Oh, great. [Tampa Tribune]
- David Brown writes about what Matt Joyce did this off-season to make the team. [Big League Stew]
- The Good: Carlos Pena calls Tampa Bay “the best place on Earth to play baseball.” The Bad: Pena says he knows it won’t last forever. [Tampa Tribune]
- Gerry Hunsicker says it would take “extraordinary measures” for Desmond Jennings to make the jump to the big leagues this season. He also stated that it would be difficult for the Rays to keep Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. While it is a bit surprising that Jennings has little shot at a promotion, even in September, the second part is akin to saying women are attracted to Evan Longoria. [MLB Trade Rumors]
- Big League Stew previews the Rays. [Big League Stew]
- What is more strange about this story? Evan Longoria eating by himself at a bar, or Joe Maddon happening to walk into the same restaurant by himself and deciding to join Dirtbag for dinner? [St. Pete Times]
- Rise of the Rays makes a case for trading Carl Crawford before the season starts. [Rise of the Rays]
- Matt Silverman spoke on several topics including the recent developments in the search for a new Rays stadium. Silverman says he is “encouraged that the regional dialogue is taking place.” He must have missed the part where St. Pete threatened to sue anybody that even thinks about building a new stadium in Tampa. [The Heater]
- Meanwhile, if Tampa wants to keep hosting Super Bowls, the city will need a new football stadium in the near-future. [Joe Bucs Fan]
- The developer that wants to put a new Rays stadium in the Channelside area of Tampa originally wanted to put the new stadium in the Tampa Heights area. [Tampa Tribune]
- Ben Zobrist’s position this season will be decided during spring training and will likely depend on what other players do. But if you are keeping score at home, Zorilla worked out with the infielders on the first day. [Rays Plays]
- Does Ben Zobrist have the best nickname in baseball? One writer thinks so. [Tauntr]
- Not sure why, but there is something creepy about this post and what may or may not be a young fan’s crush on Evan Longoria. [Big League Stew]
- Bill Chastain writes about what may be Elliot Johnson’s last shot to make the Rays roster. [MLB]
- Roger Mooney has 5 questions for Dan Wheeler. [Rays Report]
- Derek Jeter calls Tampa “home.” [Tampa Tribune]
Nov 16
One website is reporting that Evan Longoria may be on the cover of “MLB2K10.” Supposedly, the images at right were included in a survey asking people which cover they preferred. (thanks Joel).
There is one small problem. The top image is stolen from Dirtbag’s ESPN the Magazine cover which you can see here.
Now maybe Longoria will be on the cover, but we doubt these are the images that will be used.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- A couple of bigger names from the minor league system have been granted free agency including Winston Abreu. [Rays Prospects]
- John Romano addresses the idea of trading Pat Burrell for Milton Bradley with one of those moving picture things. [The Point After]
- The Rays Party looks at BJ Upton’s struggles against lefties. [The Rays Party]
- NY Baseball Digest responded to our post from Saturday in which we questioned the accuracy of one of their reports. The response was both laughable and sad (the best part is about how the readers didn’t “properly decimate the information”). Dock of the Rays couldn’t let that slide without a response of their own. [Dock of the Rays]
- An author recounts the time he beat Troy Percival in racquetball. What the author doesn’t realize is that he could probably beat Percival at baseball also. [The Sports Info Business]
Aug 13
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: Carlos Pena. El Gato is officially on fire with 2 more home runs yesterday. But is it too little, too late?…Pat Burrell. The Bat hit another home run and continues to quietly put together a very Burrellian second-half.
THE BAD: The Bullpen. Maybe the one area of the club that kept this team afloat for much of the season, so it is only fitting that it is the bullpen that is starting to come undone as the season goes down the drain. Four relievers combined to give up 6 runs in 2.2 innings.
THE TELLING: After complaining earlier in the week about being dropped to 9th in the batting order, BJ Upton was dropped even further yesterday, all the way to Joe Dillon’s recently vacated spot at the end of the bench…Coolstandings.com now says the Rays have an 18.0% chance at making the playoffs. Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus says the number is 24.3%. That number was 46.1 a week ago. That is the baseball version of “having a bad week.” The Rays are now 4.5 behind the Red Sox, and 5 back in the loss column. But it is worse than that. The Rays aren’t chasing just one team. They would also have to leapfrog Texas is 3 in front of the Rays. If the Red Sox go 24-25 over last 49 games the Rays would need to finish 28-20 just to tie.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Pena
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays have invested in the Orlando franchise of the new United Football League and will host a regular season game at the Trop. [St. Pete Times]
- The Rays investment in the UFL team in terms of dollars is not that much…Keep in mind that the UFL needed the Rays much more than the Rays needed the UFL. It was in the UFL’s interest to give the Rays a sweet deal. [St. Pete Times]
- UFL Access weighs in on exactly what the the Rays stake in the Orlando football franchise means for the UFL. [UFL Access]
- He is still officially a Ray, so we will let you know that the $100,000 truck that Troy Percival had stolen earlier this year was returned, sorta. Many of the parts have been sold off and are still missing. If only Percy had such a good excuse for the past 12 months. [NBC LA]
- Rays the Stakes takes Tom Verducci of SI.com to task for a strange article he wrote. [Rays the Stakes]
- Joe Maddon gave BJ Upton the day off because he had been “pressing way too hard.”…Also John Meloan and RJ Swindle, two pitchers that were briefly property of the Rays, have been claimed off waivers. [Tampa Tribune]
- Michel Hernandez cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Durham. [The Heater]
Aug 12
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: David Price Early. Price did not allow a baserunner until he hit a batter in the 4th. He did not allow a hit until a leadoff single in the 5th. Price consistently hit 96-97 on the radar gun, something we don’t recall seeing in a couple of months. And no walks raises his innings streak to 13 consecutive without a walk.
THE BAD: David Price Late. Once the no-hitter was gone, it all came apart. 3 runs and 4 hits in the 5th and 3 more runs and 4 more hits in the 6th…Anemic Offense. Was the perfect game a fluke? Does this team just take days off? Or are they exposed when they face a good pitcher?
THE TELLING: The Rays were the second-highest scoring team in baseball in the first-half. Since the all-star break they are 14th, down more than half a run a game from 5.3 to 4.7. The pitching staff’s ERA has gone from 10th (4.18) to 18th (4.36).
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: David Price. (by default)
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Troy Percival confirms what Joe Maddon said a couple of days ago, that he has thrown his last pitch…For those that think Percy cost the Rays a lot of money, consider that Percival still hasn’t filled out the retirement paperwork. Of course, that might have something to do with collecting the remainder of his salary this season (~$1 million). [St. Pete Times]
- Aki Iwamura will be back to playing baseball on Friday when he begins a rehab assignment with Durham. He is on pace to join the Rays when rosters expand on Sept. 1. [Tampa Tribune]
- Joe Maddon was asked why the team struggles in the final game of road series (4-13 in last 17 road series, 6-13 overall): “We’ve just got to do better…I don’t have a real good reason for it.” [St. Pete Times]
- We are 5 days from the deadline for draft picks to sign. So far, the Rays have signed 7 of the top 15 and none of the top 5. [Rays Prospects]
Aug 09
First we heard he would retire, then we heard that he might give it another go. Now we hear that Joe Maddon spoke with Troy Percival and Maddon believe’s the closer’s career is over. [St. Pete Times]
May 23
Time to bring back 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: Dale Thayer’s ‘Stache. Sure it was a great game all-around, but by far the best moment of the night was getting a look at the piece of fuzzy art on Thayer’s face. The ‘stache along with a bit of a gut and his mullet starter kit and we think we are on the verge of a real-life Kenny Powers…Reid Brignac. He only had 4 big league games under his belt prior to last night, but he had been carrying an 0-fer (0-10) since July 12 of last year. In his first at bat in 2009, he just missed being hit in the head, but came back the very next pitch and grounded one up of the middle for his first big league hit. We would love to see about 2,000 more of those…The Svelte Catcher. 4 hits and 3 RBI, including a 2-run home run in the 2nd that really got the ball rolling…Andy Sonnanstine. The run support can help a pitcher relax on the mound and that may have been exactly what The Duke needed.
THE BAD: Attendance. The announced crowd of 16,226 was laughable. We would be willing to bet it wasn’t even a third of that. And that team get’s a state of the art baseball stadium? What a joke.
THE TELLING: Jonny Gomes is back in the big leagues, just in time to face Victor Martinez and the Indians. Coincidence? We. Think. Not…The Devil Rays ($32) are now the second highest scoring team in the AL, behind only the Jays. But they are still only 9th in the AL in ERA at 4.66. The starting pitchers have a 5.10 ERA, while the relievers haven’t been terrible at 3.92…The Jays have lost 4 in a row and their lead over the Red Sox is down to half a game and 1.5 over the Yankees.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Dioner Navarro, although Dale Thayer’s ‘stache was a close second.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Andrew Friedman spoke with Todd Kalas during the game and suggested that Scott Kazmir will be on the DL for a while. The team first wants to get his leg 100% before they even let him throw a baseball. And then they will work to get his mechanics back in order before bringing him back to the big leagues. Friedman did not give a time-table, but it sounds like a couple of months, give or take.
- Joe Maddon will not go bullpen-by-committee or as he likes to call it “by matchup,” which is what he probably wanted to do all along. [Tampa Tribune]
- Marc Lancaster has more quotes on the possible retirement of Troy Percival. [Rays Report]
- There was a bit of a stir yesterday when Aaron Sharockman reported that the Al Lang Field site along the St. Pete waterfront was no longer an option for a new open-air baseball field…Did anybody still think it was an option? We thought the waterfront was taken out of play a long time ago and that was why this mysterious ABC group was exploring other options. [St. Pete Times]
- “Ode to Zobrist”…Must read. [Rays the Stakes]
May 22
[Update 6:21pm] Joe Maddon on Troy Percival: ““I wouldn’t be surprised if he chooses not to come back.”
[UPDATE 5:25pm] Marc Lancaster is now reporting that David Price will be the starting pitcher on Monday.
ESPN.com believes that David Price will be called up on Monday to take Scott Kazmir’s spot in the rotation. (thanks, Joe).
The Tampa Bay Rays have placed pitcher Scott Kazmir on the disabled list with a right quadriceps strain. The team is expected to call up David Price to take his place in the rotation when it comes up Monday.
Also, via Marc Lancaster’s Twitter page, Troy Percival may be ready to call it a career.
Percival has gone home to clear mind, ponder future – which could be in doubt
Rays put Kazmir, Percival on DL [ESPN]
May 15
Two nights ago as the Rays were adding insurance runs we said the following on Twitter:
4-run lead now. Not even Percy can [bad bad word] this one up , right?
Luckily for us and the Rays, they actually built the lead up to 6 before Percival was called upon in the 9th inning. Because 5 batters later, he had surrendered 4 runs.
But listen to the quotes from Joe Maddon, and not only is he going to still run Percival out there, he’s going to do it more often.
We went a whole week without throwing him. He got hot once up in Boston, and that was it. You liked the idea that he’s not been overused in a sense, but I don’t like to have him so underused, either…Seven days not pitching was not good.
Joe Maddon, your Tampa Bay Rays manager. He would have complimented the captain of the Titanic on his mustache, after hitting the iceberg.
Percival undeterred by uneven results [MLB]
