Jeff Bennett, who made 11 appearances for the Rays last year, has been released by the club. Bennett made three starts with Durham this year including Tuesday in which he walked 7 in 4.2 innings.
Bennett was originally designated for assignment and removed from the 40-man roster when the Rays acquired Kelly Shoppach. Bennett cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to triple-A.
[Update] The Rays chose not to offer Russ Springer arbitration (via Marc Topkin’s Twitter).
[7:37pm] Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times is reporting that the Rays have offered arbitration to both Gregg Zaun and Brian Shouse. They are still undecided on Russ Springer.
As we mentioned earlier today, offering each player arbitration does not mean either player will necessarily be back with the Rays in 2010. All three players are type B free agents. By offering arbitration, if Zaun or Shouse signs with another team, the Rays will receive a compensation draft pick between the first and second round in the 2010 draft.
The risk is the chance that either player accepts the arbitration. In Zaun’s case, news that several teams are bidding on his services makes it unlikely that he will accept arbitration. It is even more unlikely if another team is offering Zaun a starter’s role.
Shouse is a riskier proposition. He will be 41 in in 2010. He is unlikely to receive more on the free agent market than a one-year deal for about $1.5 million he would likely make in arbitration with the Rays.
There is a possibility that the Rays already have assurances from Shouse that he will decline the offer of arbitration.
Also, to make room for the addition of Kelly Shoppach to the 40-man roster, the Rays designated Jeff Bennett for assignment.
[Update] The Rays have designated Jeff Bennett for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
[Update] The deal is now official (via Rays Press Release), with the Rays giving up a player to be named later.
[2:40pm] We have just learned that the Rays are close to a deal that would send catcher Kelly Shoppach to the Rays from Cleveland. It is unknown who would be going to the Indians.
Shoppach hit .214/.335/.399 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 89 games last season. He is arbitration-eligible and will be eligible for free agency after the 2011 season. He made $1.95 million in 2009.
This trade does open the possibility that the Rays will cut ties with Dioner Navarro instead of offering him arbitration by the December 12th deadline as there is no need to keep both catchers. Shoppach is much stronger versus lefties (1.045 OPS vLHP, .652 vRHP in ’09) as is Navarro (.740 OPS v LHP, .489 OPS vRHP in ’09).
This move does not keep the Rays from re-signing Gregg Zaun to be the left-handed bat in a catching platoon.
Before we jump into the 25-man and 40-man roster projections next week, let’s take a look at the one area where we can expect the most change, the bullpen. But before we start thinking about who the Rays may add to the mix, let’s take a look at who might be back in 2010…
WHO’S IN?
WHO’S OUT?
THE MAYBES
If we assume that the Rays will indeed bring back all 4 of the “Ins”, that would leave 3 open spots. Bennett might have the inside-track on one of those openings. That would leave 2 spots to be filled via free agency or trade.
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: Needed Win. After the way the Rays lost on Sunday and considering how they have played most of the season on Getaway Day, the Rays needed to come out early and remove any pressure that may have built up over the course of the game. The offense did that with each of the first 6 batters of the game scoring, capped by Carlos Pena’s AL-leading 38th HR…James Shields. It was ugly, but it was effective. With a 6-run lead before even taking the mound, Shields needed to just throw strikes and let the defense make the plays. He gave up 5 runs (4 earned) ultimately, but he only walked 1 and worked 7 innings for the win…Jason Bartlett. 3 more hits to raise his average to .340 including his 12th HR, a 400-foot blast…Big Bats. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria combined to go 6-10 with 5 runs scored and 5 RBI.
THE BAD: Strange. (ok, this really isn’t bad…) If we had told you back in March that the Rays would play a big game in the middle of the playoff race with Jason Bartlett, Gabe Kapler and Ben Zobrist as the 1-2-3 hitters, you would have laughed.
THE TELLING: The Rays picked up a game on Texas who lost yesterday. The Rays trail the Rangers by just 1 game in the Wild Card…The Rays are 13-2 against the Red Sox at the Trop over the past 2 seasons.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Pena
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
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: Jeff Niemann. The AL Rookie of the Year race is going to be close (see below) but Niemann is making a late charge and pitching in a pennant race is only going to help his cause. Especially if he continues to throw gems like yesterday, 8 innings, 1 run on 4 hits. Most impressive was the 7 strikeouts and no walks…Jason Bartlett. The home runs have come to a screeching halt, but the hits haven’t. His 2-run triple in the first and subsequent dash home on the throwing error was all Jeff Niemann would need…Catch-Throw-Catch-Collision. Great job by both Carl Crawford with the throw to the plate to nail a runner in the 5th and an even better job by Navi to convince the runner that the throw wasn’t going to be close. Oh by the way, Crawford added his 11th home run and already matched his career-high with his 37th walk…Jeff Bennett. The Rays added the relief pitcher earlier in the day and made his debut the same day, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced with a 92-93 mph fastball and a very nice slider.
THE BAD: Blackouts. We love Dave and Andy. Really, we do. But we prefer when we have choices.
THE TELLING: Thanks to 3 straight losses by the Yankees, the Rays are now just 5 back in the East, but still 4.5 back of Boston in the Wild Card, 2 behind the Rangers…The three leading candidates for AL Rookie of the Year are likely Brad Bergesen (7-5, 3.43 ERA, 2.3 WAR), Ricky Romero (9-4, 3.59, 1.6) and Jeff Niemann (10-5, 3.62, 1.9). Anybody we are missing?
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeff Niemann
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
The Rays filled their bullpen vacancy by signing Jeff Bennett, who was recently released by the Braves. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rays released James Houser, who had recently been demoted to the bullpen.
The Rays have claimed righthanded reliever Jeff Bennett on waivers from the Braves and signed him to a major league contract. He replaces righty reliever Joe Nelson, who was optioned to Triple-A Durham.
Bennett, 29, went 2-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 33 games for the Braves before going on the DL June 25 with a fracture to his non-throwing hand. After a brief rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett, he was released Thursday.
Bennett asked the Braves to be released after his DL stint which came about after punching a wall with his left hand. Bennet was a 19th-round pick by the Pirates in 1998 and has pitched in the big leagues in parts of four seasons.
