Archive for the 'LeVon Washington' Category

May 27

LeVon Washington Regrets Not Signing With Rays

LeVon Washington Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

In 2009, the Rays used their first round draft pick on LeVon Washington, a high school outfielder. But when the deadline to sign picks came and went, Washington went unsigned. Two years later, Washington appears to be regretting that decision.

In a recent interview with MiLB.com, Washington spoke about turning down the Rays’ offer…

“It was a crazy decision I made,” Washington said. “If I had to go back, I’d probably never turn down a million dollars again…I was really excited when it happened with the Rays,” he said. “I could have been playing two hours from where I lived. I thought it was a good opportunity, but then, they didn’t want to sign me. I was mad.”

Wait. So he wishes Read the rest of this entry »

Jun 09

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Pena’s Sauciness, Leadoff Hitters And Niemann’s Home Sweet Home

BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, Jacob Thompson, Jeff Niemann, LeVon Washington, Pat Burrell, Rich Herrera Cork Gaines 29 Comments »

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: All The Giraffe Does Is Win. Jeff Niemann tied a franchise record with his 7th straight win and has not last at home in his last 16 starts. That is the longest streak in the majors (thanks JB). Last night, Niemann took a no-hitter into the 6th and finished with a complete game, 2-hit shutout. It was his 3rd career shutout…Bossman. Say hello to the Rays new leadoff hitter. At least against lefties. Last night he was on base 4 times in 5 plate appearances and at one point had reached base 9 straight times. On the season, he has been on base 10 out 20 plate appearances as a leadoff hitter…Carlos Pena. Is the sauciness back for reals this time? Two home runs for El Gato, including a grand slam. The slam earned Pena a curtain call. Does anybody remember the last time a player got a curtain call at the Trop? We don’t. It was Pena’s 2nd multi-HR game of the season and his 11th with the Rays.

THE BAD: Keeping Pace. Both the Red Sox and Yankees won last night. Not only are the two best teams in baseball in the AL East (according to record), but the East also has 4 of the top 9.

THE TELLING: Attendance was 12,937…Pat Burrell is 5-12 in 4 games with the Giants…John Jaso is likely to remain the leadoff hitter versus right-handers according to Marc Topkin.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 38-20, 2 games ahead of the Yankees and 4 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 58 games in 2008, the Rays were 35-23.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Jacob Thomspon, the Rays second-round pick, says he is ready to sign. [The Heater]
  • LeVon Washington, the Rays #1 pick a year ago, was drafted by the Indians in the second round and may have agreed to a $1.55 million deal. That would be about $500K more than the Rays offered a year ago (other sources dispute that an agreement has been reached). [Twitter]
  • No Rich Herrera last night, tonight or tomorrow. He has switch places with Durham Bulls play-by-play guy Neil Solondz. [Rays Prospects]
  • Check out the second graph on this link. Great look at how the Rays offense compares to the run production of the last 2 years. [Watching Durham Bulls Baseball]
  • Rays are still #1 in ESPN.com’s power rankings. [ESPN]
  • Matt Garza as Zoltar. [TAUNTR]
  • The Rays were not among Keith Law’s “winners” of day 1 of the draft. [ESPN]
  • Here is the complete list of players drafted by the Rays in the first 30 rounds. [Rays Prospects]
  • Follow along on Rays Prospects’ draft signing board as they will update with all of the Rays draft pick signings in the coming weeks. [Rays Prospects]
  • Chris Nowak was named the SL hitter of the week. [Rays Prospects]
  • Shane Dyer was named the FSL pitcher of the week.
  • Three Hot Rods were named to the ML All-Star team. [Rays Prospects]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Carlos Hernandez struck out 8 and allowed just 1 hits and 2 walks in 6 shutout innings. He improved to 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA… Desmond Jennings batted second and went 3-5 with a triple…Ryan Shealy and Chris Richard homered for the Bulls…Matt Joyce was 1-4 with a walk.
  • MONTGOMERY: Jake McGee allowed just 1 unearned run in 4.2 innings. He struck out 5 and walked 4, but did not allow a hit…Chris Nowak went 3-4 with a double.
  • CHARLOTTE: Matt Moore picked up his first win in 12 starts this season by holding Clearwater to 1 run in 6.1 innings. He struck out 4 and walked 3…Tim Beckham was 1-3 with a double and a walk. He has 5 hits in the last 3 games, but is still hitting just .218.
  • BOWLING GREEN: (postponed)
Dec 07

Conspiracy Theory: Rays Had No Intention Of Signing Top 2 Picks

Kenny Diekroeger, LeVon Washington Cork Gaines 8 Comments »

hangoverLet us play Conspiracy Theorist for a moment…

Back in June the Rays took LeVon Washington in the first round (30th overall) and Kenny Diekroeger in the second round (78th overall). The Rays failed to sign either player. Seemed like a bad draft at the time. But what if the Rays never intended to sign either of their top picks from the 2009 draft? Crazy?

OK, here is where we add two plus two and get the square-root of Andrew Friedman’s IQ.

After the draft Washington’s father told the Gainesville Sun that the Rays “didn’t want to sign” LeVon, noting that the Rays refused to negotiate for more than two months following the draft. He also said that the Rays gave his son a take-it-or-leave-it offer just prior to the deadline for signing 2009 draft picks. An offer the Rays certainly knew would be rejected.

As for Diekroeger, it was well-known prior to the draft that he was expected to honor his commitment to Stanford. Still, the Rays took a chance on Diekroeger. In the end, there is no indication the two sides were ever close to an agreement.

So why would the Rays not make any effort to sign their top pick and use their second pick on a player they knew was unsignable? Because not signing those picks could save the Rays a crap-ton of money in future drafts.

By failing to sign either pick, the Rays receive compensation picks in the 2010 draft in comparable slots. For example, in addition to their 15th pick, the Rays will also have the 31st pick in the first round. Failing to sign Diekroeger also netted the Rays an additional second round pick. Add the compensation picks between the first and second round for the departure of free agents Gregg Zaun and Brian Shouse* and all of the sudden the Rays have 6 picks before the third round.

The immediate concern is how much the Rays will have to dish out in signing bonuses for 6 picks in the top 80. That is a lot of cash for a team that counts every nickel.

But what if the Rays have no intention of signing all 6 picks?

The compensation picks for Zaun, Shouse, Washington and Diekroeger are protected. That is, if the Rays fail to sign the players chosen with those picks, they will not receive compensation in 2011.

That leads to what could be the Rays draft strategy for 2010 and beyond:

  1. Target 2-3 players with protected picks that the Rays want to sign and are within the Rays budget. The Rays will have a good idea prior to the draft how much these players will cost.
  2. Target 1-2 players with protected picks that the Rays would like to sign if the price is right. The Rays may not have a strong sense of how much these players will cost.
  3. Use the regular first-round (#15 overall), second-round (approx. #52 overall) on players the Rays have little intention of signing.

The Rays can then use the players they don’t intend to sign as leverage during negotiations with the players they targeted with the compensation picks. The Rays can also use the four players selected with the protected picks as leverage against each other. The Rays have already set the precedent that they are willing to let a player walk if the price is not right. In addition, the Rays can make it clear that they will only spend a specific amount on bonuses. The Rays can then tell the targeted players that if they don’t take that money, the Rays will be happy to give it to one of the other top picks and it will still be considered a strong draft.

For the players the situation changes from one in which they are hoping to negotiate a higher signing bonus to one in which they must choose between an amount the Rays like and nothing at all. In the end, the Rays could lose 1-2 picks that are not protected. But they will be able to sign 2-3 players at reasonable prices and they will get extra picks in the first- and second-rounds next year.

And with at least four picks in the first two round next year they will be able to repeat the entire process. In theory, the Rays could continue this cycle of extra draft picks forever, continually using the extra picks to keep signing bonuses low and with no intention of signing all of the drafted players. And all this for the low, low cost of sacrificing the 2009 draft.

It’s just crazy enough…that it might be true.

*Shouse is not expected to accept arbitration from the Rays and as long as he signs with another team, the Rays will pick up a second compensation pick between the first and second round.

Aug 19

LeVon Washington’s Dad: Rays Backed Out Of Pre-Draft Deal

LeVon Washington Cork Gaines 6 Comments »

Earlier today, Jon Heyman reported that the Rays best offer to first-round pick LeVon Washington was $1.1 million, which is close to the slot recommendation as put forth by the Commissioner’s Office for the 30th pick.

But in a story by Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun, Washington’s dad says the Rays had a better offer on the table prior to the draft and as a result, Washington chose not to work out for other teams.

Victor Washington said his son and the Rays had a verbal agreement in place for a signing bonus before he was drafted. He declined to disclose the specific amount of the bonus…“Basically, we made an agreement before the draft,” he said. “The agreement was that LeVon wasn’t going to work out for anyone if he wasn’t going to be paid above slot (value.)”…But Victor Washington said after the Rays took Washington with the 30th pick, they chose not to negotiate for 70 days. Washington said when the sides finally talked last Thursday, the Rays only offered slot value, projected at $1 million.

Victor also feels that the Rays “didn’t want to sign” LeVon. That seems like an overreaction. Why would a team select a player in the first round if they had no intention to sign him?

But what about the rest of the story? Did the Rays back out of a pre-draft deal? Were the Rays scared off by the shoulder injury? Had the Rays reached their draft signing bonus budget (the Rays went well over slot for three of their top 10 picks)? Or did the Rays just misjudge how much Washington and Scott Boras would demand once he was selected?

Of course, complicating this matter further was the strange tactic taken by the Rays on draft day, in which they issued a press release essentially ending negotiations 12 hours prior to the deadline. The Rays said there would not be enough time to issue a physical, but Victor Martinez said his son was “medically cleared and that his shoulder problems were overblown,” noting that negotiations with Stephen Strasburg went until 11:58pm.

Brockway also reports that Washington, who previously committed to the University of Florida will attend a Junior College after failing to qualify academically.

Washington OK with decision not to sign with Rays [Gainesville Sun]

Aug 18

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Unsigned Picks, The 2010 Draft And Navi’s New Look

Dioner Navarro, LeVon Washington Cork Gaines 14 Comments »

hangover

click above image for boxscore

And as expected, the Rays failed to reach an agreement with their top draft pick, LeVon Washington, a Scott Boras client. [MLB Trade Rumors]

The Rays also failed to sign their second-round pick, Kenny Dierkroeger. In fact Marc Lancaster reports that salary figures were never even exchanged…Dierkroeger did seem adamant about going to college after the draft. [Rays Report]

With the Rays failing to sign either of their top 2 picks, they will receive 2 compensation picks in next year’s draft. The picks will be the equivalent of this year’s pick plus one. So next year, the Rays will have their normal pick (something in the mid-20s) and a compensation pick at #31. In addition, they will receive a compensation pick at #79. Therefore the Rays will have at least 4 picks in the first two rounds next season.

In year’s past, you would have been more likely to see the Rays stretch for a prospect they knew would be hard to sign in the third round (the Rays failed to sign their 3rd round picks in ’05 and ’06). But with the compensation system in place now for the top two rounds, it makes much more sense to reach in the second round, knowing the team can always “try again” next year with the compensation pick.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • The final tally for the Rays was that they signed 32 of 50 draft picks and 15 of the top 20. [Rays Prospects]
  • Rays Prospects offers their reaction to the draft, saying the failure to sign the top two picks “hurts”. [Rays Prospects]
  • The Rays Party noticed that Dioner Navarro has altered his swing a bit…On a side note, it looks like Gregg Zaun has taken Navi under his wing. Check out those high socks. BEAUTIFUL! [The Rays Party]
  • Joe Smith wrote a neat piece on the Rays’ newest reliever, Russ Springer, and his son. [St. Pete Times]
Aug 17

Rays Unlikely To Sign Top Picks

LeVon Washington Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

With the midnight deadline nearing to sign this year’s draft picks (non-college seniors), the Rays are now saying that they are unlikely to sign either of their top two picks, with second round pick Kenny Diekroeger deciding to attend Stanford and top pick LeVon Washington’s signing apparently “next to impossible.”

If Washington does go unsigned, the Rays will be awarded a compensation pick in next year’s draft comparable to this year’s first round selection.

Aug 17

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Zaunbie Nation, The Remaining Schedule And Unsigned Draft Picks

Chad Bradford, Gregg Zaun, LeVon Washington, Pat Burrell, Reid Brignac Cork Gaines 9 Comments »

BlueJays Rays BaseballTime 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: Gregg Zaun. The Zaunbie Nation is growing with every swing of his bat. This time it was a grand slam that broke a 1-1 tie with 2 outs in the 8th. Could the stirrups be this year’s Rayshawk? We can hope, can’t we?…Carl Crawford. He was only 1-4 yesterday but he was 7-12 in the series…Jason Bartlett. 3 more hits on Sunday and Barty continues to shine in the leadoff spot.

THE BAD: Matt Garza. How in the world he only allowed 1 run is a testament to his stuff, as Garza was on the brink of disaster in 4 of the 5 innings he pitched. He allowed at least 2 baserunners in each of those 4 innings, once loading the bases with no outs and once allowing the first two to get on base. Both times he got out of the situation. But in the end, all of the close calls raised his pitch count and he was out after only 5 innings.

THE TELLING: Gregg Zaun is short. He is listed at 5-10, but do you think he is only 5 inches shorter than Ben Zobrist (above)?…The Rays have 11 games remaining with the Orioles including 8 of the final 19…After this 3-game set, the Rays have a 23 game stretch in which 20 games are against AL playoff contenders Rangers, Tigers, Red Sox and Yankees. Texas now leads the wild card race by a half-game over the Red Sox. The Rays trail by 3.5.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Gregg Zaun (Carl Crawford took the honors on both Friday and Saturday)

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Tonight at midnight is the deadline to sign 2009 draft picks (non college seniors). As of now, the Rays have signed 11 of their top 15 picks. They have yet to reach agreements with their top pick LeVon Washington, second pick Kenny Diekroeger, their 10th and 15th picks.
  • The Rays have not been shy about singing their draft picks, going well-over the bonus amounts recommended by the commissioner’s office. [St. Pete Times]
  • Reid Brignac has been recalled from Durham and took the roster spot of Jeff Bennett who was sent down. This leaves the Rays with the normal complement of 12 pitchers. [Rays Report]
  • Chad Bradford is ready to be activated, but is waiting on Pat Burrell.  [Tampa Tribune]
  • The Rays sent minor leaguer Rhyne Hughes to Baltimore to complete the Gregg Zaun deal. [The Heater]
  • David Chalk presents the facts about Gregg Zaun. [Bugs and Cranks]
  • Pat Burrell missed the last two games with a recurrence of the neck injury that sidelined him earlier this year. This one is not as bad and he is hoping to be back in the lineup on Tuesday. [Rays Report]
  • Akinori Iwamura felt fine after his first rehab game but Fernando Perez has minor neck injury that has interrupted his rehab assignment. [The Heater]
  • Around the Majors argues that trading BJ Upton now would be a mistake. [Around the Majors]
  • Letitia Stein has an interesting piece on the eating habits of the Rays, one of the healthier big league clubs. [St. Pete Times]
Jul 21

Down On The Farm: Jennings Top SL Hitter For Week

Brian Shouse, Desmond Jennings, LeVon Washington, Shawn Riggans Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

Indianapolis 3, Durham 1. Carlos Hernandez gave up 2 runs and was pulled after just 3.2 innings…Both Reid Brignac and Matt Joyce had the night off…Rhyne Hughes was 2-4 and hit his 6th home run since being promoted.

Montgomery. (no games scheduled)

Charlotte 7, Lakeland 2 (gm 1). Darin Downs is now 10-4 with a 2.21 ERA after holding Lakeland to 1 run in 5 innings…Brian Shouse allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 1 inning of work on his rehab assignment…Shawn O’Malley went 0-4 and Shawn Riggans started at catcher and went 0-1 with a walk.

Lakeland 2, Charlotte 0 (gm 2). Brian Flores dropped to 0-4 after giving up 2 runs in 3.2 innings in just his 3rd start of the season…Shawn O’Malley went 2-4 and Mike McCormick was 1-3.

Bowling Green 5, Delmarva 2 (11). Chris Andujar allowed 2 runs in 4.1 innings, striking out 6 and walking 1…Jake Jefferies went 2-5 with a strikeout.

Williamsport 2, Hudson Valley 1.

Pulaski 6, Princeton 4 (12).

Notes from Down on the Farm…

  • Desmond Jennings was named the SL hitter of the week, amazingly, for just the first time. [Rays Prospects]
  • Rays Prospects has some updates on unsigned draft picks, including top pick LeVon Washington. [Rays Prospects]
Jun 10

It May Be A While Before LeVon Washington Takes Field For Rays

LeVon Washington, Scott Boras Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

phpY8fy5HLast night the Rays drafted speedy middle infielder/center fielder LeVon Washington with the 30th pick of the draft. Shorty after being selected, Washington sounded eager to sign with the Rays and Andrew Friedman sounded eager to get him in a uniform.

LeVon Washington had already impressed the Rays with his speed. Then he really showed them something about an hour after being the 30th pick in the draft Tuesday night, announcing on a media conference call he already was committed to sign: “I’ll be a Ray.”…”That’s great news,” Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said later, “and we feel the exact same way.”

Not so fast. There is one person that has yet to show the same eagerness and in the end it may be his opinion that matters most of all. That is Washington’s agent, Scott Boras.

Boras rarely makes a move with his clients before it is absolutely necessary. He prefers that his players wait as long as possible before signing contracts. It is his belief that waiting almost never costs a player money, but quite often it makes them more. And no matter what you think of Boras, he is usually right.

So what does this mean for Washington and the Rays? Unless the Rays open the wallet, we expect that like David Price, negotiations will go down to the August deadline, but that eventually a deal will get struck.

But more important may be how this affects Washington’s playing career. If a deal is not made prior to August, it is unlikely that Washington will play this season for any of the Rays farmclubs.

Whereas Tim Beckham was able to get on the field last summer and was ready for a full-season this year, it is more likely that Washington will play in the fall instructional leagues and won’t make his Rays debut until next June in one of the short-season leagues.

In other words, it could be a while before Washington starts his Tampa Bay Rays career.

Tampa Bay Rays draft Gainesville prep star LeVon Washington with first-round pick [St. Pete Times]

Jun 10

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Toilet Of Mediocrity

Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, LeVon Washington Cork Gaines 19 Comments »

Angels Rays Baseball

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: By The Arm of Gabriel. Gabe Gross redeemed a poor at bat earlier in the game (see below) by potentially saving a run in the 7th by throwing out a runner at second base after he rounded the bag too far on a basehit…Ben Zobrist. 2 more hits and another home run. Ho-hum.

THE BAD: Not-So-Golden Opportunities. Bases loaded in the 7th with 1 out and Carlos Pena at the plate. A great chance to cut into the 22-run lead as long as Upton gets a bat on the ball. He did, and he hit it hard. Right at the first basemen for vomit-inducing 3-unassisted double-play…Flyballs Going Uncaught. Sure enough, only a couple of days after noting that BJ Upton had started catching deep flyballs that earlier this season were landing on the turf, last night, two such flyballs landed safely for extra-base hits…Giveup Swing. With 1 out and runners on first and third in the 2nd, Gabe Gross did something with the bat. We still aren’t sure what he was trying to do. It looked like a 2-strike swing that was trying to foul off a tough pitch (it was a 1-1 pitch). He just flicked the bat, half-a**ed and hit a shallow pop-up to left. Dioner Navarro would then strikeout to end the threat…And Of Course. From the “we should have kept our mouths shut” department, Carl Crawford grounded into his first GIDP of the season, and with it, the game was lost and the Rays were once again flushed down the toilet of mediocrity.

THE TELLING: BJ Upton was ejected after flying out in the 9th inning. He was apparently upset at the strikezone…Jeff Niemann takes the mound with an extra day of rest since his 2-hit shutout…

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ben Zobrist

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Marc Topkin has some more info on top pick LeVon Washington and the Rays other two picks from the draft, both high schoolers. [St. Pete Times]
  • The Rays released Chad Orvella and signed Jorge Julio, who has 99 career saves and made 15 appearances with Milwaukee earlier this season. Julio has been assigned to Durham, but expect to see him in a Rays uniform at some point this season.  [Yahoo! Sports]
  • Jason Bartlett is hoping to return to the lineup on Friday. [Rays Report]
  • Evan Longoria still has the overall vote lead for the all-star team in the American League. [The Heater]
  • Ted Keith has a piece up on SI.com about this new feeling we all have in our stomachs. Apparently it is called “disappointment.” (thanks Amanda) [SI.com]
  • If you want an escape from the depressing Rays, may we suggest the latest “Why I Love Baseball” piece from, Sixty Feet, Six Inches. [Sixty Feet, Six Inches]
  • Rays Revolutionary offers an optimistic and a pessimistic view of the Rays. [Rays Revolutionary]
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