I’d like to know what your thoughts have been on him so far this year. He was great last year, but hasn’t shown that same dominance this season so far. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m a little disappointed so far. I hope I’m wrong about him, but perhaps he was a little overrated or at the very least, not as ready as we were told for the Majors.
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reader(s)
July 8th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
joe=
good to see you active on the site. king price is under experienced and overrated at this point…a prospect is a prospect. Unfortunately people like to push onto prospects their expectations that many times exceed the level of experience and ability development. the playoff performance skewed the expectations, unfortunately. david needs another year in the minors or he might be mentally hampered.
July 11th, 2009 at 7:42 am
He sure looked good his last start. He has the stuff and should become the ACE one day. Joe is this site going to be up and running??? I gave up on it but always enjoyed it. I just by chance checked back. It needs to be updated every day to keep us coming back.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Time to trade Scott Kazmir and CC to 1) cut costs while being able to replace with acceptable performance internally and 2) get the most out of their value before it declines. I assess that CC is at his prime and only will decline after 28-29 years old. So, give up a year or two of high performance (but compared to many LFders is not that great) in return for some great prospects.
Burrell has been a bust so far this year…millions for performance that did not merit this pay. He is starting to get on a hot streak, but his cold bat hurt the Rays substantially in the first half. Might be best just to DFA him at the end of the year if he cannot get turned around. Never thought I would say that Cantu would have been better at DH.
July 15th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I think Price is exactly where he should be. Most great pitchers take a year or two to reach that consistencey of an ace. Fernando V and Doc Gooden are the exceptions and they come around once a decade. Great pitchers show flashes of brilliance at a more frequebt rate until they reach their peak, i.e. Doc Halladay. He didn’t burst on the scene. He didn’t win more than 8 games till his 5th year. We should be happy that Price isn’t a sensation. This bodes well for consistency and endurance in the future. These 7 inning 7 SO games will be complete game 3 hitters with 12 K’s in a couple of years. I didn’t buy the hype. You must have if you’re dissappointed with Price. Haven’t you followed the careers of similar ace type lefthanders? Johan Santana was still pithching out of the pen in his 4th season.
I agree we should trade Kazmir. Hopefully he pitches well so we can get something for him by this winter. NO way we go into next year with his salary. Unfortunatelly we HAVE to keep Crawford. Did you see him after the all-star game. This guy is not about himself. He is the the heart of this team. He must stay. Trade the Gabes and and/or Burrell if you can. THIS IS A TEAM!!!!! They come along once in a generation and they break-up quick. Has there been one tweet about a problem in that clubhouse? Kazmir is out or off so often that he can be moved without disrupting chemistry but ladies and gentleman we are stacked! We are better at almost every position than our opponents in defense. We have the AL Home Run leader, The SB Leader and three in the top 5 in the AL. We have studs up and down the line-up and if we could just get a stud closer we would be unstoppable.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Price has improved of late, Wes, and you are likely right. If we keep Crawford, however, we will have to give up some payroll. Kaz can be replaced…he is no longer the Ace #1 pitcher, but rather the 3 or 4 in the rotation. Burrell…do we keep him next year or trade him? Joyce can replace him. Aki? Seems Zorilla can hold down 2nd and Aybar work the infield utility (except SS)/
Ideas?
July 17th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Bill, I fear we are wasting Aybar. I have no doubt that he would be a top ten third baseman if playing for a team that could let him play everyday. We wouldn’t get full value in a trade so he’ll languish behind Zobrist(at second) and Longoria until he becomes a free agent.
On the Crawford issue, yes he is too expensive for us but he is essential. Aki and his 4 mil will have to go. With his salary and Percivals coming off the books we should be ok with Crawford. Kaz will be our best trade chip and our only chance for improvemnet from outside the organization. I bet you Crawford would take a below market deal to stay with us. I think that that would be a wise move for the franchise albeit expensive. Keep in mind that Upton will undoubtedly be paid $15 mil per with the Mets or Yankees in a few years. I can’t wait to see the haul we get by trading him. Even with arbitration Upton will be making $10 mil per year so he’s not long for this team, not to mention the fact he keeps rejecting the measly raise he is offered every spring. He reminds me of a very young Sheffield although I don’t think that Upton is as brash but he KNOWS he’s gonna get paid and he knoes he’s not gonna get it here.
July 20th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
HOw about the following:
1) trade Kaz at the end of the year as good pitching is coming up the system.
2) trade Crawford prior to the trade deadline or at the end of the year if it looks as if we can surge. 2010 outfield is Upton, Zobrist and Joyce. Jennings, Upton and Joyce in the outfield in 2011. Aybar takes over Zobrist’s super-sub role (1B, 2B, 3B and corner outfield)in 2010
3) dump aki prior to the trade deadline in 2010, moving Zobrist to 2B.
July 24th, 2009 at 6:07 am
We trade Kaz asap, don’t pick up aki’s option. Crawford, Upton and Joyce in the outfield. Pena, Zobrist, Bartlett, and longo in the infield. That leaves Aybar and Perez as subs. What can we get for Kazmir anyway?
July 24th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Wes- we can keep this site as an open bulletin board. Maybe we can attract a couple of the regulars back and see how long the thread lasts!
I agree with your last post. Kaz is no longer a 1-2 starter, cost is going up, and there are young/good arms standing in the wings. Someone will give up a front-line prospect (I think we go for a big bat this time, not another arm, as the Rays lack a big bat/solid prospect at AA/AAA). Or a catcher. Kaz is young, but he has not figured out how to pitch and keep the pitch count down.