From the Montgomery Media Dept
LHP Jason Cromer received from Durham (AAA)…RHP Brian Baker placed on Hudson Valley (A-) roster
Cromer joins the Biscuits in time to make the start in tonight’s series finale with Mobile.
The Biscuits currently have 24 active players, one (Jason Isringhausen) on MLB rehab and none on the Disabled List.
From MLB.com…
CINCINNATI — Jonny Gomes was a surprising cut by the Reds on Sunday, the day before the season opened. But the outfielder has decided to remain with the organization.
Gomes accepted an assignment Wednesday to Triple-A Louisville, which opens its season on Thursday.
“He’s down there,” said Reds general manager Walt Jocketty.
As of March 8, Gomes was batting .429 (6-for-14) with two homers and nine RBIs for Cincinnati, but he finished at .250 (11-for-44) with 12 RBIs. He led the team with four homers.
Gomes, a former Rays outfielder signed to a Minor League contract by the Reds in the offseason, was one of the final cuts after the club decided to keep outfielders Darnell McDonald and Laynce Nix.
By not making the team out of camp, Gomes’ contract gave him 72 hours to decide if he’d report to Louisville or declare free agency.
Sucks for Jonny that he couldn’t make the club out of Spring Training (virtually everyone I talked to or read thought he was a shoo-in), but I hope he gets his shot sooner rather than later. I’ll always have a soft-spot for Jonny, and I’m sorry that there’s no room for him here right now.
For everyone who was wondering how the Rays were going to address the problem of too many pitchers for too few spots on the roster, the team cleared things up a bit earlier today by sending Jason Hammel to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for 21-year-old minor league right-hander Aneury Rodriguez.
The numbers above speak for themselves; he seems to have a fairly live arm (at least for the minor leagues), but needs a bit of refinement to really be consider a top-level prospect going forward. Interestingly, he’s already reached 156 innings in a season for his career, so by the time he could be considered for a spot in the Rays’ rotation or pen, he should be easily ready to stretch out to 200 innings.
I’d like to say I am sorry to see Hammel traded, but from a purely baseball standpoint, this move makes too much sense for the Rays. Get a similar pitcher with a bit of an upside (and much younger), while freeing up a roster spot that otherwise would’ve been vacated for nothing. Hammel showed flashes of brilliance in his time with the Rays, but was never able to put it together for a long stretch. A change of scenery might be good for him.
Of course, for a pitcher who tends to give up fly balls a lot, THIS change of scenery might not be exactly the kind of thing I had in mind.
Mr. Lancaster, take it away sir…
Matt Joyce has secured the final spot on the Rays’ bench, and the Tampa native could be the Opening Day center fielder.
Joyce, an Armwood High graduate, overcame a bout with tendinitis in his lower leg that kept him sidelined throughout much of spring training to close strong and beat out Justin Ruggiano for a spot on the 25-man roster.
It could be a very temporary job, as B.J. Upton is expected to come off the disabled list for the Rays home opener April 13 and Joyce likely would be the player sent down at that time, but the 24-year-old doesn’t mind. He’ll be on an Opening Day roster for the first time in his career.
Sure, he’d have to go all Steve Nebraska to hang onto the roster spot when B.J. comes back (or hope that the lefty half of All-Gabe-All-The-Time goes down), but it’s still quite a turnaround for a guy who hadn’t even seen any game action 2 1/2 weeks ago. I’m excited to see what he can do.
According to MLB.com, the Rays made the following roster moves after Tuesday’s game:
Re-assigned to minor league camp: Craig Albernaz, Nevin Ashley, Neal Frontz, Calvin Medlock, Chad Orvella, Jason Cromer
Optioned to Durham: James Houser
Because it had been about 24 hours since the Rays had inked anyone new to a minor league deal, the team signed former All-Star reliever Jason Isringhausen earlier today. Mr. Topkin, take it away…
The Rays have signed former All-Star closer Jason Isringhausen to a minor-league deal.
Isringhausen, 36, was with St. Louis last season, but did not pitch after Aug. 16 and had surgery Sept. 12 to repair a torn flexor tendon, ending a season in which he struggled, going 1-5 with 12 saves and a 5.70 ERA. He has been throwing bullpen sessions and, though will be monitored early, the Rays expect him to be able to pitch in exhibition games.
I’ve already seen comments on other blogs where people are talking about him making the team out of Spring Training and Cardinals fans laughing at the Rays for making such a ridiculous move to bring in a guy like this.
Allow me to spell something out very, very clearly for you: unless a bus carrying all 7 relievers the Rays are already likely to bring north for Opening Day goes careening off of the highway into the Gulf of Mexico, Jason Isringhausen will not be on the Rays’ roster. He is nothing more than Durham filler and an absolute worst-case scenario insurance policy.
He’s also the kind of guy who could be incredibly attractive to another team later on in the season in a trade with the Rays. Let’s assume that Izzy is pitching at Durham and doing marginally well. Then Team A (let’s call them the Rangers) realizes that it needs another bullpen arm in mid-May. All of a sudden, the Rays have just turned a minor league contract into an actual prospect in a mid-season trade.
And that, my friends, is why Andrew Friedman is the best GM in all of baseball.
From Marc Topkin…
RHP Juan Salas, designated for assignment on Feb. 12, has been traded to the Cleveland Indians for minor league second baseman Isaias Velasquez.Velasquez, 20, was named to the New York-Penn League (A) All-Star Team at Mahoning Valley, where he batted .281 (68-242) with 40 runs scored in 64 games.
Of course, he could just end up being a player picked up to avoid giving Salas away for nothing. Knowing this front office, though, and the way it never makes moves without thinking way down the line, I’ll bet there’s something about this kid that we don’t know yet.
UPDATE, WEDNESDAY NIGHT – We finally have some concrete numbers from Marc Topkin.
Aybar will get $975,000 this season and $1.35-million in 2010, then either a $2.2-million salary in 2011 or a $275,000 buyout. There are escalator clauses, based on how much he plays, that could increase the 2010 and 2011 salaries, and the whole deal to around $6-million.
A FANTASTIC deal by the Rays. There they go again, signing another above-average player for a below-average price.
UPDATE, WEDNESDAY 10:30 AM — Not much new to report, though Jon Heyman is now saying the deal is official. He also doesn’ t have any terms.
UPDATE, TUESDAY 1:50 PM — Marc Topkin is reporting that Aybar’s 2-year deal with a 3rd year option could be announced today after all paperwork related to his physical comes back.
MONDAY: According to one Mr. Bill Chastain, the Rays are on the verge of signing Willy Aybar to a 2-year extension.
Chastain says that it is likely a 2-year deal with a club option (I assume for just a third). We’ll have more on this as it develops.
Scott’s Take – Obviously we need to know the financial parameters of such a deal before we go all crazy ga-ga about it, but there sure is a lot to like so long as the Rays keep him in the $1 to $2 million range for the next 2 years, with a club option somewhere in the $3 to $4 million range. Considering this guy could be the Rays’ starting second baseman sooner rather than later, it’s a veritable bargain. It also affords the Rays the opportunity to avoid a messy arbitration case next year in the event Aybar is due a big payday.
According to the Baltimore Sun, second baseman Brian Roberts is near a 4-year extension with the Orioles that will likely keep him in Baltimore through 2013.
He doesn’t hit a lot of home runs, but Roberts is an incredibly good hitter for the position he plays, and is alone worth anywhere from 4 to 5 wins a season. As a Rays fan, you hate to know that his bat is going to be in that lineup every time we play them.
Your thoughts on the deal?
2B Adam Kennedy was added to the Rays spring roster on a minor-league contract.
Kennedy, 33, was released last week by the Cardinals, for whom he hit .280 in 115 games last season following a horrible .217 in 87 games the year before. A conflict with manager Tony La Russa appeared to be a big part of the problem, and the Cardinals are responsible all of his $4-million salary except for the $400,000 major-league minimum.
For the Rays, Kennedy is low-cost insurance in the event starter Akinori Iwamura, who is playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, or a backup is injured.
Kennedy could be a decent insurance policy in case Akinori Iwamura goes down (or a problem with Ben Zobrist or Willy Aybar comes up). Unfortunately, in 10 big league seasons, he’s only had an OPS+ over 100 one time (and exactly 100 once). It was an 82 last year and a 50 the year before. It’s hard to imagine that he could do any better with the bat than, say, Elliot Johnson or Reid Briganc in the event of a long-term injury at this point in his career. Defensively, though, he’s superior. He is also low-cost as the Cardinals are paying most of his ridiculous $4 million contract.
Since 2002, Kennedy has been worth approximately 15 wins – or almost $47 million according to FanGraphs – while only being paid $17.5 million. His poor effective runs as a hitter (-18.5) are offset by incredibly good defense (50) and the relative weakness of replacement players at the second base position.
I haven’t seen any info anywhere on whether or not he has an “out” in the contract should he not make the Rays out of Spring Training or isn’t added to the big league roster by a certain date.
