Rays of Light

Lunch Break – Boras: Rays, Burrell to blame for glut of outfielders on market

Everyone’s favorite super-agent is at it again, blaming the Rays and Pat Burrell for blocking the market for corner outfielders this off-season. Murray Chass has the full story:

“Bradley got a good contract; Ibanez got a good contract,” Boras said. “The contract that blocked the market for corner outfielders was Burrell.”

Greg Genske, Burrell’s agent, “took a bad deal,” Boras said. “The corner outfield market stopped. You’re talking about a frozen market.”

Ibanez signed with Philadelphia for 3 years and $31.5 million, Bradley with the Chicago Cubs for 3 years and $30 million. They are both represented by Sam and Seth Levinson. Burrell agreed to a 2-year, $16 million contract with Tampa Bay.

Genske, who also represents Dunn, did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Neither did Peter Greenberg, who is Abreu’s agent. Anderson doesn’t have a listed agent.

I think my favorite part is the “Ibanez got a good contract” line. Yes, that was a very good contract – FOR IBANEZ. The Phillies screwed up big-time commiting nearly double the money for Raul Ibanez than the Rays had to commit for Pat Burrell. Does a lot of his have to do with Pat the Bat wearing out his welcome in Philly and, perhaps, that he really wanted to play in Florida? Sure. But that Ibanez contract – especially with how the market has shaken down – is an AWFUL one for the Phillies. They undoubtedly overpaid for “character” and “leadership” in that case.

Meanwhile, Burrell is to blame for taking a nice contract with a good team that gives him a chance to play in baseball’s premier devision for the next 2 years with a chance to reach the World Series again. Plus, he’ll be young enough when the contract is up that, if he puts up solid numbers, will be able to cash in again on a nice deal. For shame, Pat! For shame! You’ve made it tough on the Bobby Abreu’s, Ken Griffey’s, and Garret Anderson’s of the world! HOW DARE YOU!?!

What do you think? Is it fair to blame Pat Burrell, his agent, and the Rays for the glut of outfielders on the market? Or should the agents of said players be blamed for either declining arbitration (and failing to be proactive to the market) or refusing to lower their demands?

Tags: bobby abreu, garret anderson, ken griffey, lunch break, pat burrell, raul ibanez, scott boras
Posted in Discussion | 2 Comments »

Lunch Break – 2/4

The lunch break is a little bit late today – sorry guys!

Word around the Internets is that Dioner Navarro and Willy Aybar are still in negotiations related to long-term deals with the club. I want to focus exclusively on Navarro for a moment.  How many catchers can you honestly say that you’d rather have than our short little wide load behind the plate?

Save for Giovanny Soto and Russell Martin, are there really that many other catchers you want to try and build around right now? Navarro has got age on his side, and for all intents and purposes, his defense was much improved in ‘08. Matt Wieters may one day be a bigger star than Navarro, but how many other catchers would you honestly rather have under control – when both this year AND 5 years from now are considered – than Navarro?

Let’s hear what you have to think.

Tags: Dioner Navarro, lunch break, Willy Aybar
Posted in Discussion | 5 Comments »

Lunch Break – 2/3

Holy Moses! Have you looked at the list of free agents that’s still available? Unlike last year, when Marc Topkin made himself look like an idiot by calling one of the worst collections of talent a “pretty good” team, there actually is a pretty good collection of talent available right now, especially if it’s the year 1999.

Pudge Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Orlando Hudson, Orlando Cabrera, Ty Wigginton, Manny Ramirez, Jim Edmonds, Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu, Ben Sheets, Mark Mulder, Pedro Martinez, and Jason Isringhausen – among many others – are still out there for the taking, yet there don’t seem to be many buyers. I’m not saying you’ll ride the above collection of talent to the playoffs, but it’s not exactly a list of scrubs, either.

In the case of Manny Ramirez, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher, since the dude is still one of the elite mashers in the game. I know he comes with more baggage than Paris Hilton taking a three-day weekend, but he’s still an elite-level player in a market that doesn’t have that many of them available. It’s likely that once he finds a home (which, by the way, I believe will be back in Los Angeles), the rest of the chips will follow, with Adam Dunn (Washington?) and Bobby Abreu (Mets, despite what they are saying?) landing jobs shortly thereafter.

I guess the bigger question is why are these guys sitting around on the open market for so long? I figure it’s a combination of a few factors:

• The recession + high asking prices
• More value assigned to younger, cheaper players
• Distaste for giving up high draft picks

You can also argue that each of the available players is, in some way, shape, or form, considered “damaged goods.” Of the players already mentioned, Manny’s got his interpersonal (re: problems with management) to deal with. Bobby Abreu has been labeled a defensive wreck (though he’s not quite as bad as the New York media would like you to believe). Adam Dunn strikes out about 3 times per game (give or take 2 times), and isn’t exactly Joe DiMaggio with the glove. Each one of them has an issue that a team could use to talk itself out of picking up the phone.

So, let’s talk about it. Why are these players sitting out there still? Will most of them get signed? Where do you think they’ll end up?

Tags: adam dunn, bobby abreu, free agent, lunch break, Manny Ramirez, marc topkin is still a hack
Posted in Discussion | 6 Comments »

Lunch Break – 2/2

Hey, remember these? I give you some kind of question or comment or something to ponder, and you respond back with your opinions on whatever said thing was. Then we spend the rest of the afternoon ignoring our work and replying back and forth with our opinions. It’s really a tried-and-true system that will stand the test of time.

Today’s topic of discussion is that overstocked cupboard known as the Rays’ bullpen. Don’t get me wrong, an overflowing bullpen is a tremendous problem to have (and much preferable to flipping a coin between Brian Stokes and Shawn Camp). Still, there will eventually be some hard decisions to make unless massive injuries and/or a couple of trades happen.

By my count, the following players are either under contract with the Rays or will be on their way to Spring Training trying to win jobs in the bullpen:

• Troy Percival
• Grant Balfour
• Chad Bradford
• Brian Shouse
• Joe Nelson
• Dan Wheeler
• J.P. Howell
• Jeff Niemann
• Juan Salas
• Lance Cormier
• Jason Hammel
• Dale Thayer
• Derek Rodriguez

Please, if I’m forgetting anyone, let me know.

I’ve bolded the 7 that I feel would be in the Rays’ bullpen if the season started right now. Jeff Niemann is probably the hard-luck loser of that bunch, though giving David Price a few more starts in AAA could net him a job anyways. Jason Hammel is, if I remember correctly, out of options, so the Rays might try to find a way to sneak him onto the roster (a Troy Percival injury, perhaps?) for the short-term until they can find a suitor for him. Derek Rodriguez, despite being a Rule 5 pick, is more likely to be back in Chicago or the product of a return-and-trade so that he can be sent to Durham. I just don’t see him starting the year on the Rays’ roster.

That money spent on Lance Cormier doesn’t really look all that necessary now, does it?

Tags: Bullpen, lunch break
Posted in Discussion | 5 Comments »

Lunch Break – 7/28/08

Back by popular demand, it’s the Lunch Break!!

First, our topic for discussion today: is it time for the Rays to cut bait on someone so that we can keep a regular utility infielder on the roster? Right now, Cliff Floyd, Jonny Gomes, and Willy Aybar are all taking up spots while the only backup shortstop is also the starting third baseman. With no backup middle infielders, Joe Maddon is severely handcuffed when it comes to make moves late in the game, particularly in a spot where you might want – for instance – to pinch-hit Cliff Floyd or Eric Hinske for Jason Bartlett.

In my opinion, Ben Zobrist has more than proven that he’s a capable backup player, though his lapses in the field stop him short of being a regular in the future. Still, he’s more valuable to this team than Willy Aybar is, yet its Aybar who gets to keep his job. Aren’t we to the point where the Rays should be keeping the players that give them the best team right now?

Poll Update: As of 9:57 AM, the “Is Rocco Baldelli the answer?” poll to the left is split right down the middle 50-50. I’m going to keep it up at least through the remainder of Monday to see if we get any separation.

Tags: lunch break
Posted in Discussion | 5 Comments »

Lunch Break – 4/22/08 – Why is it always too early?

“Too early.”

It’s a phrase that always comes up in April when discussing your favorite team. “Oh, it’s too early to really judge him yet.” “It’s too early – he’ll start hitting.” “Don’t get too excited – it’s still early.”

But why? Why is it too early to get excited? We’re all fans. We all enjoy when things are going well and don’t like it when things are going poorly. Are we not entitled to feel the exact same way in April about something as we do in July? Are Edwin Jackson’s first two games of the year less impressive because they happened “early”? Are Akinori Iwamura’s struggles any less frustrating because it’s “early”? The answer, of course, is no. Yet there are still plenty of people who want you to believe that “early” isn’t a good time to worry about anything.

Well, I’m telling you that “early” is as good a time as any to draw conclusions about a team. Why shouldn’t we? “Early” is just as much a part of a season as “late” – and just like we’d rip on Carl Crawford for going through a rough patch from games 85 through 105, we should feel just as able to rip on him for going through that rough patch early on. It works the other way, of course. We should feel free to get excited about starting pitching performances early on that make it look like a hurler has finally turned the corner without having someone ready with a “don’t get too excited! It’s still early!”

Why can’t some people just let fans be fans? As fans, emotions run high. You’re going to go through highs and lows – that’s the nature of being “fanatical” about a team. When the Rays are going well, your kids seem like they are behaving better, your wife looks prettier, your food tastes better, and your job doesn’t suck as bad. When the Rays aren’t going well, you want to ship the kids off to grandma’s house, have poker night with the boys, get Chinese take-out every night, and spend 3 hours a day surfing Monster.com. And you wouldn’t have it any other way. Why, then, is there always somebody ready to tell you that, “It’s too early!”?

I’m just as guilty of this as anyone. I’ve got my favorite players – Aki, for instance – who aren’t performing well right now. Yet when his struggles come up, my way to cope with them is to say,”Well, it’s still early. He’ll come around.” But that doesn’t mean that someone who’s fed up with Aki’s performance shouldn’t feel that way simply because of the timing of his feelings. That’s ludicrious. And, anyways, what reason do I have to believe that Aki will come around other than the fact that he’s always been a good hitter? Maybe he doesn’t come around. Maybe he has an awful, awful season. Will it still be “too early” come September?

It seems sometimes that people want to take the fun out of being a fan. The fun, of course, is going through the highs and lows and being there when the big moments happen. I wish people would stop trying to take that fun away. It is, after all, still just a game.

Tags: lunch break
Posted in Discussion | 2 Comments »

Lunch Break – 1/18/08

I got a FANTASTIC question in my email yesterday for the Lunch Break today. Remember, send in your questions (you know, like a mailbag) or your discussion topics to scottcaruso@gmail.com and I’ll make sure that they get posted.

Today’s question comes from Sean, who writes:

I am frustrated with the fact that the Rays officials get so much crap no matter what they do. Vince screwed this franchise hard, on the baseball side of things and in the community.

What is your opinion on what do they ultimately have to do to lose this bad reputation that they have inherited? It is unfair, they have done nothing but good things here and just get so much crap. The reason Kazmir is not signed is because he doesn’t want to sign here. I look at the Rays as being only like 2 years old. When the new guys took over they got a clean slate. I don’t care if this turns into a lunch break I just kinda want you opinion.

I TOTALLY agree with what you said Sean; it IS unfair that the current Rays management keeps getting dumped on as if it is just an extenstion of the previous Rays ownership. Now, I can’t speak for everyone, but it seems to me that people who are actually “in the know” or follow the team regularly don’t have such a problem separating the Naimoli-LaMar regime from the Sternberg-Friedman one. It’s the casual fans – the ones you REALLY need to get on board in order to make money – that don’t know the difference.

That’s because, by their nature, casual fans just don’t know that much about the team. They can’t separate one ownership group from another. As far as they are concerned, it’s just one group that has continued to run the team from the beginning, and all they know is that there haven’t been any winning seasons yet. Is it fair to Andrew Friedman? Absolutely not. I think he has done a FANTASTIC job of building the Rays’ organization into one that is sustainable for future growth and success. In the American League East, where there are other teams that can afford to play up to 5 or 6 times more for players in any given year, the only way to ensure long-term success is to ensure that there is a solid foundation in the minor leagues, in scouting, and in player development. Though that’s something that LaMar never seemed to understand, Friedman definitely gets it and should be commended for the work that he has done.

Unfortunately, the only way that the team is ever going to break that stigma that you were talking about is to start winning ballgames. Once the team becomes a winner, and the national media picks up on the “surprise story of the Tampa Bay Rays,” then that history that you’re talking about will slowly begin to fade away. Until that happens, Stu Sternberg and Andrew Friedman will continue to pay for the sins of those who came before them.

Tags: Andrew Friedman, Chuck LaMar makes me cringe, lunch break, Stu Sternberg, Vince Naimoli
Posted in Discussion | 10 Comments »