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JimCS is 4 wins away from being really rich hahaha
Between Percival, Wheeler, and Bradford I think the Rays are s ing out about $10M. Those are considered their high-priced relievers....so no I don't think they go there.
One place they could go is to their deep farm system. They've got a hard-throwing righty in AAA named Wade Davis they could use in the pen. He's a future starter, but it doesn't look like there's any room there at this point.
They could also use some of their prospects to trade for a closer. Billy Beane would probably be interested in a deal for Huston Street that brought back a prospect or two...though they'd have to be good.
Still, if it ain't broke...
Besides, I'd rather them use the money to lock up BJ Upton long-term. After this post-season he's gonna get a major pay raise.
JimCS is 4 wins away from being really rich hahaha
I wouldn't trade for any A's pitcher.They could also use some of their prospects to trade for a closer. Billy Beane would probably be interested in a deal for Huston Street that brought back a prospect or two
Everyone one of them ends up damaged goods.
Street supposedly has a shoulder problem right now...
true I like upton
I want both uptons on the d-backs!
they could make price their closer to!
are the rays committed to keep this team intact?
They have everyone under contract cheap for a few more years.
Why wouldn't they?
I heard he worked through his issues later in the season, even though he stayed in the setup role.
Everyone of importance on this team is locked up for the foreseeable future.
They locked up Longoria until 2016, have Crawford until 2010, Pena until 2010, and the rest of the young guys a couple years away from arbitration (Navarro, Upton, Aybar, etc.). They've also locked up their #1 and #2 starters until at least 2012.
I expect them to work out a reasonable deal to keep Navarro behind the plate, and though Upton is longer odds to get a deal done this winter I think it could also happen.
Actually Upton's situation is very similar to Kazmir. I thought he was destined to ride out his arbitration years and wait for the big day in FA...and I was shocked when the Rays got a deal done. I'm hopeful they can do the same with Upton.
So yes, the Rays FO has been very aggressive in their attempts to keep the core of this team together...and I expect that to continue.
As for Price....he's MUCH to valuable as a starting pitcher to send him to the bullpen. He's a legitimate ace...#1 starter on damn near any club in the league.
Well it sucks that it's over, but I cant complain. I am glad the Sox went down fighting rather than just lie down like nutless cowards. Props to the Drays and their fans. They earned their way through adversity and learned together as a team how to handle it. They have more than earned my respect.
Go on and win the world series. You dethroned the defending champions but it wont mean a god damn thing if you dont win the world series. I am seriously rooting for you guys to finish the job. You are the better team and I respect the out of you guys.
As much as I love and miss Manny, him not being on the team isnt what costed the Sox another world series. The Sox had a good enough O to survive without Manny. GREAT pitching is what wins in the postseason and the Sox just wasnt good enough this year. Lester couldnt hold the fort down tonight.
Sox have some issues of players to work with in the offseason. What do they do with Varitek/Schilling? That is one question that comes to mind.
I was glad to see the Rays get that done; not a Rays fan in particular, but I really can't abide Sox fans anymore and the thought of a Sox repeat with another rally from down 1-3 would have made baseball just about unwatchable for me, particularly after the way that Sox fans treated their team in Games 3 and 4.
I think the Rays grew up right in front of our eyes last night and showed that they are more than just an uber-talented team. They made key plays when they had to; guys knew their roles and, almost without exception, performed those roles; the Rays never let the pressure get to them and gutted out a gigantic win.
Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young? Yeah, that worked out pretty well.
And as others have said, it would certainly appear that there is going to be an era in which the Rays can be a dominating team. It's sick that Price will just get added to that rotation next year, to go along with Shields, Kazmir (who might be healthy again next year), Garza, and Sonnanstine. That, or like they did last winter, they could move one of the relatively weaker pieces in that mix to get themselves a closer or an everyday right fielder. That's just plain scary. Add to that the fact that this team won 97 games while Crawford, Kazmir, and Longoria missed substantial time and that they might actually end up with a useful Rocco Baldelli -- without the pressure of being Rocco Baldelli -- and there's suddenly lots of pressure on the Yankees and Red Sox to get substantially better.
What's crazy, though, is that after years of doing just about everything wrong, there's little doubt that almost everything the Rays have done for the last year or so has been absolutely right.
I think they capitalize on Sonnanstine's career year, and move him for that closer.
Price will be the next Sabathia, he is THAT good.
What the Rays have to warn against is the Tiger's syndrome. The difference I feel though is the Ray's pitching is better than the Tiger's was/is.
This will be a fantastic world series, the teams are very evenly matched and I think the difference will come down to bullpens and if it does, you can't help but love the Phillies, although the Ray's bullpen last night was shaky but got the job done.
Lester did a fine job but here again your reasoning is wrong.
You cannot beat the Rays by out pitching them. You beat them by scoring more runs. The one game the Sox won where they outpitched em was in game 1. All the rest the Sox had to step up and out score them.
Not having Manny Ramirez's clutch bat, great power killed the Red Sox. It trickled down to killing Ortiz, Veritek and others.
I'm sorry but theres no arguement that can be made that can justify the trade of Ramirez now that the Red Sox are traveling to the islands today.
I think you have to give up on Schilling, pitchers in their 40s after that kind of surgery are not gonna pitch that great.
Varitek, I wouldn't give up on. The guy is the heart and soul of the Red Sox (Damon was not, he was just the flashy chin up pulling naked wacko in the locker room) Varitek proved in game 6 hes still got some magic and I think hes earned the right to come back in spring training to keep that job. Wouldn't hurt to call up one of those two good hitting catchers they have in the minors though.
rember upton had shoulder problems and could not hit for homeruns during the season
he hit more already in the postseason
with manny the rays would have swepted boston if they got by angles
he was causing chemistry problems
that is why they got rid of him not because he sucks on the field
they should have benched him for not running hard to first though
I'm not sure that Sabathia is the apt comparison on Price. Price seems to me almost to be a bit Pedro-esque. Although he's much bigger than Pedro, Price has great velocity and movement on his fastball, mixes in a very deceptive change up, and then can go get a hitter with that really good slider. Pedro was more of a fastball-change-curve pitcher, but to me the similarity is there. If Price has a Pedro-esque career, the Rays are going to be incredible.
I'd feel a bit more doubtful about the Rays (and think they were more like the '06-07 Tigers) if Shields and Kazmir hadn't already put together good seasons at the major league level or if their successes were built on having added a bunch of veterans to their club.
The Tigers' 3 relatively young pitchers in '06 (Verlander, Bonderman, and Robertson) had never really been very good at the major league level before that season -- at least not compared to the league:
Bonderman
2005 -- 14-13, 189.0 IP, 145 K/57 BB, 93 ERA+, 4.57 ERA
2006 -- 14-8, 214.0 IP, 202 K/64 BB, 112 ERA+, 4.08 ERA
Robertson
2005 -- 7-16, 196.7 IP, 122 K/65 BB, 96 ERA+, 4.48 ERA
2006 -- 13-13, 208.7 IP, 133 K/67 BB, 119 ERA+, 3.84 ERA
Thus, Bonderman had an ERA+ of 93 in '05 and jumped up to 112 in '06. Robertson did basically the same thing, going from 95 in '05 to 119 in '06. Each had been about a .500 pitcher and each had put up traditional ERA's in the mid-4's while having fairly pedestrian K/BB ratios. In 2007, the Tigers expected them to be what they had been in 2007; instead, each was pretty much what he had been in 2005 (if not worse) and has stayed true to that form (Bonderman's injury in '08 obviously cut short his season):
Bonderman
2007 -- 11-9, 174.3 IP, 145 K/48 BB, 91 ERA+, 5.01 ERA
2008 -- 3-4, 71.3 IP, 44 K/36 BB, 103 ERA+, 4.29 ERA
Robertson
2007 -- 9-13, 177.7 IP, 119 K/63 BB, 96 ERA+, 4.76 ERA
2008 -- 7-11, 168.7 IP, 108 K/62 BB, 69 ERA+, 6.35 ERA
Unlike those two, Verlander was able to duplicate his 2006 numbers again in 2007, but it was probably too much for the Tigers to think that Bonderman and Robertson could maintain the jumps that they made in 2006. And when you add to it the fact that the Tigers run in '06 was aided by Kenny Rogers putting together one more really good season and the contributions of three 30+ hitters who'd been added to the lineup in the year or so before 2006 (Pudge, Magglio, and Carlos Guillen) and there was reason to think that the Tigers' successes might not be sustainable (though most thought it was).
By comparison, the Rays' young starters have all basically done this year what they've done in past years:
Kazmir
2006 -- 10-8, 144.7 IP, 163 K/52 BB, 142 ERA+, 3.24 ERA
2007 -- 13-9, 206.7 IP, 239 K/89 BB, 130 ERA+, 3.48 ERA
2008 -- 12-8, 152.3 IP, 166 K/70 BB, 125 ERA+, 3.49 ERA
Shields
2007 -- 12-8, 215.0 IP, 184 K/36 BB, 117 ERA+, 3.85 ERA
2008 -- 14-8, 215.0 IP, 160 K/40 BB, 122 ERA+, 3.56 ERA
Garza
2007 -- 5-7, 83.0 IP, 67 K/32 BB, 118 ERA+, 3.69 ERA
2008 -- 11-9 184.7 IP, 128 K/59 BB, 118 ERA+, 3.70 ERA
I'd feel much better about the chances that those guys, who've been pretty consistent now for a few years, are going to at least maintain that level. Add to that two other facts: (1) the guys that the Rays added to the mix in '08 weren't 30+ vets but were young guys with great talent -- particularly Longoria, which immediately made them better in CF (Upton) and 2B (Iwamura); and (2) they were able to improve tremendously while Pena's numbers fell across the board. Given those facts, I think there's reason to think that the Rays are built for long-term success beyond the fact that they're just young.
Nah. The Sox O, while it struggled, was good enough if the great lockdown pitching had been there. The pitching couldnt hold the fort down especially in game 7 with a 1-0 lead. You dont need an elite offense to win. Just any kind of productive one will do if the Pitching can hold leads.
Sox had a 1-0 lead and the pitching couldnt hold the fort down.
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