Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 23, 2004
Rays Rant

A Devil Rays fan writes:


I just read on ESPN.com that the D-Rays are considering signing free agent SS Alex Gonzalez. TO PLAY 3B! Am I missing something. His OBP/SLG are .302 and .392 respectively for his career. And he'll be 32 in April. Could you please comment on this and also why the D-Rays will never be good under the current regime?

I didn't see the ESPN article, but here's one from the St. Petersburg Times talking mainly about the Josh Phelps signing.

Phelps is one of several free agents the Rays plan to add. Current talks seem to be focusing on veteran infielder Alex Gonzalez, whom they would use at third base, and outfielder Danny Bautista.

Gonzalez, 31, averaged 18 homers and 66 RBIs from 2000-03 as the starting shortstop for the Jays and Cubs before missing half of last season with injury, bouncing from the Cubs to the Expos and Padres. Bautista, 32, hit .286 with 11 homers and 65 RBIs as Arizona's starting rightfielder.

Other possibilities include infielders Tony Batista, Mark Grudzielanek and David Eckstein, and outfielders Juan Gonzalez, Dustan Mohr and Ruben Sierra.

In other words, nobody really good. The problem is that the Devil Rays are going after washed up veterans or players like Mohr and Phelps who have a mixed track record. They also appear to never have heard of OBA.

I hold out some hope for Phelps; he's still young and he'll help the team if he can get his OBA back in the .350-.360 range. For the price they're paying, he has a huge upside. But they should be trying that at all their holes; sign young players for under a million and see if they perform. I'd rather see that than Juan Gonzalez playing out the string at DH for messing up in right field.


Posted by David Pinto at 05:23 PM | Team Evaluation | TrackBack (1)
Comments

The Devil Rays have proven over and over that they are pretty much totally incompetent. They need new ownership, and maybe a move to Las Vegas. Or they need to be contracted.

Posted by: shawn at December 23, 2004 07:25 PM

The problem with the Rays is that they try to show commitment by signing lousy veterans. It happens every year. Last year they signed Rey Sanchez to replace Marlon Anderson and Tino Martinez to replace Travis Lee. There is no doubt Marlon would have outplayed Sanchez at a cheaper price, and why not give Travis Lee another year to prove something instead of bringing in Tino.

Posted by: Matt at December 23, 2004 07:57 PM

Its a shame that ownership/GM is bad with Namolli/LaMar combo. There is not much hope in sight til there is a regime change. There is some hope though. Stuart Sternberg purchased 48% team last year and expected to become the majority owner in the near future.

This combo has the franchise hijacked until then. But, Marlins are the more likely team for Vegas.

Rey Sanchez was a waste. Tino was a bargain for what they were paying him. Lee did nothing last year.

There is no reason LaMar still should a job

Posted by: David at December 23, 2004 08:43 PM

From what I understand, the D-Rays have a long stadium deal so it would cost too much for MLB to move or contract the team.

Posted by: brian at December 23, 2004 09:49 PM

Lamar basically sees the world through the old school, Joe Morgan view. He really doesn't understand major league talent at all, he doesn't get why a player is good or bad. If you don't mind a tools-oriented selection process then he's probably a decent enough scouting director but as a GM he just doesn't have the understanding of major league players to be competent at it.

Posted by: Jim W at December 24, 2004 01:34 PM

Alex Gonzales, Alex Rodriguez, what's the big difference? :-) Just following the Yankee way, marching to success...

Posted by: john swinney at December 25, 2004 11:57 AM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?