2012-2013 Rays Off-season thread

[RaysFan_98]

This thread if for the Rays off-season and the moves that follow

[raysnbran]

I saw speculation that the Cubs would be willing to eat most of Alfonso Soriano's contract for the next 2 years and the Rays would be interested in him as a DH. Kinda doubt Andrew would do that one, but we do need a bat in the lineup to help Longo, offset the loss of Upton, and to help the pitchers too.

[Blue387]

Tampa Bay sold 30,493 more tickets in 2012 than in 2011.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/attendance-winners-and-losers/

[raysnbran]

TV ratings up 28% but it hasn't translated to people in the stadium. And their TV deal is crap, negotiated by the Naimoli/Lamar regime, nothing like the Yankees deal with YES or Red Sox with NESN, so they don't get extra money to spend on the team like they do.

http://www2.tbo.com/news/rays/2012/oct/05/11/rays-attendance-at-rock-bottom-but-ratings-up-ar-522480/

[RaysFan_98]

I saw speculation that the Cubs would be willing to eat most of Alfonso Soriano's contract for the next 2 years and the Rays would be interested in him as a DH. Kinda doubt Andrew would do that one, but we do need a bat in the lineup to help Longo, offset the loss of Upton, and to help the pitchers too.

Rumor mill has also been saying the Rays are interested in David Ortiz for DH

[raysnbran]

Never happen. I think the Sox will give him a 2 year deal and let him retire as a Red Sox. He's still looking for like $14M a year, like 25% of our 2012 payroll for a 38 year old DH? I repeat, never happen...

[raysnbran]

If the Angels re-sign Torii Hunter, Peter Bourjos might be an option to replace Upton in CF. He was rumored to be part of a trade package for Upton at the July 31 deadline anyways. No power but he has speed and defense..

[RaysFan_98]

If the Angels re-sign Torii Hunter, Peter Bourjos might be an option to replace Upton in CF. He was rumored to be part of a trade package for Upton at the July 31 deadline anyways. No power but he has speed and defense..

Or they could just re-sign upton.

[raysnbran]

Or they could just re-sign upton.

He's gone to arbitration for like the last 4 offseasons. If he had wanted to sign a deal here, he would have by now, like Longoria, Matt Moore and Zobrist did, buying out their option years for guaranteed money. But instead, he got his guaranteed raise and is now ready to cash in at the casino window. After the way Granderson has performed this postseason, the Yankees may now be interested in him, which is about $10M a year above what we would pay for him.

[RaysFan_98]

He's gone to arbitration for like the last 4 offseasons. If he had wanted to sign a deal here, he would have by now, like Longoria, Matt Moore and Zobrist did, buying out their option years for guaranteed money. But instead, he got his guaranteed raise and is now ready to cash in at the casino window. After the way Granderson has performed this postseason, the Yankees may now be interested in him, which is about $10M a year above what we would pay for him.

We could always trade away price to the yanks for a-rod there have been rumors they are willing to pay most of his salary to get rid of him. I think he would do better in a not so pressure cooker environment that we have here.

[raysnbran]

C'mon man, seriously? Trade a #1 SP who might win the Cy Young this year for a 37 year old broken down 3B who has seen his stats drop ominously since he got off the 'roids?

[RaysFan_98]

C'mon man, seriously? Trade a #1 SP who might win the Cy Young this year for a 37 year old broken down 3B who has seen his stats drop ominously since he got off the 'roids?

Well if price wins the Cy it might price the Rays out of price because his artib will go sky high.

[raysnbran]

I've seen articles since you posted this speculating that if Price wins the Cy Young, his arbitration salary could jump into the $12-13M a year range. If the Rays seriously contemplate trading Price if that happens, there is no hope for this team's future. You might as well just back up the Mayflower moving vans and leave town. And I hate talking about all the players that we can't afford every off season. Steinberg has done a lot for this team (it would have already been moved or contracted if he hadn't bought it from Naimoli), but just once, I would like to have an owner of a Tampa Bay team with deep pockets willing to spend whatever it took to build championship teams.

[RaysFan_98]

I've seen articles since you posted this speculating that if Price wins the Cy Young, his arbitration salary could jump into the $12-13M a year range. If the Rays seriously contemplate trading Price if that happens, there is no hope for this team's future. You might as well just back up the Mayflower moving vans and leave town. And I hate talking about all the players that we can't afford every off season. Steinberg has done a lot for this team (it would have already been moved or contracted if he hadn't bought it from Naimoli), but just once, I would like to have an owner of a Tampa Bay team with deep pockets willing to spend whatever it took to build championship teams.

True story. Steinberg has deep pockets though he is just unwilling to unload on the team. Its not so much that the Rays won't be ok without price as much as it is that we have a pitching backlog.

[Yaz]

True story. Steinberg has deep pockets though he is just unwilling to unload on the team. Its not so much that the Rays won't be ok without price as much as it is that we have a pitching backlog.

He'll sell the team in a few years to Jeter, who will save the day when he negotiates a way to move the team to Tampa.