Ramirez and Damon finally put pen to paper for the Tampa Bay Rays
It has taken a few weeks, but yesterday Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon finally put pen to paper as the Rays announced the official signing of the two players which bring an interesting twist to the Rays this season.
This is yet another in a long line of Rays ownership’s low risk, high reward signings.
During the signing of the two former Boston Red Sox teammates, Manny Ramirez told reporters, ” Like Johnny said, the pitching is great. Me and Johnny, we could help. We have a lot of experience. I think we could work with the young guys and make them better”.
The signing comes as I explained, with little risk and a huge upside potential. Johnny Damon now can possibly return to the leadoff position, giving the Rays a genuine leadoff bat, and Ramirez comes with some huge potential as finally providing the Rays with a DH bat which will no longer be hovering around the .200 batting average level. While Man-Ram might not blast 30 homeruns at this point in his career, if he can hold his batting average around .280 and hit 20 homeruns, he will be more productive in the long run than Carlos Pena was last season.
These two are interesting signings, and as many Rays fans were getting ready to write the Rays fans off for the 2011 season, the addition of these two veterans could make the 2011 season very, very interesting. The signing of these two are drawing some interest from baseball observers around the league. Bryan Douglass chimed in at Gunaxin Sports. Bryan always adds a very interesting take on the latest in the world of sports. You can read his take right here.
Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez now Tampa Bay Rays
Johnny Damon AND Manny Ramirez are now both Tampa Bay Rays players heading into 2011. According to SI’s Jon Heyman on Twitter, the only thing holding up these deals is a physical.
According to Heyman, Johnny Damon will be paid $5.25 million this season plus a $750K attendance bonus and Manny Ramirez will get a salary of $2 million from the Tampa Bay Rays.
This is huge news for Tampa Bay Rays fans that thought this was going to be a club which could not win 70 games in 2010. If both of these players can increase their production 10-20% over the 2010 MLB season, they could be great numbers for the Rays in 2011.
It’ll be great to watch Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez suit up against the Boston Red Sox and Carl Crawford this season.
Are the Tampa Bay Rays in the running for Johnny Damon and either Manny Ramirez or Vladimir Guerrero?
Talk about your turn of events, not to mention those Tampa Bay Rays “fans” who were ready to ink the Rays down for 65 wins next season, it now seems as the day wears on that the Rays could be in the market to add two big bats to the lineup.
Reports surfaced from various outlets, including ESPN this morning, that the Tampa Bay Rays were close to an agreement with Johnny Damon. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, and I have to say, I was ho-hum about the prospect. I was happy it was Johnny Damon and not OF Andruw Jones, who signed a contract with the New York Yankees.
However, as the reports of Damon being linked to the Rays swirled around the internet, so were the reports that the Tampa Bay Rays might just sign Damon and either Manny Ramirez or Vladimir Guerrero as well. Well isn’t that a interesting twist. The first report was on MLB.com. Then this afternoon, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports was reporting the same thing.
Granted, these are players in their mid to late thirties and not playing at the level they once did, however, what a potential boost to the offense. Damon is just one season removed from a 24 home run season and has average over 140 games per season in his career. Damon brings the bat from the left side of the plate.
Either Ramirez or Guerrero bring the bat from the right side of the plate. Honestly, I would rather see Guerrero with the Rays in 2011, but a Ramirez which could find 15-20 home runs in a DH role this season would not be unwelcome at the right price.
This is shaping up to be a very interesting turn of events, and while the Rays have not officially issued any statement as of yet, the fact that the rumors are out there of the Rays wanting to potentially add two veteran bats, is very encouraging.
I don’t think the moves are done yet either. Rumors surfaced this week that the Rays might be wanting to execute a trade with Pittsburgh for a late inning arm as well. Stay tuned, because I think this season might be better than many of the dooms day predictors out there have forecast.
Tampa Bay Rays continue to build towards the future
Tampa Bay Rays fans knew this season, several key players were going to leave through free agency or trades. Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena departed to sign with other teams. P Joaquin Benoit is now a member of the White Sox. Despite taking some short term hits, the Tampa Bay Rays have made some pretty shrewd moves and continue to build towards the future.
The Matt Garza trade brought five players that should contribute with in a few years. And yesterday it was reported that two Tampa Bay Rays free agents finally signed. RP Chad Qualls signed a one year deal with the san Diego Padres worth $2 million dollars for one season. In return the Rays will get a compensatory sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of this years MLB draft.
Last evening, news broke that the New York Yankees have finally signed RP Rafael Soriano, one of the highest remaining free agents of the offseason. Soriano’s contract is a remarkable 3 year $35 million dollars. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said last week that the team would not mortgage the future by signing Soriano, despite Soriano stating he would be willing to accept a set up role with the club. This just shows how you cannot take anything a team spokesman says at face value. In return for Soriano, the Rays will now have the 31st pick in the first round in this year’s draft as compensation for losing the closer who recorded 45 saves for the Rays last season.
And for those Rays fans who wanted the club to retain all of these players, here is a staggering figure for you, of the 9 Rays free agents which have signed contracts, those contracts total 19 years of duration and the full value of those contracts are worth a staggering $215 million dollars. And that figure does not include the signings of Grant Balfour, Willy Aybar and Lance Cormier as of yet.
I feel that the Rays have done the best that they could do given the circumstances and I seriously doubt the moves are finished. I have faith that the front office understands what it is doing. The Garza trade allowed a spot on the roster for Jeremy Hellickson, a move that was overdue. These were a series of wise moves for the Rays that are putting together a team that might make another run in 2012 or 2013. However, I am not ruling 2011 out. This is still going to be a very competitive team with one of the best young starting pitching staffs in baseball.
I realize that some Rays fans are having flashbacks to the days of old and are thinking that 2011 is going to be completely lost, the team will be lucky to win 75 games this year. This is not the Rays team of old, have some faith in the moves of the front office and the young talent that this team has groomed. I can easily understand the mindset of what some long time Rays fans must be thinking, I’m also a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans and after a 3-13 season in 2009, thoughts of the Hugh Culverhouse days flashed into my head. However, look at the season the Buccaneers had this year with very young talent, in a season when not very many analysts predicted them to win more than 6 games.
Another Tampa Bay Rays pitcher signs a new deal with another team
The San Diego Padres are reportedly very close to signing former Tampa Bay Rays bullpen pitcher Chad Qualls. The 6’5″ right handed pitcher was offered arbitration by the Tampa Bay Rays but decided against the move, wanting to test the free agent market.
Qualls was acquired by the Rays from the Arizona Diamondbacks last year at the trade deadline and he 31 year old pitcher recorded a 5.57 ERA with the Rays in 21 innings pitched. The Tampa Bay Rays will receive a supplementary first round pick for losing Qualls since he was offered arbitration.
