Amongst the beautiful remake of the Red Sox and worrying about who the Yankees might grab, we tend to forget how well the Rays franchise really is run.
It seemed like the only move was to trade Matt Garza and a few prospects to the Cubs for five better prospects. I am sure they would have rather moved James Shield and his past few years decline but his salary and lack of control prevented him being the one moved to make room for Jeremy Hellickson to move into the rotation in March.
But how would the offense continue to compete with Boston and New York?
Enter a very nice move by Friedman and the Rays. Sign Johnny Damon who can still hit and who had no clear place to go, then sign a HOF hitter who, even if he has succumbed to his thirty nine years and some nagging injuries, is still the dangerous right hand DH the club needed in Manny Ramirez. And sign both for less than eight million dollars, which their rivals would give to questionable set-up relievers.
Winner – Tampa Bay offense and fans. Make no mistake Damon and ManRam will get hits, drive in runs and sell tickets. Can you imagine the newspapers from Boston the first time the former Red Sox teammates return to Fenway?
Winner – the Tampa Bay pitchers who need some runs behind them.
Winner – manager Joe Maddon, because he will have a lot more flexibility to fix the rest of the Rays lineup.
Winner – the Rays management who won’t have to push Desmond Jennings into the opening day lineup if he is not ready in the spring.
Loser – Desmond Jennings if he really thinks he should be in that lineup and can’t prove it in spring training, but he could still win at least a share of right field if he hits well enough.
Winner – Joe Maddon again. The extra bats mean he can platoon Dan Johnson at 1B with Ben Zobrist and then platoon Zobrist with Sean Rodriguez at 2B if necessary.
Winner/Loser – there won’t be as many total at bats for RF Matt Joyce but he would be better off platooned with either Zobrist if he doesn’t have to play the infield or with Jennings.
WINNER – The Tampa Bay Rays have an unbelievable 12 draft picks in the first two rounds in the June draft to restock the pond and once again have one of the best minor league systems in MLB.{jcomments on}