in 2009 the rays payroll was about $63 million. management has stated they want payroll in 2010 to be about $53 million.

percival($4.4),bradford($3.5),nelson($1.3) and isringhausen($.75) come off the books for about $10 million. upton,bartlett,navarro,howell,garza,balfour and cormier are arbitration eligible this year. conservatively keeping all will cost an extra $10 million to payroll. net gain $0.

jason bartlett and pat burrell to atlanta for yunel escobar and minor leaguers.
rays upside- frees up about $11 million. still have a starting shortstop.
braves upside-adds speed to line up and they get a power hitter.
braves downside- will add about $14 million to their payroll.

more thoughts later.

in 2009 major league baseball's attendance dropped 6.9%. 2010 will bring about another 10% decline in attendance. teams are dumping salary and will continue to do so. only the deep pocketed teams will spend money.

the rays WILL drop their payroll by $10 million before spring training. the ONLY question is how. 3 rays will make or be close to $10 million in salary next year.
carlos pena - $10.1 million
carl crawford - $10 million
pat burrell - $9 million

i've already given a burrell scenario.

carlos pena scenario
has to be a deep pocket team
mets - delgado at $16 million comes off their books. mets save $6 million.
giants - want a big bat in line up
if rays go al partner
seattle - saving money with japanese catcher going back to japan
kansas city - surprise team that might spend

someone IS going!

more thought later

They trade Bartlett to get out from under the mistake they made with Burrell I am out. I have been waiting YEARS for them to get an above average SS.

They messed up with Burrell. Figure out a way to dump him without weakening the team any further. A few teams are interested in Brignac. Make him part of a Burrell dump.

If they destroy this team to get to a number..As far as I'm concerned they can have a payroll of 20 mil..I won't spend 1 dime supporting another loser..I have not got ten more years...A team with no goals but to have a low payroll is definitly bound for low finishes, certainly unable to compete for any loft in the standings...

If they trade Bartlett that is a deal breaker for me. They need to keep the core of this team and he is a big part of it.

I agree with Casey and Sandburger. If they want people to take them seriously put a serious team out there. And it will take more than one successful year for people to buy in after the Marlins won the series then had their fire sale. They need to know the RFO is serious about being competetive year in and year out. They don't have to win, but they have to have a shot at it.

Attendance was up more than 20% for the year thru August, then they dumped salary and the bottom fell out. The attendance numbers dropped to only about a 4% increase on the year. You cannot act like the Pittsburgh Rays and expect to sell the place out.

we can all moan about the rays payroll but the REALITY is this ownership is not deep pocketed. attendance and revenues will be going down with the economic pressures being put on families and corporations. as TRUE rays fans we are going to be forced to accept some decisions by management that we won't like.

carl crawford scenario
NOBODY in baseball covers leftfield and centerfield like like carl and b.j. their excellence is underrated.
NOBODY in baseball disrupts a pitching staff more than carl when he is on base and he is just hitting his prime.
carl doesn't like playing on our artificial turf. playing on grass would extend his career.

the rays MAYBE able to sign him to an extention but carl's days as a ray are numbered.
this is going to kill me watching him play for another team.

ANY and ALL teams will want him. he will be played to the highest bidder.

this is not a question of IF carl will be traded just WHEN.

navs is gone..no way he gets a raise..

no way braves take fatpat...
not unless the rays throw in someone really good....

review of last year's offseason trade
edwin jackson for matt joyce

in 2008 for the rays;
edwin jackson's pitching line was
ip 183.1,w-l 14-11,era 4.42,w 77,k's 108,whip 1.51 and baa .281

jeff neiman won the spot for jackson's slot in spring training
in 2009 for the rays neiman's pitching line was;
ip 180.1,w-l 13-6,era 3.94,w 59,k's 125,whip 1.35 and baa .266

neiman bettered the slot and saved the rays $1.8 million

in 2010 edwin jackson is arbitration eligible again. he made $2.2 million last year.

in 2010 matt joyce takes gabe gross spot. saves the rays $1.8 million.

dioner navarro scenario

navarro made $2.1 million in 2009. arbitration eligible again this year. everything might depend on the final salary figure. may just keep him.
in house options;
zaun - roughly same salary and arbitration eligible.
riggans and/or jaso - save salary.

teams that need a catcher
seattle
milwaukee
ny mets
houston
san diego
cincinnati

could be trade bait

Just remember Zaun is not an everyday catcher. If we trade Navi, who do you use to fill that hole?

Also, neither is Riggans or Jaso. Navi is our guy, like it or not. The Rays are going to give him at least this year to see if he will rebound. I think he will to a certain degree. I don't see him putting up the numbers he did in 2008, but I also don't see him having a year like he did last year. Something more in between is more likely.

The scenario I see is this: Keep Navi and keep Zaun. Have Zaun teach Navi about handling pitchers, and Zaun plays about every 5 days or so.

rays least year's offseason BIG mistake

pat burrell
it didn't matter what numbers burrell would have put up for the rays in 2009.
the deal changed the culture of the organization.
prior to signing burrell the rays culture was a homegrown approach
reward the players who were brought up in the rays organization.
burrell's signing instantly made him one of the highest paid ray.
the clubhouse took note.
then burrell shows up in less than ideal playing condition.
the clubhouse had to ask itself - we're trading kazmir because of an outsider

in the past the rays would add a veteran role player to the squad.
cliff floyd and gabe kapler are prime examples of helping the home grown players

the rays just resigned kapler to a $1 million deal for 2010
good for the rays

burrell's signing is going to haunt the rays
carl,b.j.,price,zobrist are ALL taking note

What is your source for this Kapler signing for 2010? I haven't been able to locate anything about that...

Not only would I be shocked to see the RFO resign him at $1M as a platoon player with low numbers --- I'd be disappointed.... With all we have as OF parts in AAA I think Kapler at $1M is a waste of $1M.

ht tp://blogs.tampabay.com/rays/2009/10/tampa-bay-rays-resign-outfielder-gabe-kapler.html

The team does need depth, and while $1MM sounds like a lot to people like us, it's the going rate for reserve outfielders at the ML level. Decent signing, Kapler did some good things for the Rays. Can't say I love it though.

Thanks for the link!

But I have to say I don't really see the need for this. Unless the RFO plans on leaving Joyce, Jennings in AAA for the season. That would possibly leave Kapler (LHP) and Perez (RHP) to platoon in RF. Or maybe Zoby if they bring up S-Rod to play 2nd.....

Not sure I'm seeing a clear need for Kapler at this point especially with his poor numbers.

My reaction to the move is that it's an insurance policy. With Kapler, the Rays get a known quantity. Solid defense, a little pop in the bat, a good enough attitude. I do wish he would hit a bit more.

With Jennings and Joyce, they are still AAA players and you don't always know if guys can hit ML breaking stuff.

On another note, what is the love affair people have with Perez? Other than showing some really great speed, he can't handle ML pitching or at least he hasn't shown it so far. His defense is fine, but I wouldn't want to keep him in the lineup just for that.

Perez was a consistant .289 hitter in the minors, including .288 in AAA Durham. I don't think he's had enough at bats in the majors to determine his hitting abilities against major league pitchers. He is beingt groomed as a switch hitting bunt specialist, something severely lacking in the 2009 season. He's lightning quick and a solid defenseman, and he should help with run production. I think he can help eliminate alot of the double plays the Rays hit into this year. I don't see him as an everyday player to start 2010, rather a Kapler/Gross type. This would afford Maddon a better opportunity to "tune" his lineup to the opposing pitcher, and allow better pinch hitter opportunities as the relievers come in. Much like Kapler, he is an insurance policy.

I agree about Perez, he will be exposed if and when he plays everyday, he has not hit consistently. And his defense is even suspect at times- esp. awkward routes to the ball.

Here's hoping we keep Upton- anyone who wants him gone is CRAZY!!