Andrew blows the chance to win the pennant in 2013. Shield and Davis to the Royals for a bunch of not ready for prime time players. And if they are ready, they will not be that good until at least August.

So the Royals now have 4 starting pitchers that can compete and keep the team in games.
Plus given how bad the Rays hit ... now the Royals can match up pitching wise.

Andrew makes the cardinal sin of a GM. He trades above average talent to teams in his own league and makes that opponent a better team and his team worse off.

If the Royals get 10 to 15 more wins thanks to Shields and Davis, that means the Rays have to make up the wins we lose that Davis and Shield's put up in 2012 just to stay even.

Major, major, dumb move.

Man ... four PROSPECTS for Shields AND Davis! Seems like an unbelievable giveaway to me!

Personally, and in spite of all the hype over Myers, I don't think even trading JUST Shields for the four baby newbies constitutes a good deal for the Rays. MAYBE ... Myers and FIVE other prospects for just Shields???

I agree ... I think it appeards to be a dumb move ... and it seems like a move maybe made in desperation, i.e., desperation to dump some big salary ... and desperation to get an outfielder ... ANY outfielder.

Of course, Myers started out life as a catcher ... so ... maybe that somehow entered into Friedman's thinking, too ... and Oderizzi is a sinkerballer ... which is always good ... but Montgomery has been fading for the past two seasons and Leonard doesn't even seem to show up on the charts. (???)

At first glance I was taken aback at the deal because no ML player was included.....But after taking a deep breathj and looking over everything, the deal makes sense....Will it prvent the Rays from being contenders? Absolutely not, if their is one thing the Rays are deep in it is pitching and a rotation of Price, Hellickson, Moore, Cobb, Niemann or Archer is still one of the best in the game......Price is now the leader of the group, Moore, Helly and the rest have to, and will step it up a notch pitching more innings......Our pitching will still be tops.

Now as for Myers, who turns 22 today, every single person connected to the game thinks that this kid is not only going to be great, but better than Trout or Harper! His numbers in the minors reflect that, but it is the minors and how will he adjust to MLB pitching against the Verlanders, Sabathias, Weavers, etc? Everyone says he will make a very rapid adjustment and will hit, and for power. The chances are he will spend the first month of 2013 in Durham so the arbitration clock adds another year (as they did with Longo in 2008).......Many are also predicting that Oderizzi could be part of the Rays pitching staff mid 2013. he has a devastating sinkerball, solid curve, good fastball and change and is only 23, Montgomery has had some mechanical problems, but if anyone can fix them it will be Hickey and some are even saying that the last piece in the deal, Leonard could become the big sleeper in the deal down the road........

So while, it may appear to a few, that Andrew gave away the post season with this trade, I do not believe that one bit.......In addition, with all the money that now gets saved from the Shields Davis trade, that can go towards keeping Price loocked in for a few years......

No one here has a crystal ball, so lets just wait and see what this trade brings the Rays with Myers and the rest.

By the way heard Shields interview this morning and a pure class guy, thanking the Rays organization (his family, as he put it), thanked the fans for the support during good times and bad, understands the "business" of the game, said he and his family will maintain their residence here because it is my home, KC is just where my new job is".....As always a very classy guy, good luck James.

Hey, who knows when the deal with KC end, maybe James will come back home to finish his career where he started it!!

Yeah ... my only REAL issue is trading BOTH Shields AND Davis for four prospects ... one of whom (Leonard) doesn't even make the charts and another (Montgomery) who's on a downslide. Maybe Shields for the four IF they were also actively dumping salary ... but I think even Shields alone could merit FIVE prospects ... three top-tier and two second-tier. I just don't get (nor like) giving away Davis, too ... although I do believe he was probably VERY resentful as a result of being demoted to the bullpen.

And, honestly, in my opinion, Myers would DEFINITELY have to be the second coming of Mike Trout ... IMMEDIATELY ... for me to believe this trade wasn't a Rays giveaway. Beyond that, there's no way to justify this trade of BOTH pitchers for three prospects ... one of whom has been fading for the past two seasons ... and a throw-in minor leaguer ... PLUS, PLUS, PLUS ... the Rays still have to throw in another player to be named later or cash! Seems like very bad business!

Time will tell ... but ... at the moment ... I think Friedman is REALLY on the spot in this one ... ESPECIALLY if Myers and Odorizzi don't VERY SUCCESSFULLY make the team this season. if this turns out to be a bad mistake ... Friedman's career will take a SERIOUS hit!

(???)

I think it's a fair deal for both teams.

Each got what they were looking for.

But even after waiting---no, expecting Shields to be traded for the last gazillion years, it's still a bit shocking. But he'll be fine. And we should be fine.

I think Rays fans are the only people who think this is a terrible deal for us because Shields is a CY Young candidate and Wade Davis is a solid #2 in many rotations.

I hate this trade because I wanted to see Shields and Price become to first duo since Johnson and Schilling to both get 20 wins and fight for the CY Young. Johnson and Schilling put the Diamondbacks into the playoffs and won it for them.

I do understand the trade. Shields has value now, he may not have that same value next year if the Rays acted on the team option and a higher pay. Also, keeping shields would put the Rays into a tough spot where they would have to give about 5 years 90 mil for a 33 yr old pitcher. I say 5 yrs and 90 mil because that would be the minimum offer for his talents. That would be taking a huge chance on a pitcher who now has 6 consecutive seasons of 200+ innings. Really his are could fall off.

I do not believe Myers will be the answer THIS YEAR. He will have some struggles and probably hit for around .250 and 20-25 HRs. However, that is what BJ would have hit if he stayed with the Rays (due to poor hitting instruction). Hopefully, Myers can bring some valued hitting tips from Royals coaches to help Evan.

Now our only weak some is DH. With the freed up money from BJ and now Shields, I hope the Rays get aggressive on

JOSH HAMILTON for 3 years.

Can you imagine this line up?

DJ
Zobrist
Hamilton
Evan
Myers
Joyce
Loney
Escobar
Gimenez

Forget that, you will NEVER see hamilton playing for the Rays.....This is where all the demons began after the auto accident, and the last place Josh wants to come back to is St. Pete as a Ray. Had that accident never happened, none of the problems Josh encountered would have happened and he would have been a Ray, but the pain killers he was prescribed became addctive and led to everything else.......So St. Pete is the last place Josh wants to be.

We just knocked $10-11 mil from the projected payroll.

So here's the dilemma. Save it or spend it?

And if spend it, on whom?

I still think Luke Scott on a discount. And the rest on margaritas.

The way I see it,Shields was a stopper..Who won after the Rays would go into a tail spin...How many victories would Shields have had if he had runs to work with?..It may turn out Ok but Unless helli or someone can do what Shields has done, I don't see this team as the best pitching in baseball,,After Price they are .500 pitchers at best..The Rays could have and should have got more..Time will tell and the pen will have to be as good as last year,maybe a little better...

With Run support all our starters are 15 game winners. Most of them only struggle the first time through the lineup due to trying to be absolutely perfect since we could rarely get more than 3 runs a game.

This is how I see it.

With the acquisitions this year, assuming the 6/11/2013 call up of Myers, are the Rays better now than for the 2012 season?

I think so.

We have added batting average (on paper); replenished the stock of potential pitchers and built on infield defense.

We have subtracted strikeouts (on paper) from Upton, Pena; 47 homers from them and a good dose of over 200 plus innings from pitchers.

I like our chances.

Regarding the homers by Upton and Pena.

I'm not particularly worried about that if only for the simple reason that we lost more games due to their strikeouts than we won by their homers.

And in addition to that they also hit for double plays.

Don't forget ... that bullpen will now be without Badenhop and Davis ... the only really solid middle-relievers (that could go a couple of innings) the Rays have had over the past three seasons or so ... and don't forget that Shields was 11-12 in '09 and 13-15 in '10. He did have three losing seasons in his seven seasons in the majors ... and many might consider the winning seasons to be somewhat fair-to-middling. (?) Plus, it's been clear for the last couple of seasons that Price was "the man". I just don't think the Rays got enough in return for BOTH Shields and Davis.

(Note: I think you might have been in error regarding your comment that Henry Wrigley had signed with Cincinnati ... because I think he signed with the Rockies (???) ... unless the Rockies turned around and traded him to Cincinnati. (?) Also ... he's righthanded ... and a lot of managers really prefer lefthanded first basemen ... plus ... apparently some of the major domos on the Rays didn't like his strikeout to walks ratio (which I don't think was as bad as Upton's) ... but ... I still think he should have had a real trial with the Rays this past season ... even at DH or in right field. I think he'll end up being a decent hitter for somebody!)

You may be right ,I don't know where I read Cinci..

C'mon. He's an incorrigible addict/abuser ... drugs, prescription drugs, booze, drug arrests, etc. ... with around-the-clock, 24/7, "personal minders" whose only job is to keep him away from his drugs of choice. Among other things ... what employer would really want the legal liability baggage that goes along with hiring somebody like that?

"RBL" suggests the Rays might re-sign Scott as DH ... and Maddon has sort of indicated he might engage a "DH by committee" ... BUT ... rather than Scott ... I could go along with giving Swisher a shot ... although ... only .256 over nine seasons ... BUT ... with an average of 24 HRs and 75 RBIs per season! Certainly better than ANY DH the Rays have had in recent memory ... PLUS ... he has significant effective EXPERIENCE at both rightfield AND first base ... both of which the Rays could use ... and neither of which Scott can EFFECTIVELY provide. So ... maybe at age 32 ... he's worth a try ... BUT ... they say he's looking for a four-year/$60 million deal ... and that's w-a-y out of the Rays' range ... especially for a DH! So ... if they don't go fo a DH by committee ... ol' .229 BA/.285 OBP Mr. Muttonchops is liable to be back! (Ugh!)

It's a good trade. Even though Shields is my favorite Ray. He was the player that kick started Rays winning back in .... 07? Rays would lose like three in a row but Shields would be the streak stopper. Money

I hate DH by Committee. Designated hitters should know how to hit. It makes no since using the "position" as a chance to rest someone.

Even if we did use it to committee, we still need another player besides the like of Tats, S-Rod, and Fuld. They are bench players and should not be given the opportunity to play everyday.

How do you feel about Berkman?