X-Rays Spex

A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

  • Categories
    • The New What Next
    • Looking Backward While Moving Forward
    • Lineups
    • Hot-Stove
    • Two Minute Hate
    • This Week in Rays Baseball
    • Caption Contests
  • About
  • Events
  • Contact Us

Rays, Cards swap four players; Chaz Roe arbitration news

January 10, 2020 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays traded a pair of prospects to the St. Louis Cardinals for José Martínez and Randy Arozarena.

The Tampa Bay and St. Louis completed a four-player trade on Thursday, with the Rays acquiring first baseman/outfielder/designated hitter José Martínez, outfielder Randy Arozarena, and the Cardinals’ Competitive Balance Round A draft pick in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore, lower level catching prospect Edgardo Rodriguez, and the Rays’ pick in Competitive Balance Round B draft pick. The Rays had been searching for outfield depth, not to mention right-handed hitting, and they filled those needs with Martínez and Arozarena.

Tampa Bay had been interested in Martínez, 31, for quite a while now. Granted he does come with longstanding defensive concerns — he recorded -9 Outs Above Average (OAA) in rightfield last season according to StatCast — yet he has the makings of an ideal DH candidate. The right-handed hitting Martínez will join the southpaw hitting Nate Lowe, Ji-Man Choi, and the recently-signed Yoshitomo Tsutsugo in the first base/DH mix.

Martínez boasts a career .298 OPS/.363 OBP/.458 SLG/.821 OPS slash line with a 122 wRC+. He, however, is coming off a career-worst .269 BA/.340 OBP/.410 SLG/.750 OPS campaign with a 101 wRC+ across 373 plate appearances — just 1% better than the league average. Yet, Steamer projects a bounceback season for the right-handed hitter in 2020, closer to his career line, with the projection system expecting a .280 BA/.346 OBP/.440 SLG/.786 OPS over 243 plate appearances, and a modest 108 wRC+.

wRC+ vs LHP in 2019:

Yandy – 160
Pham – 160
Jose Martinez…..160 https://t.co/SplmrT28jT

— Jason Collette (@jasoncollette) January 10, 2020

It fails to be seen how the Rays will adjust the lineup to include Martínez, although his primary role seems fairly cut and dry: he will likely be called upon to face left-handed pitching. He has slashed a beastly .331 BA/.405 OBP/.570 SLG/1.175 OPS line with 15 homers over 298 career plate appearances against southpaws.

Another reason the Rays targeted Martínez: he is known to hit the ball on the screws, owning an impressive career-average exit velocity of 90.0 mph.

With fielding no longer a concern, the Rays are hoping that Martinez can concentrate fully on being a productive force at the plate.

Arozarena posted a 162 wRC+ in 2018 (at the minor league level), a 151 wRC+ in 2019 in AAA, and a 138 wRC+ last season at the big-league level…albeit across a small 19-game sample size. #Rays https://t.co/CynDPEK6Y1

— X-Rays Spex (@XRaysSpex) January 10, 2020

Arozarena looks to take over the platoon role vacated by Guillermo Heredia. He enters having collected some strong hitting numbers in Cuba, the minor leagues, and in his brief 19-game/23-plate appearance cameo with St. Louis last season (and three more plate appearances in the National League Division Series).

A 2016 international signing, Arozarena has accrued an impressive .292 BA/.377 OBP/.477 SLG/.855 OPS line across 1302 minor league plate appearances, with 38 home runs.

Dominik Vega (DRaysBay) took a look at Arozarena following news of the trade, writing:

Arozarena’s MLB exit velocity in 2019 averaged 90.7 mph, but with only 16 batted balls, that number should not be taken at face value. Instead, his 15 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019 should do the talking. While not known as a prospect with power, Arozarena has shown the ability to hit line drives and stretch them into extra-base-hits while in the minors.

When he does hit the ball in the air, Arozarena has shown some sneaky raw power to his pull side, and he hit all 12 of his home runs to left field in 2018.

MLB Pipeline

Since 2017, Arozarena has a career OPS of 1.004 against lefties in the minors, spanning over 300 PAs. The Cardinals’ outfield is full of young players and finding Arozarena time was going to be difficult for them in 2020, making him expendable.

A strong spring put Arozarena in mind with the big league staff, and the team has long viewed him as a fourth or fifth outfielder in the majors. Now they’re seeing even more.

Derrick Goold, BaseballAmerica

Even with concerns about Arozarena’s aggressiveness at the plate and on the base paths, he has the ability to make swift adjustments in the box which clearly has shown to bear fruit at every level. His plate approach, paired with an elite 29.4 feet per second speed, makes him an apt centerfield option on days when Kevin Kiermaier needs some time off his feet.

Noteworthiness

— With the arbitration deadline looming at 1:00 PM Friday afternoon, Jeff Passan (ESPN) announced a $2,185,200 agreement between RHP Chaz Roe and the team. That is in line with MLB Trade Rumors projected salary of $2.2-Million. 2020 marks the penultimate arbitration-eligible season for Roe.

The Rays have until the deadline to terms with four other players (projected salaries are in parentheses):

Oliver Drake ($1.1-Million)

Tyler Glasnow ($1.9-Million)

Hunter Renfroe ($3.4-Million)

Daniel Robertson ($1.1-Million)

Rays formally introduce Yoshitomo Tsutsugo

December 18, 2019 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

  • “Yoshi” introduced himself to the Tampa Bay area on Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Two days ago the Tampa Bay Rays formally announced the signing of Japanese outfielder/infielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, and this afternoon they introduced him to the Tampa Bay area.

筒香 嘉智 is the name, but you can call him Yoshi. pic.twitter.com/fYlYE1cF32

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) December 18, 2019

The Rays prioritized the addition of offense this offseason and with Yoshi — as he prefers to be called — they got just that.

Tsutsugo, 28, has been one of Japan’s most preeminent sluggers for the past four seasons, slashing a combined .293 BA/.402 OBP/.574 SLG/.976 OPS with 139 home runs, 116 doubles, five triples, a 15.1% walk rate, and a 20.4% strikeout rate. He was most productive in 2016 when he crushed a career-high 44 homers and hit .322 BA/.430 OBP/.680 SLG/1.110 OPS. He, however, is coming off his weakest of the past four, in which he saw his strikeout rate climb to 25.3%. Even so, Tsutsugo slashed a respectable .272 BA/.388 OBP/.511 SLG/.899 OPS line with 29 long balls. Since 2014, he has averaged 31 homers per season.

Tsutsugo has played some third base in his career, although he has spent most of his time in left field or at first base. He will likely see time in the corner-outfield spots — primarily left field — as well as hitting in the DH role, which was mentioned during the press conference/introduction. He has improved defensively at the hot corner, albeit over a small sample size, and if he continues to improve at that position, Yoshi would give the Rays a left-handed-hitting option to split time with Yandy Díaz, who is the projected starting third baseman heading into next season.

The versatility only helps. We saw what took place last year with injuries and being able to shift guys around and put him in different roles to fill immediate needs when certain guys got hurt; he’s going to add to that mix. I fully expect him to be a presence somewhere right in the middle of our lineup.

— Kevin Cash

Prior to the 2019 Winter Meetings, Kevin Cash and Erik Neander visited Tsutsugo, who was working out in California.

And while Tampa Bay had scouted Tsutsugo over the past few seasons, they wanted to watch him in person. The decision, plus superlatives from his agent, Joel Wolfe — who also represents Tyler Glasnow — helped the Rays ink a two-year, $12-million deal with the slugger. This in spite of having received larger offers from other teams.

Throughout the whole process, the Rays were the first team that was interested in me. Kevin and Erik were very passionate, and they were the first team to approach me and they told me, ‘We need you to be able to win this division.’

— Yoshitomo Tsutsugo

Yoshi appeared in 10 Winter Ball games in the Dominican Republic in 2015, and believes he will adapt well to a big league clubhouse.

Obviously I’ve never faced MLB pitching and I’m really excited about it. Throughout my career in Japan, I’ve prepared for this my whole life. I understand the Rays have great data and resources here and with (Cash) and the other coaches, just to be able to help me prepare — I’m excited for that.

— Yoshitomo Tsutsugo

In short, the Rays took the time to know Tsutsugo, and truly wanted him. He appreciated that, and thinks highly of the team that uses data and resources to provide help to any players in need.

According to Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), Tsutsugo will spend the next couple of days looking for a place to live during the season, then will return to Japan until late January, when he will make Tampa Bay his baseball home.

You can watch a non-condensed version of the 35-minute press conference below.

Watch as we welcome Yoshitomo Tsutsugo to the Tampa Bay Rays! https://t.co/Uds3MER1yN

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) December 17, 2019

Tampa Bay Rays, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo finalizing two-year, $12-Million deal

December 13, 2019 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

The Tampa Bay Rays acquired Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh on Friday.

Just when you thought that the Baseball Winter Meetings would be uneventful for Tampa Bay…well, save for the ramblings of their attention-starved owner, news broke Friday that the Rays are finalizing a contract with Japanese slugging 1B/OF Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. He is expected to receive a two-year, $12-Million contract. The Rays will also be on the hook for the $2.4-Million posting fee to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, meaning this deal will cost the team about $14.4-Million.

Tsutsugo, 28, has been one of Japan’s most preeminent sluggers for the past four seasons, slashing a combined .293 BA/.402 OBP/.574 SLG/.976 OPS with 139 home runs, 116 doubles, five triples, a 15.1% walk rate, and a 20.4% strikeout rate. He was most productive in 2016 when he crushed a career-high 44 homers and hit .322 BA/.430 OBP/.680 SLG/1.110 OPS. He, however, is coming off his weakest of the past four, in which he saw his strikeout rate climb to 25.3%. Even so, Tsutsugo slashed a respectable .272 BA/.388 OBP/.511 SLG/.899 OPS line with 29 long balls. Since 2014, he has averaged 31 homers per season.

Tsutsugo has played some third base in his career, although he has spent most of his time in left field or at first base. He will likely see time in the outfield, as well as hitting in the DH role

Lots of Eric Thames parallels here https://t.co/EDbLeBdEA2 https://t.co/K8wKCWqm2j pic.twitter.com/oRengvWLKM

— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) December 13, 2019

Will Hoefer (Sports Info Solutions) wrote in September that, in spite of his defensive limitations, Tsutsugo has a plus arm and the makeup to be a franchise slugger:

Tsutsugo has long been viewed as a player who could immediately contribute to any MLB team. One look at his swing and you can see why. He exhibits the bat control and hand quickness of a plus hitter with the bat speed and lower half mechanics to generate plus power. He’s arguably the most polished hitter of any domestic hitter in the NPB, as there’s no wasted movement in his load and his wrists are loose and quick.

There’s defensive issues that will cap his value. Tsutsugoh is a well below-average runner who shows poor reactions both in the infield and the outfield, though with his plus arm he could be hidden in right field with strong positioning. Yokohama has used him as a third baseman with some frequency this year, but he lacks the foot speed and reflexes necessary to field that position with any long term success.

With that said, Tsutsugo should be considered by teams as a DH/1B type if he ends up on the posting market. The White Sox, who not only have a massive hole at DH but will have to make a decision on whether or not they can afford to retain pending free agent first baseman José Abreu, make a lot of sense as a fit for Yokohama’s franchise slugger.

— Will Hoefer

Tsutsugo became a fan favorite for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and received his own song from the crowd, who chanted “Go Tsutsu Go” whenever he stepped into the batter’s box.

Here’s to many home runs off the batter’s eye, like the one in the embedded video below.

Kevin Cash presser; Rays hot-stove rumors

December 10, 2019 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

Rays manager Kevin Cash spoke with the media at the 2019 Baseball Winter Meetings, on Monday.

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash spoke with the media at the 2019 Baseball Winter Meetings, on Monday.

Cash covered a lot of ground in his 18-minute presser, most notably discussing the future of the opener strategy, Brendan McKay getting more reps in the batter’s box, as well as the trade of outfielder Tommy Pham. You can see the interview in its entirety below, while a few key points follow.

Hear from Kevin Cash live at the Winter Meetings. https://t.co/JFcOhrzOMX

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) December 10, 2019

On the subject of the potential for a five-man rotation, including Ryan Yarbrough and Yonny Chirinos, Cash noted:

We certainly won’t rule anything out on Dec. 10. They have done so well. They’ve challenged a lot of the thoughts. And they’ve benefited from it. They’ve also probably earned some opportunity to go out there and take the ball. We will just see what’s best for the makeup of our club and how we’re going to win the most games. … I think Yonny and Yarbs both have to be in that conversation,” Cash said. “They’ve done special things for one- and two-year players, pitchers. They’ve been pretty remarkable for us.

— Kevin Cash

On giving McKay more at-bats, Cash was adamant owed him that opportunity:

I think we owe it to Brendan, let’s let him hit. There was a reason he was the best collegiate hitter in baseball the year he was drafted, and the little bit he has hit doesn’t prove anything good or bad. Let’s get him go get some reps and get ABs, and if we need him on the mound in the big leagues, we know we’ve got a really good big-league pitcher.

— Kevin Cash

On what has become a sore subject for many, Cash touched on the deal which netted outfielder Hunter Renfroe:

We’re going to miss Tommy Pham. There’s no denying that. When we acquired Tommy (at the trade deadline in 2018), that was right about the time stuff started to change. We started to have a little bit more of a presence in the lineup and the box. Tommy was a big part of that.

— Kevin Cash

With the loss of Pham in mind, the Rays are looking at a variety of possibilities for improving their outfield mix. Erik Neander and Co. have had internal discussions about exploring the possibility of signing Japanese free-agent outfielders Shogo Akiyama and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.

You look at our 40-man roster and the number of pure outfielders on it, and there aren’t that many. I think, certainly, where we stand today, that’s a unit or a position group that we would almost certainly need to increase our numbers and ideally we do that in a way that also increases the quality of that group.

— Erik Neander

Akiyama, 31, has been one of the top players in Japan in the past few seasons. Over the past three seasons, the outfielder slashed .303 BA/.392 OBP/.471 SLG/.863 OPS with the Seibu Lions, and hit 69 home runs. He also swiped 78 bases, however, he is recovering from a broken foot suffered in the WBSC Premier 12 tournament in November. His return to baseball activity remains unknown. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Akiyama came in at No. 45 of their top 50 free agents and is projected to earn a two-year, $6-Million guarantee wherever he may land.

Tsutsugo, 28, has eclipsed the 20-home run mark in seven consecutive seasons and combined for 139 homers across the past four seasons. Still, he didn’t crack MLB Trade Rumors before the offseason.

#Rays are interested in trying to bring back Avisail Garcia, who had a fine year for them in 2020. They also are interested in lefty swingers Shogo Akiyama, a center fielder, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, a corner outfielder/DH type.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 10, 2019

According to Joel Sherman (New York Post), Tampa Bay remains interested in a reunion with Avisail Garcia.

Another revelation coming out of San Diego, the Rays have shown interest in right-handed reliever Dellin Betances, who is looking to sign a short-term pillow deal. Betances is likely to sign a one-year deal to boost his value after a lost 2019 campaign.

Prior to last season, Betances had been nearly unstoppable in the backend of the Yankees bullpen, dominating opposing hitters across six seasons (2013-2018). Over his career, the right-hander posted a 40.1% strikeout rate and a 2.31 FIP across 381 innings of work.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, Betances is No. 43 of their top 50 free agents and was predicted to sign a one year, $7-Million deal with, you guessed it…Tampa Bay.

Juan Toribio (MLB.com) also indicated that the Rays could be seeking backstop help from the north side of Chicago, of all places.

Aside from outfield help, the Rays will remain active in trying to find an upgrade at catcher. Mike Zunino and Michael Perez are the two projected catchers, and Neander said that the club feels confident in the pairing, but that it will continue to explore the free-agent and trade markets. The Cubs have reportedly made Willson Contreras available, which would be an interesting option for the Rays.

“We’re not going to force something,” Neander said. “We expect [Zunino] to bounce back some offensively. We expect better from (Perez) than what he contributed last year and for those reasons we were excited going into last year with those two.

“At the same time, we are trying to be really good and if we can get better there either by an established Major League player or by increasing the competition for (Perez’s) spot, those are two ways to do it and I think we’ll be open to whatever direction that takes on.”

— Juan Toribio

Contreras is projected to make about $5-Million through arbitration next season and he will remain under team control through 2022.

A Rays-centric recap of day one of the 2019 Winter Meetings

December 9, 2019 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

The 2019 MLB Winter Meetings got underway on Sunday.

Tasked with improving on a 96-win 2019 campaign, Tampa Bay Rays officials — including manager Kevin Cash and GM Erik Neander — arrived in San Diego on Sunday for the start of the 2019 MLB Winter Meetings. Sunday is typically a quiet day in terms of wheeling and dealing since many of the teams are still in transit.

Austin Meadows, Yandy Diaz, Ji-Man Choi, and Brandon Lowe are expected to return to Tampa Bay in 2020, barring a trade, and they will join newcomer Hunter Renfroe. In addition, the Rays retained Mike Zunino and acquired Brian O’Grady, who is a first baseman that is also capable of playing all three outfield positions, from Cincinnati to add more depth. The team, however, lost three key offensive players in Tommy Pham, Travis d’Arnaud, who signed as a free agent with Atlanta, and Avisail Garcia, who remains a free agent. Tampa Bay also passed on Jesus Aguilar, Matt Duffy, and Guillermo Heredia.

Neander and company head into the Winter Meetings looking to improve the team’s offense. And while Tampa Bay had the lowest team ERA in the American League last season, the offense struggled at times, finishing 18th in the big leagues in runs scored per game.

There’s a lot of time between now and Opening Day, and I think I anticipate some twists and turns in terms of what our team will look like by the end of March when we get going. We really like the position group we have. (I’m) interested to see what that looks like, and we really like our pitching staff.

— Erik Neander

Several right-handed-hitting options remain on the free-agent market. That list includes several former Rays such as CJ Cron (would have to accept a limited role), Steven Souza Jr. (finally healthy after missing all of 2019), and Garcia. A few other names have popped up, such as 37-year-old Edwin Encarnacion, the ever-unpredictable Yasiel Puig, and the powerful yet defensively limited Domingo Santana. And as Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) noted if Tampa Bay adds a left-handed bat there are less of those available as free agents, and more likely may require a trade of some sort.

To that end, the Rays are expected to study the catching market in order to try to improve at the position.

The catching position is something we’ve talked about and that’s pretty clear. I think bringing back (Zunino), we’re betting on Mike to bounce back some offensively, but we can certainly continue to look for ways to strengthen that position further.

— Erik Neander

As of now, no beneficial moves have come out of San Diego. That could change over the next four days though.

On the docket for Monday, Kevin Cash will address local and national media members at 7:20 Eastern Standard Time (4:20 in San Diego).

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 44
  • Next Page »

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on FlickrFollow Us on RedditFollow Us on TumblrFollow Us on SoundcloudFollow Us on Instagram

Sign the pledge to support the Rays' future in St Pete!

Sign the Pledge
Buy Rays Tickets

baseball-forever-logo

Recent Posts

  • Rays 3/7/21 pregame notes and starting lineup
  • Rays 3/6/21 pre-game notes
  • LBWMF: Rays are 1-1 in the 2021 Knutson Cup Challenge after defeating the Twins on Thursday, 5-2
  • LBWMF: McClanahan and Fleming in their Spring debuts, Franco and Meadows hit moon-shots
  • LBWMF: Glasnow hits the century mark in his first Spring start, while Joey Wendle avoided serious injury

Recent Comments

  • belowaverage on Rays Fan Fest 2016; Baseball Forever campaign kickoff
  • Steve Zierfen on Rays Fan Fest 2016; Baseball Forever campaign kickoff
  • belowaverage on Rays Announce 2016 Spring Training Schedule
  • Nancy U. on Rays Announce 2016 Spring Training Schedule
  • Berdj J. Rassam on On Cabrera, Boxberger, Nava, Smyly and More

Categories

  • Caption Contests
  • Hot-Stove
  • Lineups
  • Looking Backward While Moving Forward
  • Polls
  • Rays Roster Moves
  • The New What Next
  • This Week in Rays Baseball
  • Two Minute Hate
  • Uncategorized

Tags

AL east Alex Cobb AL Wildcard Race Baltimore Orioles Baseball Ben Zobrist Blake Snell Boston Red Sox Chris Archer David Price Drew Smyly Erasmo Ramirez Evan Longoria Fernando Rodney Grapefruit League Hot-Stove Interleague Play Jake Odorizzi Jeremy Hellickson Joe Maddon Kevin Cash Luke Scott Matt Andriese Matt Moore MLB New York Yankees New York Yankees Suck Rays Rays Roster Moves Rays Stadium Saga Rays vs Blue Jays series preview Rays vs Red Sox Series Preview Roberto Hernandez spring training stadium saga Starting Lineup Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Rays the trop Toronto Blue Jays tropicana field Tyler Glasnow Wil Myers Yankees Yankees Suck

Copyright 2014 X-Rays Spex