Wil Myers has been named the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year, beating out fellow teammate Chris Archer and the Detroit Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias. Myers, the Rays’ third AL Rookie of the Year in the past six seasons, received 23 of 30 first place votes, while Iglesias came in second with five votes and Archer scratched the surface with one vote. The Marlins’ Jose Fernandez won the award on the NL side, to which we retort, “Ha ha, Puig!”
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Hot-Stove: Kriseman Wins, Oviedo’s Option Declined, and More
Bill Foster’s rein of error came to an end last night after Rick Kriseman beat the incumbent by a 12 point margin. During the race to become mayor, Kriseman acknowledged the throng of issues he’s tasked with fixing, including (but not limited to) the Pier, curbside recycling, economic redevelopment in Midtown, and the Stadium Saga.
Hot-Stove: Rays Exercise Option On David DeJesus and Offer a Two-Year Contract Extension
On the heals of news that the Rays decided to exercise the $6.5MM option on outfielder David DeJesus, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes they have agreed to a new two-year contract that will cover the 2014-15 seasons, including a club option for the 2016 season. The terms of the contract are unknown.
Hot-Stove: Rays Exercise Options on Yunel Escobar, Ben Zobrist
As expected, the Rays have exercised their club options over utilityman extraordinaire Ben Zobrist and shortstop Yunel Escobar. Zobrist is projected to make $7MM in 2014, while Yunel Escobar is expected to make $5MM. I’m watching the Descendents documentary at the moment, so I’ll post more later.
MLB Trade Rumors Reports, “The Angels Are Willing to Trade Bourjos, Trumbo For Pitching”
It’s common knowledge that David Price is projected to make somewhere in the ballpark of $13.1MM in 2014. To that end, Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar will likely to have their options picked up, bringing the Rays’ payroll to a guaranteed $23.5MM for those two, Matt Moore, Joel Peralta and Evan Longoria. On top of that, Tampa Bay will have to pay roughly $25.7MM to eight arbitration-eligible players (and maybe more if Niemann and/or Sam Fuld are tendered contracts), bringing the total to $49.2MM for 13 players. That’s a lot of money for a team that has hinted at reducing the payroll because of attendance. That projected total also doesn’t include the money needed to sign (or in the case of James Loney, re-sign) a first-baseman and a ctacher. The most reasonable (and/or cutthroat) solution seems to be to deal David Price, and hope you get a sweetheart of a deal in return. I’d argue a sweetheart deal might be staring Friedman and Co. in the face.