For those of you opining because Tampa Bay left the 2013 MLB Winter Meetings without a first baseman, fret not: Mike Axisa of CBS Sports is reporting that James Loney and the Rays are on the verge of a three-year, $21MM contract, which includes a $5MM signing bonus. Yes, it’s another Thanksmas miracle! This is a somewhat surprising move by Andrew Friedman and company. After all, the Rays have famously walked away from players who had similar unexpectedly big seasons on one-year deals (cough, Casey Kotchman and Jeff Keppinger). Then again, Friedman hinted that the first base conundrum would come to a resolution sooner, rather than later.
In an article by Marc Topkin in Friday’s Tampa Bay Times, Friedman was quoted as saying, “In the next week, I feel very confident that we’ll be able to figure something out. I think the conversations have kind of reached a point where I don’t see them dragging on much longer than that time period. It’s tough to say with an extremely high level of conviction, but I’d be surprised if it went past five, six, seven days.” Topkin went on to write, “The Rays’ top choice is re-signing free agent James Loney, and there were some suggestions Thursday of movement that way. But it will be for less than the three-year, $27 million deal Loney is reportedly seeking.”
Let’s be honest here, Loney is the best man for the job, especially when you consider those remaining on the free agent market, and those available for trade. At $7MM per year, Loney will third highest-paid player on the Rays, behind David Price and Evan Longoria, and tied with Ben Zobrist. And excepting a potential trade of David Price, the Rays roster is effectively set for the 2014 season.
In other news, rumors are swirling that Tampa Bay has interest in free agent Juan Uribe. It’s assumed Uribe could dabble at first and second base, and also back up Evan Longoria at third. The Rays would have to vie with that other Florida team for his services. Uribe slashed .273 BA/.331 OBP/.438 SLG/.769 OPS for the Dodgers last season. You may remember Uribe for his butt-end participation in Evan Longoria’s successful, and GIBBY Award winning, hidden ball trick last season.
Noteworthiness
- According to Marc Topkin, infielder Tim Beckham will miss a significant portion of the 2014 season after tearing his right ACL working out. Surgery seems likely, though the team is still working through a plan. Beckham, along with Jake Odorizzi, Hak-Ju Lee, Taylor Guerrieri, Enny Romero, and Alex Colome (among others) was recently named one of the Rays top 10 prospects by Baseball America.