While it’s been a busy couple of days for a handful of teams around Major League Baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays have been fairly quiet on the heels of the Jeremy Hellickson trade. Nevertheless, some impactful moves are expected by Thursday to create a few more spots on the 40-man roster (currently at 38) to add five-to-six prospects they’re protecting from the Rule 5 draft; C Justin O’Conner, OF Mikie Mahtook, INF Ryan Brett and pitchers Matt Andriese and Adam Liberatore being the most promising.
Marc Topkin reported,
Sean Rodriguez appears a trade candidate, and moving C Jose Molina, or swallowing the $2.75 million he’s owed, would seem likely, as is dealing from relief depth, perhaps starting with RHP Brandon Gomes, who is out of options. Another avenue is to drop rostered minor-leaguers such as LHP Mike Montgomery, or maybe INF Tim Beckham.
Interestingly enough, with the Tampa Bay looking to upgrade the offense, the Rays could be eying Phillies’ first baseman (and Bellair Beach resident) Ryan Howard as well as the Dodgers’ outfielder surplus. Both clubs are said to be willing to eat significant salary to move those players.
The Rays have concluded the first round of interviews for the open manager position, culminating in an interview with Barry Larkin — the tenth of ten interviewees in the initial round. They need at least another day or two in order to cut the managerial field down from 10. The final decision seems unlikely until after Thanksgiving.
In you have got to be fucking kidding me news, the Miami Marlins — with owner Jeffrey Loria at the helm — have agreed to a 13-year, $325MM contract extension that will set the benchmark as the new largest contract in the history of professional sports.
MLB Trade Rumors’ Mark Polishuk notes:
The extension contains a full no-trade clause and Stanton “will be able to opt out not long after he turns 30,” according to Heyman, so it would seem that the opt-out clause can be triggered after the 2019 season, or after 2020 at the very latest. Stanton just celebrated his 25th birthday on November 8.
Stanton’s groundbreaking contract will buy out 11 free agent years, valuing each of those seasons in the $26-27MM range, depending on how much he’d have earned in arbitration over the next two seasons (MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had pegged him for a $13MM salary in 2015 alone). The new contract will run through the 2027 season, after which Stanton will be 37 years of age. Of course, that assumes that Stanton does not exercise the opt-out clause, at which point he could be able to seek an even larger annual commitment over a longer term, should he continue to perform as he has to this point in his career.
Mind you that Loria not only fleeced the citizens of Miami to the tune of $1.18 billion for Marlins Park — a sum total that will be worth a lot less money in 2048 (when the stadium is finally paid off) than it is today, thanks to inflation — per Deadspin, he pocketed a healthy chunk of the money distributed to the franchise by Major League Baseball. The money was the Marlins’ share of pooled national revenue and luxury tax dollars, intended to go toward making the team better.
To put things in perspective:
- Loria ripped off both taxpayers.
- Loria ripped off Major League Baseball by choosing to pocket the luxury tax dollars.
- Loria extended Stanton’s contract to the tune of (a little more than) 1/3 of the current value of Marlins Park, essentially thumbing his nose at Miami’s taxpayers once again.
Among other acquisitions, Russell Martin is on his way back to the AL East. The Toronto Blue Jays signed the former Pirate (and Yankee) to a five year, $82 million contract.
Source: Martin deal with #BlueJays is five years, $82M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 17, 2014
Finally, the Braves have acquired RHP Shelby Miller and RHP Tyrell Jenkins from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for OF Jason Heyward and RHP Jordan Walden.
The #Braves have acquired RHP Shelby Miller and RHP Tyrell Jenkins from the Cardinals in exchange for OF Jason Heyward and RHP Jordan Walden — Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 17, 2014
Noteworthiness
- Per a tweet from Marc Topkin, Rays officials have been focusing on roster issues, seeking 40-man roster space to add prospects by Thursday’s Rule 5 draft deadline.
- The rumors are true, Evan Longoria used FaceTime to watch his son being born while in Japan. And how did he celebrate the birth of his son? By popping an opposite field homer. Go figure.
