Winter Development Camp, Recent Acquisitions and Arbitration
Wednesday marked the start of the annual Rays Winter Development Camp at the Trop. Amid the football configuration and a banquet setup, prospects like Cole Figueroa and Nick Ciuffo took the field with the likes of Matt Joyce, collectively working out a month (give or take) ahead of Spring Training. We got a sneak-peek of the renovations at the Trop, thanks to Marc Topkin who tweeted a photo Wednesday afternoon.
The Rays inked two contracts Monday, signing 33 year-old OF Justin Christian and 28 year-old C Eddy Rodriguez to minor league deals. Both received invites to spring training. Christian has played parts of three seasons in the majors: 2008 with the Yankees, 2011-2012 with the Giants, and last season with the Cardinals Triple-A team. Rodriguez, who had a stint in the majors with the Padres in 2012, spent 2013 in Double and Triple-A.
The deadline to file for arbitration was Monday, though Friday, per Rays policy, is the cut off for negotiating, with a hearing then scheduled. Six players remain in the arbitration process, following news that David Price and the Rays have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a 1-year $14 million dollar deal — the largest 1-year salary in franchise history: (players and projected salaries courtesy of Marc Topkin/Tampa Bay Times)
OF Matt Joyce – $3.7MM
RHP Jeremy Hellickson – $3.3MM
INF/OF Sean Rodriguez – $1.3MM
LHP Jake McGee – $1.2MM
C Jose Lobaton – $1MM
LHP Cesar Ramos – $700K
Both Matt Joyce and Jeremy Hellickson are coming off bad season’s, though Marc Topkin asserts (via Twitter, see below) healthy raises may be in order for the pair.
Offense, Offense, Offense
On the heels (all be them delayed heels) of DRaysBay‘s piece on the potential for an offensive boost attained through better pinch hitting in 2014, I took a look at the Rays offensive output in 2013. I also compared that with their output from 2012.
The casual observer would note the increased production in most areas last season. Longo and Co. made more contact in 2013 while they struck-out less. The improved batting average (BA), on base percentage (OBP), and strikeout percentage (K%) speak to that. They also increased their power numbers overall. However, the bolstered slugging (SLG) is largely predicated upon a greater number of doubles — 296 in 2013 vs. 250 the year prior. There were a few areas of concern, namely a decrease in home runs (165 vs. 175), triples (23 vs. 30), and stolen bases (73 vs. 134) — part of which can be explained by the loss of BJ Upton, among other things.
In my opinion, the bigger point of concern is the deviation of production between the first and second halves of the season. Suffice it to say, the Rays were dominant ahead of the All-Star Break, culminating in a 55-41 first half — including a record setting 21-4 July. But Tampa Bay fell off in almost every category in the second half, and they relied upon that impressive month of July to keep them afloat through the end of the season. The Rays ended the first half of the season 14 games over .500 with a .573 winning percentage (WP), yet the second half of the season is another story; they finished the final 67 games with a .552 WP, just seven games over .500.
Blame it on a lack of consistency from the first half to the second. Or, blame it on their inability to make adjustments at the plate after the opposing pitchers, seemingly, adjusted to the Rays batters. Whatever the case, Tampa Bay trimmed the fat this off-season, and it will be interesting to see how they respond in the box. Look at the bright side: the worst DH since Pat Burrell is now in South Korea, Kelly Johnson is with the Yankees after falling off following the All-Star Break, and Sam Fuld, though lovable, was non-tendered after a sub-sub-optimal season. Tampa Bay is left with an intact infield, composed of quality contact hitters and sluggers. And the outfielders, led by Wil Myers, pose a considerable threat to opposing pitchers as well. The question therein lies: Can the outliers, namely Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez, Jose Molina and Ryan Hanigan, put together a consistent 2014?
Noteworthiness
- Daniel Russell of DRaysBay put together a pair of must-read pieces on Jeremy Hellickson. Read about Jeremy Hellickson and men on base, and his potentially ineffective curve-ball.
- During a discussion about the place of baseball history in the modern clubhouse, between Evan Longoria and Keith Olbermann, the Face of the Franchise had the unique opportunity to take a swing with none other than Babe Ruth’s baseball bat. I mean sure, swinging the Sultan of Swat‘s club…urm, bat is pretty cool. However, he had to hang with Olbermann. Pick your poison, I’d reckon. [youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvcgiIhuDqs”]
- Charlie Wilmoth of MLB Trade Rumors writes of David Price, “The Rays face a dilemma with regard to David Price, writes Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs. They could keep him this season, a season in which they project to be competitive, and try to trade him again next offseason. The problem is that his surplus value is likely to decline by then — not only because he’ll be a year closer to free agency, but because he doesn’t project to improve and because he’ll almost certainly be paid more in 2015 than he will be in 2014. Here are more notes out of Tampa.” He went on to say, “The Rays are currently focused on “tinkering” with their roster and building depth, GM Andrew Friedman tells the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin,” and “Jake Odorizzi was impressed with the Rays after joining their organization via theJames Shields / Wil Myers trade, he tells Sam Dykstra in a long interview at MILB.com. “You hear things about how good this organization is, and it really lived up to that. Everyone here is great on communication, and the program they put you on is one-of-a-kind,” Odorizzi says. “You can see why they’re so successful and continue to be that every year.” Odorizzi also says he became closer to Myers and fellow Royal-turned-Ray Mike Montgomery as a result of the trade.”