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Baseball is Good Business Dispels Myths on the Rays, Smyly’s Arbitration Status, Hellickson News, Etc

With the recent news that the stadium stalemate may finally be coming to a conclusion, Baseball is Good Business delved into three of the most popular myths about the Rays and Tampa Bay. Though a few points could be debated — they acknowledge as much below — kudos to Baseball is Good Business for putting something out there for you, dear readers, to ponder.

Tampa Bay can’t sustain a MLB team?

If the Rays weren’t winning so much, we probably wouldn’t be having this issue. It took the Yankees 21 years to get to the World Series, we did it in 10.

Historically, most teams have horrible numbers in their beginning years. Fact is, we aren’t doing bad for a team that’s been here for only 16 seasons. (our television numbers are tops in the league!)

When you talk to the larger attendance area fans, after all the rhetoric, most will admit the same thing…

My dad was a Yankee Fan.
My dad was a Sox fan
My grandfather was a Dodger fan.

There is NO grandfather, father and son sitting in a row at the Trop rooting for the team that they grew up with. That’s called “Generational Fan Base”. If our neighbors don’t wake up, we may never get that chance.

The team is moving to Tampa?

Although possible, not likely. If the Rays are not sure about the area, that includes Tampa also. The price that the Rays would have to pay in penalties and attorney’s fees would make them at least consider several “plug and play” options. The demographics are no secret for top areas with built in fan base. Just visit the US Census Bureau.

Don’t think other cities are looking? See for yourself . . .

Which name do you like better? If you owned the Rays had just got out of a long dogfight with an area, you may prefer any of them.

Mexico City Rays
Montreal Rays
Indianapolis Rays
Charlotte Rays
Brooklyn Rays

Those markets and their fans would fall over backwards to get the billion dollars revenue that a MLB team could bring. Most of them have a plan with money set aside.

And don’t kid yourself, MLB isn’t going to expand to 10 cities in the next 20 years. May not expand to ANY. The easiest way to get a team is to lure one using HUGE incentives for the team ownership. Remember, one of the main reasons that we have baseball today is because WE were prospecting teams with a new stadium. What do you think these cities are going to offer the Rays? Because we are doing so well as a team, stockbrokers would say that we are “ripe” for a takeover. If the Rays determine that the area won’t support the team, it will be too late to change their minds. You’ll know when you see the moving trucks.

Rays can’t leave the area because of their contract?

That’s what Montreal, Washington D.C. and Brooklyn thought. If we continue to fight among ourselves and not improve attendance, we are playing with fire.

Does the truth hurt? It’s has to be better than the lies, lack of knowledge, rumor and innuendo.

There is good news. We have an awesome team. Let’s face it, we can all agree that the Rays have done their part. The recent renovations are a tremendous investment that the Rays made for the fans. So let’s stop bickering over where the team is going to play and start making lemonade. LET’S NOT FIGHT EACH OTHER! Leave that up to the dopey media in other cities. Lastly, the Rays don’t want to leave. But they are entitled to prosper just like any other business in this great country of ours.

You don’t have to agree with what we share. One thing We know is that WE all have one thing in common. WE love our team. There are things WE can do and WE need to do them now! At BaseballisGoodBusiness.org, WE have a specific plan and WE’RE not going to keep it a secret. The leaders in this group are ready to do whatever it takes to ensure that our team is here for our children and their children and grandchildren. WE believe that as a group, WE cannot lose. Please join us.

Moving forward.

Per Marc Topkin, Drew Smyly qualified for Super 2 arbitration status (with 25 others in MLB), and projects to get around $3MM. This news, however, does not push ahead the need to trade Jeremy Hellickson — Smyly’s Super 2 status was no surprise, therefore it shouldn’t make any difference.

The Rays interviewed Indians bench coach Kevin Cash Wednesday for the managerial position. Cash is a Tampa native who played briefly for the Rays. He was also a finalist for the Texas Rangers job. Left to be interviewed for are Barry Larkin and Doug Glanville.

Major League Baseball salary commitments by team. (Courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors)

Would you believe it if I told you the Tampa Bay Rays are 20th in salary commitments? The payroll chart above was compiled by MLB Trade Rumors using the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database and the arbitration projections from MLBTR/Matt Swartz. Of course, teams can still trim from these obligations not just by trading players, but also by non-tendering those who are arb-eligible

Finally, as we near the end of the week, the focus will likely shift back toward the trade rumors surrounding Jeremy Hellickson. On Monday, Joel Sherman broke the news that the Rays are aggressively shopping Hellickson around, with the potential of a trade taking by weeks end. The question begs: following a pair of down seasons, what trade equity — if any — does Hellickson possess? The simple answer, not much. Ever since 2010, when HellBoy posted an impressive 22.2% K%/5.4% BB%/.267 BABIP/3.47 ERA/3.88 FIP, his numbers have fallen off thanks to an increased number of home runs, walks, and poor sequencing among other things. Ian Malinowski at DRaysBay summed things up well,

If Matt Silverman is able to trade Helly for useful piece, good job by him. The strong minor league career and the FIP-beater reputation may help him do so. My hopes aren’t all that high though, since by this point, Hellickson seems like a known quantity — known to be able to provide fewer than 200 innings of below average pitching.

Hmph. Still Hellickson, paired in a package deal, could pull something worthwhile. On the same day as the abovementioned tweet, Sherman reported that they (Tampa Bay) would also like to move Matt Joyce or David DeJesus. Interestingly enough, the Braves are open to shopping Evan Gattis in their search of an apt replacement for Ervin Santana and Aaron Harang. What they’d lose in Gattis could be made up for by Joyce or DeJesus. The caveat, Atlanta probably isn’t one of the teams vying for Hellickson. With the loss of Santana and Harang, the Braves need to get “sure IP” for the rotation — Hellickson may be too risky. And so it goes….

The Stadium Stalemate Could Be Coming to A Close, Rays Interviewed Charlie Montoyo, Hellickson Deal Pending, and More

Evan Longoria celebrates his grand slam, which gave the MLB All-Stars a 6-0 lead. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Kyodo)

To think this was going to be a fairly quiet news day…

Not only did the Rays interview Charlie Montoyo, managerial candidate number six of 10, rumor has it the Rays are trying to deal RHP Jeremy Hellickson, and the stadium stalemate could be coming to a close.

Times staff writers Stephen Nohlgren and Charlie Frago broke the news Tuesday afternoon, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and the Tampa Bay Rays are nearing an agreement granting the team’s long-standing wish to explore new stadium sites in Hillsborough County, people who have talked recently to the mayor say.

Council Chairman Bill Dudley indicated a deal should be done “within the next month but definitely before Christmas,” with the hope of bringing it to the City Council for approval before the holidays.

Other sources names report:

Council member Charlie Gerdes said Kriseman told him about two weeks ago “that talks are going very well.”

St. Petersburg developer Craig Sher, who chaired a stadium advisory committee for Kriseman, said this week, “I have been led to believe that there is an agreement in principle.”

The next step is for St. Pete’s lawyers to settle on a monetary fee if the Rays leave for Hillsborough before 2027, when their contract to play at Tropicana Field expires. That number is unknown at the moment, however former mayor Bill Foster reportedly sought about $5 million for each season lost, in the city’s previous proposal.

With the continued rumors of the potential for a move to Montreal, the timing couldn’t be better for the Rays to find traction.

Sourcing newspapers from Montreal, DRaysBay brought to light the specific investors interested in purchasing the Tampa Bay Rays and moving them to Montreal, including son of the Expos’ original owner Stephen Bronfman, and the Bell corporation — each powerful voices.

The estimated cost of bringing an established franchise to Montreal to be about $1.025 billion: $500 million for a new stadium, and $525 million for the team. That’s about four times the amount of money Canadian investors are willing to spend, and that number could grow.

However, Nohlgren and Frago were quick to note,

Apartment complexes, micro-breweries and restaurants are already going up on nearby properties. Ending the stadium stalemate could help the city unlock the Trop’s development potential — with or without a new stadium, Dudley said.

His preference is for a new stadium at the eastern end of the Trop property, combined with a hotel and small convention center for gatherings of 2,000 to 3,000 people. The city could sweeten the pot by giving the Rays full development rights on remaining Trop land, Dudley said.

If that’s not possible, he said, he would like to proceed with developing the Trop acreage without a stadium.

“We are being held hostage” with an undeveloped Trop, Dudley said. If the Ray “are not going to use it, then we want to. If you are not going to use it, it’s best to get on with it.”

Gerdes thinks the Rays will not find what they are looking for in Hillsborough County. Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik has locked up prime land in the Channelside district of Tampa and has given no signs that he is eager to devote 10 or 12 acres of his land to a baseball stadium.

Even without land costs, any stadium would cost $500 million to $600 million — and Gerdes doubts that Hillsborough taxpayers would want to shoulder much of that load.

With many of the locations in Tampa no longer available, the chances of keeping the Rays in Pinellas County are increasing.

In other news, the Rays interviewed Triple-A Durham’s manager Charlie Montoyo Monday for the managerial job, as well as Giants bench coach Ron Wotus — candidates six and seven of ten to go through the process so far. Montoyo was interviewed in person with at the GM meetings in Phoenix, near his off-season home. As Marc Topkin asserted, with the other interviewees talking by phone, it would seem the front office gave the two in-house guys, Martinez and Montoyo, the benefit of in-person interviews. Interviews with the final four (Cash, Glanville, and Larkin) are expected to come in the near future. After the first round of interviews are complete, Tampa Bay will cut the field down and conduct a second round of longer, face-to-face interviews.

Per a tweet from Joel Sherman (seen below), the Tampa Bay Rays are moving toward a deal for RHP Jeremy Hellickson to an as of now unspecified National League team. Sources say he will be dealt by weeks end.

#Rays are moving closer to dealing Jeremy Hellickson to an NL team. Likely this week

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 10, 2014

While word that the Atlanta Braves are pushing C/OF Evan Gattis hard (the Rays could use another catcher and DH option) Sherman was quick to point that Atlanta probably isn’t one of the teams vying for Hellickson. With the loss of Santana and Harang, the Braves need to get “sure IP” for the rotation — Hellickson may be too risky.

Finally, Major League Baseball sent a contingent of stars to Japan this month to take on a combination of different teams throughout the country. Representing the Rays on this trip are Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, and reliever Jeff Beliveau, and all three players came up big in the MLB victory.

Longoria golf-swung his fourth career grand slam to center field, Zobrist hit a ninth inning one-out single, and Beliveau notched his second save of the 2014 season (technically speaking, of course). Now, if Evan can continue that type of production going into the 2015 season.

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An open letter to Stu Sternberg

Dear Stu,

While you’ll deny the rumors you’ve been in contact with New York investors regarding a potential relocation to Montreal, you’re adopting the same tactic other owners have used for years now: Exploiting another city — in this case Montreal — as leverage in the fight for a publicly financed stadium. Is Montreal a legitimate threat? Who can really say?

What I will say, you’re not making the organization that I love very likable. Perception is everything, and if the Bay Area perceives you to be less than honest — especially since you haven’t come forward with any evidence the organization is losing money — there’s no way that either side of the bay will vote in favor of a new facility for the Rays.

(And yes, I believe they deserve a new stadium)

In the end, if both Pinellas and Hillsborough voted down their respective publicly funded mass transit referendums, there’s no way a publicly funded stadium will be approved if the organization isn’t up front and honest.

Best,
Anthony

Noteworthiness

Noah Pransky always takes an in depth look at the Stadium Saga over at his blog, Shadow of the Stadium. Be sure to check out his musings daily.

Hot-Stove: Rays Start the Interviewing Process, Etc (Updated)

Raul Ibanez speaks during a media availability before a baseball workout at Camden Yards in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) — Raul Ibanez speaks during a media availability before a baseball workout at Camden Yards in Baltimore. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Update: The Rays added two more managerial candidates to their initial list Monday afternoon. Read about the updated list below.

The Tampa Bay Rays announced their preliminary list of managerial candidates a few days back, and they kicked off the interviewing process in earnest by weeks end.

The interview committee spoke over the phone with Raul Ibanez, Brewers special assistant Craig Counsell, and Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu (a former manager in Seattle) Friday afternoon, and continued the process Saturday by interviewing bench coach Dave Martinez, and former Nationals and Indians manager Manny Acta.

Though each candidate brings something to the table — Ibanez’s agent Seth Levinson went as far as to note Ibanez has a strong personality and leadership skills, and an overall reputation as a tremendous person — it’s become evident that longtime bench coach Dave Martinez may be the obvious choice to replace Joe Maddon as Rays manager.

In an interview with the MLB Network, Rays third baseman Evan Longoria said of Martinez that he is “kind of the obvious pick” based on the continuity he could provide but acknowledges “it’ll be interesting to see” who is hired. Longoria went on,

Seeing that there’s been so much change this offseason already, they might not want to bring in further change. (Martinez) would be the guy that could kind of smooth things over and has a feel for what goes on in the clubhouse and how things are.

Several other players have offered their support of Martinez. In an email to Marc Topkin, Ben Zobrist vouched for the bench coach, “I still like Dave Martinez at the top of the list. I think Dave is ready for the opportunity to see how he can do. He has always been 100 percent into the games mentally and I know he has the baseball acumen to manage in game situations.”

Alex Cobb added Martinez “would be a great manager. He has a great relationship with all the players. Can relate to us and knows how the culture has been here.”

While Martinez represents a comfortable, known quantity to the organization, the question begs: Will the front office be satisfied with the known, i.e. Martinez, or are Silverman and company looking for a top to bottom overhaul? The desire to retain the coaching staff could be an indication that they’ve found their man. I’m left to wonder about the possibilities of Martinez being hired as the manager, and Ibanez taking the soon to be vacated bench coach position.

Noteworthiness

The Rays added two final candidates to their initial list of managerial interviewees, Doug Glanville and Barry Larkin:

Ex-Rays RHP Josh Lueke and C Ali Solis, who were mainly at Triple-A Durham, have chosen to become free agents. That is, Lueke is no longer the Rays problem!
Jerry Sands and Vince Belnome were designated for assignment in order to create more room on the 40-man roster. Sands elected free agency rather than accepting his outright assignment to Triple-A by the Rays. Meanwhile, Belnome accepted his assignment to Triple-A Durham.
Rule 7.13 continues to be controversial. While it put a stop to collisions at the plate, the number of reported concussions remain unchanged. NPR put together an excellent piece which you can read about and/or listen to here.

Hot-Stove: Rays Announce Their Preliminary Managerial Candidates

The initial eight managerial candidates. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)

Despite being a week or so behind schedule, the Rays have finally announced their list of preliminary managerial candidates. In a statement, Silverman called the list “preliminary” and said it was expected to “grow as (the Rays) continue through (the hiring) process.”

The initial list of candidates includes several familiar names, some of whom have been tied to other recent managerial openings:

Organizational options Dave Martinez (bench coach) and Charlie Montoyo (Triple-A manager), former big league skippers Manny Acta and Don Wakamatsu (the Royals bench coach last year), recent big league players Craig Counsell and Raul Ibanez, Giants bench coach Ron Wotus and Indians bullpen coach Kevin Cash.

The initial group brings a diverse group of possibilities to the Rays. While whoever takes the job will have big shoes to fill, it should be mentioned that both Martinez and Montoyo are familiar with the “Rays way” of operating.

Noteworthiness

We wrote a piece on Dave Martinez a couple of weeks back. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already.
In other news, per Marc Topkin, ex-Rays RHP Josh Lueke and C Ali Solis — who were mainly at Triple-A Durham — have chosen to become free agents. That is, Lueke is no longer the Rays problem! You can read more here.

Hot-Stove: Rays Trade Cesar Ramos, Acquire RHP Mark Sappington

On Wednesday afternoon the Rays announced a trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, of LHRP Cesar Ramos for RHP Mark Sappington.

Sappington is a 23-year-old right-hander who came into the 2014 season rated as the Angels’ fifth-best prospect by Baseball America. He, however, took a big step back and struggled mightily as a starter in 2014. A demotion and mid-season move to the bullpen revitalized Sappington, however, as Mike DiGiovanna wrote recently for Baseball America. Sappington’s big fastball and biting slider make him a potentially valuable power arm out of the pen — over 32 relief frames last season with the Angels’ High-A affiliate, Sappington struck out 49 and walked ten.

Per a staff report from Baseball America:

Sappington was one of the best arms in the Angels’ system, but his difficulty repeating his delivery and his struggles to throw strikes never allowed him to reach his potential despite a plus fastball (92-95 mph), average slider and tick below average change up.

Sappington’s emotional, adrenaline-fueled pitching approach and his inconsistent delivery have led scouts to believe that he would be a better fit as a reliever. The Angels moved him to the bullpen not longer after he was demoted to high Class A Inland Empire this season and he did show significant improvement.

Sappington had walked 69 batters in only 82 innings as a starter, but he had much better control once he moved to the pen, walking only 10 and striking out 49 in 32 innings. He is a potential setup man if he can keep put together even fringe-average control thanks to his plus stuff, but that’s been a struggle for him throughout his career.

Mark Sappington's 2014 numbers. (Courtesy of Baseball America) — Mark Sappington’s 2014 numbers. (Screenshot courtesy of Baseball America)

The move is interesting and could open the long relief role for Jeremy Hellickson. With the Rays 2015 starting rotation all but sorted out, and without any accrued trade value following a pair of down seasons which bookended an injury culminating in surgery, Hellickson could excel out of the bullpen.

Noteworthiness

Ian Malinowski asserted, “Yesterday, the Rays traded long-reliever Cesar Ramos for to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for 23 year old relief prospect Mark Sappington. Scott covered already gave a description of Sappington, based on the available scouting reports. He’s something of a project. The Angels tried to make him into a starter and they failed. Now that he’s been moved back to the bullpen, Sappington has a live fastball that he apparently has trouble commanding, probably because of his funky, max-effort delivery. None of his other pitches project as good major league offerings right now,” in a piece titled The potential of Mark Sappington.