The Rays have reached agreement with reliever Grant Balfour, reports Andrew Rickli of SportsReel Boston (via Twitter). The deal is for two years and $12MM, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported (via tweet) that the deal was expected to land in that range.
Of course, the ACES client had an earlier agreement in place with the Orioles for two years and $15MM, which was blown up when Baltimore found issues with the reliever’s physical. The Aussie will nevertheless throw in the AL East after agreeing to terms with Tampa. (It is worth noting that the Rays’ team doctor was one of those who said there were no issues with Balfour’s right shoulder, though the Orioles apparently had other reasons for concern with the medicals.)
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote in profiling Balfour earlier in the offseason, the righty struck out batters at an impressive rate of 10.8 K/9 in 2013. Though the 36-year-old’s fastball velocity has dipped since he worked around the 95 mph mark in his excellent 2008 season with Tampa, he still brings his heater at above 93 mph on average.
Meet the newest Tampa Bay Rays. Clockwise from the top-left corner: Logan Forsythe, Brad Boxberger, Maxx Tissenbaum, Matt Lollis and Matt Andriese. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
The Rays finalized a seven-player trade with the Padres Wednesday, sending LHP Alex Torres to San Diego, along with right-handed pitching prospect Jesse Hahn. In return, Tampa Bay will receive five players: utility infielder Logan Forsythe, RHP Brad Boxberger, infielder Maxx Tissenbaum, and right-handers Matt Andriese and Matt Lollis.
Make no bones about it, the Rays’ now former LHP was excellent last season. Torres went 4-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 58 innings (over 39 appearances) in two stints with Tampa Bay in 2013. Furthermore, he ranked third among AL relievers with a .159 opponents’ batting average and led major league relievers with a .224 opponents’ slugging percentage. He struck out 62 batters. Though Torres could have been an asset in the pen this season, he also had the potential to regress. With this in mind, Andrew Friedman went in to the trade with the opportunity to fill a few areas of weakness.
As we bid adieu to Alex, a question emerges: who are the new faces around the clubhouse? Let’s delve into them a bit.
Brad Boxberger
According to Scouting Book, Boxberger works with a 92-94mph fastball that he’ll work in on hitters quite fearlessly, and he complements it with a decent-and-improving curve. Most interestingly, though, he features a nifty sinking change that could be a real strikeout pitch for him once he learns to command it a bit more consistently.
Boxberger is the most Torres-like pitcher of the crop. He’s capable of working against righties (with a slider) and lefties (with a change-up). paired with a low-90’s fastball, he has a similar arsenal to what Torres offered. As John Sickles, of Minor League Ball, wrote in a review of the 2013 season,
Brad Boxberger, RHP, Grade C+: Solid season for Triple-A Tucson, 3.47 ERA with 72/18 K/BB in 49 innings, 44 hits. Has fanned 11 in nine major league innings. Age 25 now, has nothing left to prove in Triple-A, strikeout rate continues to point to bullpen upside.
Very good performances over meaningful innings pitched are highlighted; red ratios are worrisome. (Courtesy of Scoutingbook.com)
Matt Andriese
Andriese is a groundball pitcher, who relies on a 93 MPH fastball (on average), that has a lot of sudden movement as it reaches the plate. He also lays claim to a hard curve and a falling splitter. He has great control of all three pitches. Andiese ranked among the Padres minor league leaders in ERA (3.27, fifth), wins (11, second) and strikeouts (105, fifth). Per the Padres press release,
Over three minor league seasons, the right-hander has gone 26-16 with a 3.18 ERA (322.1-IP, 114-ER) and 278 strikeouts to 77 walks.
Matt Lollis
Lollis, went 3-8 with a 4.62 ERA over 74 innings (in 58 appearances) with Class-A Lake Elsinore, Tucson and San Antonio last season. He’s a career 15-33 with a 4.79 ERA over five minor league seasons. Lollis features some serious heat, approaching 100, a mid-70’s curve, a low-90’s slurve and a change-up. Unfortunately, Lollis also feature poor control. File him under the work in progress category.
Maxx Tissenbaum
As Daniel Russell of DRaysBay wrote of Tissenbaum,
Tissenbaum was one of three star players in the Low-A Northwest League in 2012, along side Cubs famed first base prospect Dan Vogelbach and Mariners catcher Mike Zunino, as ranked by SCOUT:
(Courtesy of Daniel Russell/DRaysBay)
SCOUT is a system used by Fangraphs to assess low minors performances where small sample size can be compared against the league and then projected for future performance. That 139 mark for Maxx is particularly impressive given his age, as most players at this time would have been in Rookie ball.
In 2013, Zunino leapt into Double- and Triple-A for 67 games before finding himself in the majors. Vogelbach started in Class-A ball and sported a 128 wRC+ before earning a 17 game promotion to High-A to finish the year, which he crushed.
Meanwhile, Maxx saw a dip from his stellar 2012, dropping from a .378 wOBA and 131 wRC+ in 47 Northwest League games to a .341 wOBA and 109 wRC+ at Class-A. Not horrible, but not turning heads either.
An 11th round pick from 2012, Tissenbaum could surprise us all in 2014.
Logan Forsythe
Forsythe is a versatile defender who had a nice 2012 campaign (107 OPS+), yet he struggled last year, slashing .214 BA/.281 OBP/.332 SLG/.813 OPS in 243 plate appearances last year. The switch hitting Forsythe has had much better success against southpaws (from the righthand side of the plate) over his career than against same-handed hurlers — posting a .793 OPS vs a .594 OPS.
Forsythe has spent time at second, short, third and the corner outfield, and certainly fits the Rays mold for being a flexible player. He’ll battle for a roster spot and playing time with Sean Rodriguez, Vince Belnome, and Jayson Nix. The Rays will control the three-year veteran for four seasons, though only the coming year will be at the league minimum.
Noteworthiness
Ironically, the Rays made a similar deal with the Padres in 2010 for Jason Bartlett, getting Brandon Gomes, Cesar Ramos, Adam Russell and Cole Figueroa in return.
Surprise surprise, the Yankees and Masahiro Tanaka agreed to a massive seven-year, $155 million deal Wednesday. Noah Pransky of the Shadow of the Stadium blog had an interesting take on things, writing,
Nobody outside of New York wants to see one team sign every good free agent available, but for the last decade or so, it’s seemed the Yankees would. The problem with that is it minimizes the opportunity for teams in smaller markets who cannot sign the top players.
The league isn’t sharing revenue like the NFL does at a time where free agent salaries are soaring out of control for smaller teams.
There’s a LOT more money in the game these days, and its up to MLB to spead enough around to make sure all 30 teams have a legit chance of competing.
One also wonders how the Tanaka signing may effect David Price’s future with the Rays. “With Masahiro Tanaka signing a seven-year, $155 million deal with the Yankees on Wednesday,” writes MLB.com‘s Bill Chastain,” there could be renewed interest in Rays ace David Price from teams that missed out on the Japanese hurler.
A number of St. Petersburg, and Rays, centric articles have been published in the last 10 days. Some of those articles painted St. Petersburg in an incredibly flattering light. Others have tread that familiar ground, where the tired, clichéd, “Tampa is only legitimate home for the Rays,” opinion has been espoused. Let’s review a few of those articles, and I’ll briefly discuss them below.
January 17, 2014 — Stephen Nohlgren of the Tampa Bay Times wrote that Tampa mayor, Bob Buckhorn called baseball in the Sunshine City a failed business model that “Clearly (it) doesn’t work in St. Petersburg,” in an article about former Rays stadium czar, Michael Kalt.
The praise being rained down upon St. Petersburg, especially from sources outside the Bay Area, is flattering to say the least. For years, St. Pete had been viewed, by many, as the second-rate little brother of Tampa. The sleepy tourist haven,known as the Sunshine City, has made strides over the last 15 years to redefine itself — something that has, increasingly, become evident in the last five-to-seven years. What exactly do these flattering pieces have to do with the Rays?
I’ll admit it, I’m a sports talk radio fanatic. I find most of what’s talked about, on any given show or station, to be nothing more than pure, laugh-out-loud worthy, entertainment. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve listened as callers remarked, “There’s nothing to do in St. Pete before or after games,” or, “St. Pete is a dead city.” If anything, this round of flattering articles flies in the face of the throng of largely uninformed opinions.
Therein lies a problem. It’s rare to find an article that includes the Rays in a conversation of St. Petersburg’s attributes. Perhaps the newly elected mayor (or even Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg, for that matter) will, somehow, tie in our beloved small market franchise with all the positive public relations momentum. Not all the articles were flattering, however.
Michael Kalt, the former stadium czar for the Tampa Bay Rays, announced his resignation from the organization this week, seeking the greener pastures of New York City. Stephen Nohlgren, who penned a piece on the departure for the Tampa Bay Times, wrote,
“Neither the team nor Kalt gave any indication that the move relates to the stadium stalemate between the Rays and the city of St. Petersburg. Rather, lesser-known general partners in the Rays organization have opened an investment office in Manhattan and want Kalt to run it.”
Never one to shy away from a conversation regarding the Rays future in the region, Tampa Mayor, Bob Buckhorn, went out of his way to call baseball in the Sunshine City a “failed business model” that “Clearly (it) doesn’t work in St. Petersburg,” in the same article. Buckhorn ignored the facts though, favoring a soundbite that would garner him more attention instead. On the contrary, the Tampa Bay Rays have been an excellent business model since Stuart Sternberg assumed ownership of the team. They’ve been outstanding on the field, and are believed to be one of the most profitable teams in baseball. Shadow of the Stadium’s Noah Pransky summed things up well,
Forbes and Bloomberg both guesstimate the Rays make eight-digit profits every year, while the value of the team has at least tripled since 2005. That’s a business model that’s working very, very, very, very well.
If there’s any model that’s broken, it’s the MLB competitive balance model. Unlike other leagues where more revenue is shared, baseball’s profits are distributed disproportionately and are largely dependent on market size and TV reach.
Finally, there’s the piece published Monday by SaintPetersBlog.
St. Pete resident and blogger, Peter Schorsch, ahem…extended pleasantries toward the Rays Monday, writing, “Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.” Schorsch maintains the land the Rays currently play on might be better developed without baseball. He also viewed two events as being game changers in the Stadium Saga: The departure of Michael Kalt and, in his words,
…the county tax collector announced that Pinellas had collected $30 million in tourist development taxes — also called bed taxes — in one calendar year. Accomplishing this means Pinellas will soon be designated a ”high tourism impact” county and allowed to charge — and collect — more tourist development taxes. Boosting the tourist tax to 6 percent could raise another $6 million a year for the county.
But Schorsch, unintentionally, made a case for a new facility on the west side of the bay. In his piece, Schorsch hinted at the redevelopment of downtown St. Petersburg — something Buckhorn promised a new stadium would drive in Tampa. I’d imagine it would be highly desirable to build in an already developed area, one that promises more sustainable development. He also highlighted that the increased revenue*, and the potential of more corporate dollars to come into downtown St. Petersburg, comes ahead of the November referendum on Green Light Pinellas. Sternberg called mass-transit “real difference-maker,” and acknowledged it is, “A foregone conclusion: wherever we end up (with a new stadium)…there will be a stop there.” Pinellas is, currently, the only county in the region with plans for an improved mass transit system. It goes without saying, improved mass-transit would connect downtown St. Petersburg effectively with other areas in the county.
*The increased revenue could be used toward the construction of a new stadium.
On the heels of the record (by Rays standards, that is) $14MM signing of David Price, the Rays have avoided the arbitration process altogether, agreeing Friday with all six remaining arbitration-eligible players prior to the 1:00 PM deadline.
Tampa Bay agreed to deals with:
Jake McGee – $1.45MM
Jeremy Hellickson – $3.625MM
Sean Rodriguez – $1.475MM
Jośe Lobaton – $950K
Cesar Ramos – $749,750K
Matt Joyce – $3.7MM
The amounts agreed upon, don’t deviate much from the projected totals:
Jake McGee – $1.2MM
Jeremy Hellickson – $3.3MM
Sean Rodriguez – $1.3MM
Jośe Lobaton – $1MM
Cesar Ramos – $700K
Matt Joyce – $3.7MM
Without having to participate in any type of arbitration hearings this go around, the Rays have yet to lose an arbitration case with Friedman as GM.
Work continues on renovations to Trop. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin)
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.
Rays overall offensive production in 2012 and 2013.Rays first half offensive production in 2012 and 2013.Rays second half offensive production in 2012 and 2013.
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?
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.”
