Of Rays’ Roster Moves — Both Current and Future (the Outfield)

Instead of writing about yesterday’s offensive letdown of a game, I wanted to switch things up a bit and look ahead. Before I move on, if you wanted a recap of sorts, head over to DRaysBay where Ian put together a brief writeup.

MLB Trade Rumors Reports, “The Angels Are Willing to Trade Bourjos, Trumbo For Pitching”

It’s common knowledge that David Price is projected to make somewhere in the ballpark of $13.1MM in 2014. To that end, Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar will likely to have their options picked up, bringing the Rays’ payroll to a guaranteed $23.5MM for those two, Matt Moore, Joel Peralta and Evan Longoria. On top of that, Tampa Bay will have to pay roughly $25.7MM to eight arbitration-eligible players (and maybe more if Niemann and/or Sam Fuld are tendered contracts), bringing the total to $49.2MM for 13 players. That’s a lot of money for a team that has hinted at reducing the payroll because of attendance. That projected total also doesn’t include the money needed to sign (or in the case of James Loney, re-sign) a first-baseman and a ctacher. The most reasonable (and/or cutthroat) solution seems to be to deal David Price, and hope you get a sweetheart of a deal in return. I’d argue a sweetheart deal might be staring Friedman and Co. in the face.

Rays Acquire Delmon Young and David DeJesus

News broke that the Rays made a pair of acquisitions Thursday, re-signing Delmon Young to a minor league deal, while claiming David DeJesus off rev0cable waivers.