The Rays are having a good week.
They signed RHP Grant Balfour for $12 million to be their closer for the next two years.
That might sound familiar, because he has pitched for Tampa Bay before, but in a setup role. For the last three years, he was a closer -- with the Athletics.
Balfour almost had a contract this year with the Orioles, but he failed his physical. That fact and his age (36) could make the Rays' move a bit iffy. However, if you read these posts, you'll quickly learn how much respect I have for the Tampa Bay and Oakland organizations and their decision-making ability. Even more than I have for the Rangers' and ascending Pirates' organizations.
That respect is a reason why I also like the trade the Rays made with the Padres. Tampa Bay sent a couple of viable relievers, LHP Alex Torres and RHP Jesse Hahn, to San Diego for five players who haven't yet or haven't had a chance to prove their major league readiness.
The key player going to the Rays is 3B/2B Logan Forsythe. I saw him play at the University of Arkansas and in the Texas League. You may wonder why, with 3B Evan Longoria already on Tampa Bay's roster, the team would need Forsythe. But have you noticed Longoria's amount of time on the disabled list? And even if he could play every game this year, Forsythe would be around to play some second base, freeing 2B/OF Ben Zobrist (for whom I also have a ridiculous amount of respect) to spend more time in the outfield. That would add even more versatility to a pretty versatile team.
There also could be strength in the numbers of trading two players for five. Four of the five new players going to the Rays organization can be considered at best prospects. We know that not every prospect actually becomes successful in the majors. But what if two of the four among RHPs Brad Boxberger, Matt Lollis and Matt Andriese and 2B Maxx Tissenbaum turn out to be serviceable major leaguers? Or if even one becomes a contributor?
The only player among those four that I have seen much is Lollis, and he wasn't really impressive out of Double-A San Antonio's bullpen. Tissenbaum appears to be on a career track similar to ... Logan Forsythe's.
Which reminds me that the Giants avoided arbitration by agreeing to a two-year deal with 3B/SS Joaquin Arias. I'd rather have Logan Forsythe.
Another former Rays right-hander, Matt Garza, reportedly is close to a four-year, $52-million contract with the Brewers, who apparently didn't observe his work down the stretch with the 2013 Rangers.
The big signing, of course, was RHP Masahiro Tanaka's seven-year, $155-million contract with the Yankees. Again, if you've been reading this blog, you'll know this surprises me only in that he'll be making more than $20 million per season.
If you're really Jonesing for signings, you might even be interested in the fact that two righties found lacking as closers have new minor-league contracts, Jon Rauch with the Royals and David Aardsma with the Indians.
* * *
Basketball. Thursday night, I got 31 points but just six rebounds from Chris Bosh, and very little from Mo Williams. I'm still ahead 7-1 this week, trailing only in field goal percentage.
* * *
Hockey. In the Stars' 7-1 win over the Maple Leafs, even Brenden Dillon from my team picked up one of those good stats that I no longer talk about. I dropped half a point when the next-lowest team in goalie wins moved into a tie. Antti Raanta played in goal for me for the first time, but lost 2-1 to Minnesota. The worst part was that his save percentage was below .900. That's one stat where I could pick up a point or two in the standings by improving by a .001 or .002.
No comments:
Post a Comment