What's going to happen in Tampa?

[dannyolbb]

They have so much talent coming up in the OF and nowhere to play everyone. In addition to Crawford, Gomes, Gaithwright, Baldelli, and Huff, they have Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes, and I'm sure a few more will show up.

But they also have Upton, who simply doesn't have the hands to play SS. And the way he's been playing, he might not be able to field any position in the infield at all.

Who's going to get traded? Obviously Huff will be gone, but with new ownership coming in, is there any chance that Crawford/Baldelli also get traded for some other team's top prospects?

[warrick95]

Crawford, Young stay. They seem to like Baldelli, but he was a subject of quite a few trade rumors before getting hurt. Gathright isn't a favorite of the organization even though I think he and Crawford coupled together would be flat out lethal...they apparently disagree, especially Lou who doesn't appreciate his lack of hustle. Dukes is hard to forecast. He could end up being a star, or not. I think they'll give him a shot.

Jonny Gomes has never been an organizational favorite, but he's performed so far this year and is now a starter (at least for this season). I expect and hope that he is traded to free up room. I doubt he would be dealt next year, though, but perhaps the one after.

BJ may spend even more time next year in the minors. I'm still holding out hope that he remains at SS, but it's looking worse by the minute. I highly doubt he'd be moved to the OF unless it was the last resort. Considering Upton's horrific defense, it's possible.

[dannyolbb]

Well, I think you should give up your hope of BJ playing SS for good. And the way he's been playing lately, 2nd and 3rd seem out of reach as well.

You guys are lucky the AL has that ridiculous DH rule.

[RynMan]

Well, I think you should give up your hope of BJ playing SS for good. And the way he's been playing lately, 2nd and 3rd seem out of reach as well.

You guys are lucky the AL has that ridiculous DH rule.

I doubt they will be content with him as their DH.

[hybrid]

Well, I think you should give up your hope of BJ playing SS for good. And the way he's been playing lately, 2nd and 3rd seem out of reach as well.

Don't really agree with that assessment. Yes there is a good chance he will move from SS, but to say that 3B is out of reach is short sighted. They are both fairly different positions and require different aspects. If your reasoning behind it is to say well he makes lots of erors at SS so he can't handle 3B, well that's pretty off. If you don't believe me ask Chipper, yep he was a SS in the minors with lots of error. They moved him to 3b and he has become one of the best at his position. Then there is of course the whole Jeter thing, you don't give up on a 20 year old with tons of talent that early.

As for the OF, Crawford will not be traded as they just signed him to a contract. It would extremely turn off any hope of they trade a player they just signed. Not to mention he is easily a part of the Rays future. The OF will def include Young/Crawford w/ Gomes as the 4th OF/DH. The Rays organization likes Rocco the best as the other starter and he should be there till his contract runs out. After that I'm not sure they will resign him with his agent being Borass. Which could let them go in a couple different areas: Crawford moving to CF so Gomes can play in the OF, or possibly Dukes if can stop being suspended, the third is probably less likely as I don't see Gath being around then as he isn't a DRO fav.

[dannyolbb]

Well, I think you should give up your hope of BJ playing SS for good. And the way he's been playing lately, 2nd and 3rd seem out of reach as well.

You guys are lucky the AL has that ridiculous DH rule.

I doubt they will be content with him as their DH.

I meant that they had a lot of guys with great bats and not a lot of places to play them. I didn't mean that BJ should be the DH. I should have made that more clear.

And - the reliability of fielding stats notwithstanding - I've always thought of Chipper as a pretty bad defensive 3b. Especially at the beginning of his career. Isn't that why they moved him to the OF? BJ is making an error once every 2.5 games at Triple-A. Was Chipper ever that bad at short?* I doubt it.




*I'd look it up myself, but I can't get to a good minor league site from work. They're all blocked. The cafe, though? Fine and dandy.

[George_Foreman]

i seem to remember gomes playing a lot of IF (2B/3B), so i'm wondering why they would want to move him to the outfield. i mean, with delmon young coming up, baldelli still around for the foresable future, and dukes on the horizon, why would you want to take a potentially very good IF bat and turn it in to a mediocre OF/DH one?

does he have upton-like defensive skills? or what?

[Broncmet724]

Why dont they jsut move Huff to 1st? Its not like you guys have it locked up Hybrid. Maybe with the new ownership some things can change. Nothing personal but I think Chuck Lamar is a complete idiot. Too bad about Pinella tho. I like him as a manager

[RAmst23]

What the Rays should be doing is trading some of those OFs for at least some average pitching, and maybe pull a deal to get a closer. If you pull a season together where your guys are getting hits and some average pitching, that can go a long way.

[warrick95]

Why dont they jsut move Huff to 1st? Its not like you guys have it locked up Hybrid. Maybe with the new ownership some things can change. Nothing personal but I think Chuck Lamar is a complete idiot. Too bad about Pinella tho. I like him as a manager

Wes Bankston tore up A-Ball and is doing very well at AA now. He's our 1B of the future...IMO, he's catapulted himself into the top-30 or so prospects in the minors.

We don't really need a closer. I think Chad Orvella should receive a shot. He may end up as just a setup man, but at this point, it wouldn't hurt to give him a try at the end of games.