Maybe it had something to do with Jays devoting 71.5% of their revenue to payroll while Rays just 33.8% When Jays underachieved LY, they turned over half their roster. Rays underachieved too yet only add Jensen and Kim Even with reduced revenue, if Rays committed 70%, they would be top 15 in payroll
What? MLB does a poor job marketing its player development programs? If they want more eyes on this, it should be a winter league, instead of during the playoffs. Move the league to South Florida and instead of dividing the teams by affiliate, divide them by home country. WBC format will bring fans.
The stadium uncertainty is the key to everything this year. Ownership won’t spend on long term payroll without revenue certainty. Fans aren’t going to spend on a team that hasn’t committed to the area and may relocate. And trotting out the same team as the last couple yrs won’t be helpful to anyone.
It took all of 4 games for major league pitchers to figure out what he can’t hit. If you back out his first few games, his K rate was 50%…. If he really is the future at SS, they need to let him develop at a level where he can have success.
If Simpson is your primary CF, you’re worse defensively. Seymour, Pereira, Fortes and the aforementioned Williams all have high K rates, with low BA. For the record, I don’t hate Williams, he’s just not ready. They’ll ruin him if they keep trotting him out there to figure it out in the majors.
That sure looks like a 10-15 games under .500 team. Still a strikeout prone black hole bottom third of the order. Worse defensively and probably no better offensively in the outfield. The AL East is too deep for the Rays to focus on subtraction without clearly upgrading.
In free agency, they might look at S. Marte or M. Kepler on a ‘prove it’ deal. Or they could look at M. Yaz or C. Mullens as higher floor, low ceiling OF. A. Hayes or R. O’Hearn could bounce back and could be signed on the cheap. They have work to do. C and SS were extremely unproductive as well.
Durham will be fine, no matter how this plays out. They have a loyal fan base, a nice downtown facility that has practice fields and team workout areas. Plus, they have a solid marketing plan that is not reliant on the major league team. It’s just not necessary to relocate the Rays AAA affiliate.
The goal is to make it to MLB, Babby is there, his holdings in FFSH are nothing compared to his stake in the Rays. Also, the cost of getting the Yankees out of Tampa will be significant. They have a sweet lease that runs through 2046. MiLB relocation now is an expense that would take $ from payroll.
They’re not going to spend money unnecessarily until they have identified their future revenue sources….that was the message in their very first presser. If Babby’s relationship with MiLB is considered a conflict, they will have to address it immediately, thus spending unknown $ now….
Babby is a minority owner/CEO of Rays, as well as the founder of Fast Forward Sports Holdings. He’s not the CEO of FFSH, nor its principal owner. My guess is that MLB either decides it’s not a conflict or he divests his remaining holdings with FFSH. Rearranging the farm system is counterproductive.
It’s got to be frustrating to go into this offseason with the same basic needs as last offseason….but they have holes to fill in the lineup at SS and C, and still a glaring need for more run production in the OF. On the upside, if all the injured pitchers are healthy, they have real depth there.
Lol….you sure you aren’t a Yankees fan? St Louis says we need a pitcher and will give you our #4 prospect that’s a C you covet. Ok, we’ll take your C and give you an OF that can’t stay healthy enough to produce and a SS that’s not in our top 30 prospects. You gotta give up quality to get quality.
Arozarena for Liberatore is the trade you’re referring to, and Liberatore was one of the Rays top pitching prospects at the time. So what I’m wanting to know is whether you believe the need at C is worth a prospect as valued as Hopkins? Randy was well worth it, I don’t know if Bernal is.
St Louis needs pitching…so who would you be willing to give up for him if you’re the Rays? Especially knowing that Bloom knows the Rays system and how they like to operate, I don’t see them settling for ‘potential’ in the form of lower level prospects.
He won’t get 7 years, but he’s is still going to get a huge payday. My guess is he gets 5 years for $150+ million….probably by one of the NY teams. He bet on himself this season and won.
Herrera has seen his time behind the plate diminished, but can hit. Pages can field, but can’t hit Pozo just can’t and will likely be DFA soon. The targets should be Crooks or Bernal…but they won’t come cheap. They will likely cost high upside pitching prospects, like Ty Johnson or Brody Hopkins.
