MVN - Most Valuable Network

Deadline Talk: Rays Will Not Trade Top Prospects for Rent-A-Player

Oh boy, the deadline is a week from today and the rumors are just cranking one after another. Excellent piece today from Jayson Stark of ESPN about the deadline. Stark outlines a few great points about the Rays so here they are…

You’ll be hearing lots of relief pitchers (primarily Fuentes and Marte) and right-handed bats (primarily Nady and Blake) connected to Tampa Bay in the next week. But they’ve been telling teams they’re not trading their top tier of prospects (Wade Davis, David Price, Jeremy Hellickson) for a rent-a-player — and they’d rather turn to Price and Rocco Baldellithan deal for a rental in the first place. So they’re planning to take a hard look at Price and Baldelli in the next few days before plowing forward.

• This is music to my ears. Everywhere the Rays are mentioned in possible trades, names like Davis, Hellickson and even Price have been mentioned. You kind of knew Andrew Friedman wouldn’t part with one of these guys for a “rent-a-player”, but to hear that the Rays are telling other teams NO on these guys is nice. It’s good to know Friedman will not mortgage the future of the franchise on one year.

“It’s easy to see why the Rays would want to give those guys the first shot to help. But the question other teams keep posing is: If you’re trying to win, should you really be relying on two players like that?

“Everybody loves David Price,” says one NL executive. “But you’re talking about another inexperienced guy on a team with too little [big-game] experience to begin with. What they need out there is a veteran arm who can bolster those guys who have been getting it done all year. And we all root for Rocco Baldelli. But can you depend on that guy, after all the injuries? I don’t see how.”

• Part of this I agree with, and part of this I don’t.  I agree that if this team is counting on Rocco Baldelli to be the right handed bat then we might be in a bit of trouble. But, as I said before I’m not sure a right handed bat solves our problems. Will Xavier Nady help Carl Crawford take a pitch? Will he turn back Carlos Pena’s clock to read 2007 not 2008? Will he put the power back in B.J. Upton’s swing? It’s a need, and for the right price I’m all for it, but I’m not sold that it’s a must. With that being said if they are dead set on adding somebody from the right side, I’m not sure counting on Rocco Baldelli is wise.
• I disagree with the David Price part of it. Sure Price would be a rookie, but so was Joba Chamberlain, and he didn’t seem to have much problems down the stretch last season.  Price is not just another prospect. He is described as a “once every few years” type of guy and is not some young guy having a good year in the minors. I have no doubt that he can be just as effective, if not more so, than some of the names rumored to be targets of the Rays.

Next, Stark gives us a peak of what the Pirates are looking for in return for Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte

Bay: The Pirates are asking for four players back — two sure-thing young players, one good prospect and a fourth prospect with upside.

Nady: A similar package, except they want three players instead of four — one sure thing, one good prospect and a third, more iffy, prospect.

Marte: The Pirates seem confident he’ll be a Type A free agent, so they’re telling teams they need to do better than the first-round pick and sandwich pick they’d get if he walks.

• Sorry guys, but as much as I’ve turned the corner on Nady; one sure thing, one good prospect and a third, more iffy, prospect is one sure thing more than I’m willing to give up. A good prospect and one lesser prospect is more reasonable. Let us remember this is the same Xavier Nady who has just one season of over .800 OPS(.806 in 07) in his career. He’s good, just not that good.

Continuing the ESPN theme, Buster Olney also weighs in on some rumors, including talking about the new lowered price for the Pirates players

The Pirates are indicating to other teams that their asking price on outfielder Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marteis coming down, but some teams are still not lured by the change. The Pittsburgh asking price, says one rival executive, “has gone from absurd to crazy.” Other teams are reading the adjustment downward on the Nady and Marte asking prices like a blink in a card game — and think that the Pirates will continue to drop the prices until they find a suitable deal. The Mets, the Rays, the Athletics and the Yankees have kept in contact with the Pirates.

• I think from “from absurd to crazy” is a great way to put it.

Olney also touches on the recent surge of Casey Blake talks:

Casey Blakeis likely to be moved between now and the deadline, and while the Mets’ interest is serious, it is unclear whether the Indians can find a suitable deal with New York. The Rays are a serious player in the Blake talks, which also include the Phillies.

• The fact that Olney says the Rays are a serious player just jives with that I’ve been saying for a few days now.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pm and is filed under MVN Rays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.