MVN: Most Valuable Network

On Monday, the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays signed former Philadelphia Phillies OF Pat Burrell to a two-year, $16 million deal.

Burrell should serve as the Rays' primary DH and provide a powerful right-handed bat in the middle of their lineup.  Last year for the Phillies, he had 33 HR and 86 RBI along with a .507 slugging percentage.  2008 was the fourth straight season Burrell had slugging percentage over .500.

Burrell joins a potentially very good Tampa Bay lineup that includes 1B Carlos Pena, LF Carl Crawford, CF B.J. Upton and 2008 AL Rookie of the Year 3B Evan Longoria.  He looks likely to bat fifth in the order, behind Crawford, Upton, Longoria and Pena.  2B Akinori Iwamura is in the mix as well to possibly bat first or second, which would change things slightly above Burrell. But no matter what, Burrell should be in a position to be productive.  Crawford and Upton both had injury problems last season which sapped some of their productivity, but they are just 27 and 24 respectively and should rebound this season.

From a fantasy perspective, Burrell will not help you much in batting average.  He has just a .257 career average and has only topped .260 twice in his career.  He also strikes out a lot, having at least 120 Ks in every season of his major league career, but has also topped 100 walks in each of the past two seasons. 

Where Burrell will help the most is in the power numbers.  He has hit at least 30 HRs in three of the last four seasons, and he hit 29 in the other.  Also, 2008 was the first season since 2004 that Burrell did not drive in at least 95,

Moving away from the hitter-friendly confines of Citizen's Bank Park may bring Burrell's HR numbers down, but that could lead to more doubles.  He also may get off to a slow start, since he will be adjusting to a new league and a new role as a primary DH.  That said, projecting Burrell for 25-30 HRs and 90 or more RBIs seems reasonable.  At still just 32 years old, he could provide a decent value on draft day.  Just make sure you get good batting average from elsewhere on your roster.