Last week, I covered the Jason Bartlett trade to the San Diego Padres from the Padres’ perspective. Today, I wanted to cover what the trade means for the Tampa Bay Rays and take a look at the four players they received from the Padres in the trade.
The Rays were pretty smart to trade Bartlett when they did. When you have the financial limitations that the Rays have, there is no point keeping a guy on the roster who is going to do very little for the $5 million he was probably going to make in 2011.
On top of that, if I was going to get four players back for a guy who has never played in more than 140 games in a season and is known as a good-glove, no-hit shortstop, I would jump all over that offer in a cocaine addict’s heartbeat.
The beauty of this trade for the Rays is that they have a replacement for Bartlett at the Major League level. Reid Brignac will get the first crack at becoming the Rays’ everyday shortstop in 2011. The soon-to-be 25 year old hit .256/.307/.385 with eight HR’s and 13 doubles in 113 games for the Rays in 2010.
If Brignac is going to hold down the fort at short for the Rays, he is going to need to improve in a couple of areas.
First, he is going to have to learn how to hit lefties. The left-handed Brignac hit only .227/.314/.295 without a HR in 51 plate appearances in 2010. If he is going to be an everyday player at the big league level, he is going to need to figure this out.
Second, Brignac swings at way, way too many pitches out of the strike zone. Last year, he swung at 42 percent of the pitches he saw outside the strike zone. If he maintained that pace over the course of an entire, Brignac would have swung at more pitches outside the strike zone than anyone in the American League not named Vladimir Guerrero.
If he can improve in those two areas, then he will be a slightly better version of Bartlett at a 10th of the cost.
In return for Bartlett, the Rays received four players. Here is a brief look at the four of them:
Adam Russell, RHP: Russell is a 27 year old right-hander who pitched 15.2 innings for the Padres in 2010, posting 10.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 4.02 ERA.
He spent most of the year in Triple-A games, posting a 4.88 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.6 BB/9 in 50 games.
Russell will fight for a spot in the pen in spring training.
Cesar Ramos, LHP: Ramos has had a couple of cups of coffee with the Padres over the last two years, pitching mostly in relief.
In 23 big league innings, Ramos has a 6.26 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP, but has struck out 7.4 batters/9.
In six minor league seasons, Ramos has amassed a 4.01 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, and 3.0 BB/9.
Ironically, he was originally drafted by the Rays in the sixth round of the 2002 draft.
Cole Figueroa, 2B/SS: Figueroa was ranked as the Padres’ 30th best prospect heading into 2010 by Baseball America.
Figueroa’s highest level of competition has been High Single-A. In 2010, he hit .303/.408/.392 with four HR’s and 26 SB’s in 124 games.
Brandon Gomes, RHP: Gomes is a right-handed pitcher who has spent the last two seasons in Double-A.
In the last two years, the 26-year-old has registered a 2.24 ERA with 12.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 116 appearances.
Overall, Gomes has a 2.99 ERA in four minor league seasons.
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