Kuzul

The Tampa Bay Rays made some bold moves on Friday, coming to contract terms with some veteran players still trying to hang around in the big leagues.

Two former teammates in Boston, Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, get back together in the AL East. Damon was signed to a one-year, $5.25 million contract and Ramirez to a one-year, $2 million contract.

This has been a very tough offseason for a team that over the last three seasons, progressed better than anyone in the league, considering where there were as a franchise.

The Rays—or Devil Rays—won no more than 70 games in each of their first 10 seasons. After becoming the Rays and changing their image, they magically won 97 games in 2008 and made it all the way to the World Series. They would go down to the Phillies in five games, but at least they showed people that there was another powerhouse around.

After having a decent season but missing the playoffs in 2009, the Rays won 96 games last season and returned to the playoffs. They’d lose in five games to Cliff Lee and the Rangers in the ALDS, knowing that this was to be their last promising season.

That’s because all of their young players that helped the Rays win two of three AL East titles, were going to leave due to a very low budget in Tampa Bay. Some of the players that left were Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, and Rafael Soriano to name a few. That’s a ton of talent coming off the team in one offseason.

Crawford and Soriano perhaps are the biggest losses. Crawford had developed into an All-Star caliber outfielder and base stealer, and Soriano was the American League’s best reliever last season. More importantly, they both went to an intra-division rival—Crawford to the Red Sox and Soriano to the Yankees.

In other words, after three seasons of exciting baseball and threatening to win the World Series, the Rays are back to what they were pre-2008. That’s only until Friday, according to the Rays; they figured that trading in the younger talent for washed up veterans would be the best way to go about making up for their losses.

It’s true that Damon and Ramirez have resumes and are popular players. But, at this point, what are they on the field?

Johnny Damon is 37 years old and saw a major drop off in production last season in his only year in Detroit. He hit only eight home runs, the least of any season for him since 1997 with the Royals. He only drove in 51 runs, the least of any season for him since 2001 with the Athletics.

He is not the player he was anymore in Boston and the Bronx. He doesn’t have the speed he had in his prime, nor the power, nor the ability to play everyday in the outfield. 

He spent most of his time last season as a designated hitter for the Tigers, but that makes the move to acquire both him and Manny confusing. If Damon can only be a DH at this point, what’s Manny going to be?

As a Dodger last season, Manny spent some time in the outfield being the goofball he is, but played every game as a White Sox as a DH. He’ll be 39 during the season and just like Damon, he’s past his prime.

He did manage to bat .298, but only hit nine home runs in 90 games last season. That’s a pace for 16 home runs—only he won’t play in 162 games anymore.

Obviously, they both can’t be the DH and neither of them can really perform in the outfield. What’s even more concerning for the Rays is that both older players would have to play in the outfield on turf. You’d figure either player would want to go to a team that plays 81 games on grass. So, therefore, health becomes a concern. 

Most likely, Damon will be the one to get more time in the outfield, replacing Crawford, and Manny will be the primary DH.

Still, signing these two doesn’t make the Rays any stronger than they were a day ago. Perhaps instead of winning 75 games, they’ll win 78.

It’s not going to draw any fans to the stadium if that was the plan. Nobody showed up for a 95-win team that was a pennant contender, so nobody will show up to see two players finishing off their careers. 

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The Hot Stove is heating up once again, as a flurry of new activity has stoked the dying embers and re-ignited the flame.

We’ve got major trades to report, some more free agent signing rounding out team rosters, and we’ll even throw in a few rumors to marinate on this Friday night.

Bleacher Report sends you into the weekend right, and satisfies your baseball cravings with all the latest news and buzz.  Here are 12 of the biggest recent stories across baseball.  Dig in!

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The baseball world seems to have gone crazy to end the week. The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired both Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. What’s truly amazing is the size of the deals: for one year of each, the Rays spent a mere $7.25 million. Both played well enough last year, and look to provide value in 2011.

Ramirez played 90 games for the Dodgers and White Sox last year, mostly due to injury. Since he looks to be primarily a DH next year, he should be able to stay in the lineup. In 2010, he posted a .298/.409/.460 line (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage), which should provide decent value over more games. His wins above replacement (WAR) (which accounts for hitting, fielding, position and playing time) for the year were 1.6. He could easily post above two WAR (about starter-level) in 2011 with more playing time, even accounting for some decline. 

Damon, meanwhile, played 145 games for the Tigers, with a .271/.355/.401 line and 1.9 WAR. He may not provide as much value as Ramirez, but he too could easily provide two WAR. In an AL East race that looks to be very close, the Rays will need every win they can get. 

These are both very team-friendly, low-risk/high-reward deals for the Rays. Based on the contracts handed out over the offseason, Fangraphs has estimated one WAR went for about $5 million through free agency. Therefore, should Ramirez and Damon both reach two WAR, the Rays will have gotten $20 million in value, which is $12.75 million more than they paid for the two of them combined. They fill several gaps the Rays have: both designated hitter and bench. The 2011 Rays look somewhat like this:

C: John Jaso

1B: Ben Zobrist/Matt Joyce

2B: Sean Rodriguez

3B: Evan Longoria

SS: Reid Brignac

LF: Desmond Jennings/Johnny Damon

CF: B.J. Upton

RF: Matt Joyce/Ben Zobrist

DH: Manny Ramirez/Johnny Damon

The downside is that it looks like top prospect Desmond Jennings will be out in the cold. However, these moves give the Rays both depth and flexibility. Worst-case scenario: If the Rays fall out of contention, the can likely flip them for prospects come the trade deadline.

The Angels, meanwhile, are trying to be the anti-Rays. They have reportedly swung a deal for Blue Jay Vernon Wells, sending over catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera. The money alone should show just how bad this deal is: Rivera has one year at $5.25 million on his contract. Napoli has two more arbitration years, and made $3.6 million last year. Wells has $86 million left the next four years.

Apparently, the Angels decided to do something with the money they had left over from not signing Adrian Beltre or Carl Crawford.

Granted, Rivera was nothing special (.252/.312/.409 line, .5 WAR in 124 games for 2010); however, Mike Napoli is a 29-year-old catcher coming off of a .238/.316/.468 season, with two more years under contract. He even posted 2.7 WAR, a number that looks to rise.

The man who takes over for him is manager-favorite Jeff Mathis, who posted absolutely atrocious numbers last year (.195/.219/.278, -.6 WAR). Granted, he is supposed to be better defensively than Napoli. But, for what it’s worth, Napoli threw out a higher percentage of baserunners last year. Plus, Mathis is only under contract through 2011.

The Angels have not only committed regular subtraction, but also subtraction by addition. Granted, Wells did have a bounce-back year last year, posting a .269/.328/.467 line with four WAR. However, the three seasons prior to that, he posted WAR of 1.5, 1.5 and zero respectively. To add insult to injury, he just turned 32, meaning the Angels get to pay him $86 million for his decline years. For reference, here’s what the Angels could have done with the extra money they are spending.

This deal isn’t all bad, though. The Blue Jays front office did a remarkable job seizing the opportunity to remove an albatross deal.

And, on a final deal of more personal concern, the Cardinals signed 33-year-old infielder Nick Punto to fill Tony LaRussa’s need for another grinder or something. It’s not even for twice the major league minimum, so I guess it’s not too bad. I would just feel much better about this situation if they didn’t already have an almost identical type of player in Ryan Theriot. Or, even better, if they had a major league-caliber shortstop, like, say, Brendan Ryan, so they didn’t have to start Theriot at shortstop.

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Does any other MLB fan find it weird when a team goes out and buys former superstars, seemingly anticipating that putting them back together will magically bring back the spark from seven years before?

It’s happening again this year, and it’s certainly not the first time that two World Series champions have played on entirely different teams together. It’s just weird to have it happen in the AL East and for it to not be the Yankees doing the purchasing.

Today it was announced that Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon (2004 World Series Champions) will be joining the recently depleted/farmed out Tampa Bay Rays. It’s not unrealistic that Tampa Bay would sign a few players (practicality says they needed to do so after losing the talent they let walk out the door over the offseason for nothing in return), but this is not the Tampa way.

As a Red Sox fan in Minneapolis, I take a lot of guff: “They’re just like the Yankees” tends to be the weapon of choice from the loyal Twins fans up here. I don’t understand the argument, and this latest move by the Rays emphasizes the point that I attempt to make every time I am forced to defend a contender in the AL East that doesn’t have the highest payroll. If you want to contend in a competitive division, money must be spent. The difference between the Red Sox and the Yankees, is the Red Sox spend money to keep talent, whereas the Yankees spend money to acquire talent.

In order to amass the team that Theo Epstein has over the last 10 years, talent acquisition had to take place, but talent retention and development also took place. I don’t see the same technique employed by the Yankees nor the Rays. After the 2007 World Series, the Red Sox had some decisions to make – they let Alex Gonzalez walk, but they retained staples (home-grown staples) like Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, etc.

Of course, not all of the talent of the 2004 and 2007 squads was drafted and developed, Manny, Papi, Curt Schilling, ‘Tek and the gang were acquired through trades and free agency – but it was a balance.

The Yankees transaction history from this offseason alone could easily take an article to chronicle, but the song remains the same in New York – the core four plus the highest paid free agents of any given year.

I thought the Rays were more like the Red Sox (develop and retain) than the Yankees (catch and release, then buy). With these signings today, coupled with the exit of solid talent such as Carl Crawford and Rafael Soriano, I begin to wonder about the managerial know-how of their front office.

I’m not complaining mind you, as a Red Sox fan, I’d love to see Tampa and the hipster doofus that is Joe Maddon fall into last place where they belong, but it is sad to see a team that took the division from the Yankees last year (with one of the smallest payrolls in the league) go from the top to the bottom.

Perhaps it is too early to speculate, but given the performance of Manny and Johnny in 2010, I think it’s safe to say the 2011 Rays can only hope for the same outcome as the Red Sox of 2004 enjoyed.

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We are officially well into the winter doldrums. The luster of the World Series has long since faded, and the free agent market’s most prized possessions have all signed with new teams. But while the media will marvel in the news surrounding the likes of Washington’s big spending, reeling in Jayson Werth, or the Phillies under-market signing of Cliff Lee. However, many free agents are still looking for new homes.

Who’s to blame?

Today’s free agent market is summarized by the old euphemism, “Dream big, or go home.” Players who had great seasons wait the market out until the last possible moment, sometimes landing that big deal from a desperate team, a la Rafael Soriano signing with the New York Yankees, but more often than not, those players are forced to take deals they aren’t so happy with.

Is it a result of greed? Is there simply no market for a player, or are they valuing themselves much more greatly than what the rest of the league considers a fair price? The following free agents remain without homes, but we wonder why. Though there has been considerable interest in their services, they’ve yet to latch on with a new team. Have the following players actually priced themselves out of the market?

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With only a month or so until pitchers and catchers report to training camp, the final free agents are beginning to find homes at last. Jim Thome signed a deal with the Minnesota Twins, and Rafael Soriano has become the most expensive setup man of all time, hopefully.

I don’t see why anyone would pay $11 million for a setup man, but nonetheless, his contract has been signed, and it’s time to look at the future.

Joey Votto and the Reds have been back and forth about a possible contract negotiation. Has that happened now? Is anyone in the market for Bruce Chen?

For that matter, why is Carl Pavano still not signed?

Here are the latest MLB rumors and buzz.

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It seems like yesterday that Johnny Damon was the special guest host for WWE’s Monday Night Raw, dressed like a Creed roadie and saying things like, “Hey, John Cena, that’s a real home run of an idea.”

It was actually last Dec. 21, and Damon was one of the more sought-after entities on the free-agent market. Fresh off a starring role in a Yankees World Series victory and coming off his 12th straight 140-plus game, 90-plus run season, the world was Damon’s oyster.

What a difference a year makes.

After a (predictable) flop of a season in Detroit, Damon is back on the market looking for work. We’ve heard whispers all winter that Damon wants back in pinstripes. On Wednesday, Damon’s agent, Scott Boras, reiterated the point.

“As Johnny has said he is more than willing to return to New York,” Boras told ESPN.com.

As incredibly difficult as it may be to believe, Damon, 37, has a legitimate shot to reach 3,000 hits. At 2,571—and again, let’s take a moment to let that soak in—Damon is perhaps three representative seasons away from punching his ticket to Cooperstown.

(That sound you heard was Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmiero and Pete Rose simultaneously slapping their palms against their foreheads.)

It’s telling that Damon continues to have interest in the Yankees. If he were to return, it’s unlikely he’d receive enough playing time to make a run at 3,000.

Perhaps playing in New York, a place he enjoys and feels comfortable in, is more important to him than reaching the milestone. More likely is the reality that the market for Damon isn’t strong—or worse yet, doesn’t exist at all—and the veteran is now just hoping to find a soft, familiar landing place as opposed to a non-guaranteed spring invite to some also-ran’s camp.

Had Damon been in the same position six or seven years ago, he’d probably have a slew of three-year deals to choose from by now. Back in the PED days, team’s didn’t think twice about handing over fat checks to established players on the wrong side of 35.

Back then, those boys were just getting warmed up!

It’s a different story now, as Damon can attest.

The bummer of it all is that Damon should never have left in the first place. His skill set was almost mathematically calibrated for the new Stadium and he was the perfect No. 2 hitter in that Yankee lineup.

Watching him go to Detroit was like watching your buddy head over to the cute brunette at the bar with food stuck between his front teeth. You knew it wasn’t going to end well, but you were powerless to stop it.

Now Damon is back, humbled and perhaps hoping for a do-over on one very bad decision. Re-signing Damon may not make a whole lot of sense for the Yankees at this time, but don’t underestimate the soft spot for everybody’s favorite reformed caveman.

Dan Hanzus writes three columns a week on his New York Yankees site, River & Sunset. He can be reached at dhanzus@gmail.com. Follow Dan on Twitter @danhanzus.

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Via Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York:

It doesn’t appear that there has been any movement in Johnny Damon returning to the Yankees, but his agent, Scott Boras, said that Damon is still interested in coming back.

“As Johnny has said, he is more than willing to return to New York,” Boras said.

It sounds like Johnny Damon wants to come back to the Bronx, or he at least wants their money, but the Yankees aren’t interested in him. Or at least they’re not interested in him yet.

What that means is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest in Damon. He’s more or less a DH who can play outfield, but the problem is that there are a lot of available DHs on the market. So he’s trying to drum up interest in himself.

The thing is that the Yankees don’t need a left-handed hitting DH who can occasionally play outfield. They need an Andrew Jones  or Scott Hairston type—a right-handed hitting outfielder who can spell Brett Gardner or Curtis Granderson against tough lefties.

So Damon is desperate for a job, but he’s not what the Yankees are looking for. Realistically, the way this reunion is likely to happen is if the Yankees miss out on free agents like Jones and Hairston and have to turn to Damon as a last resort.

Or maybe if Damon wants to be a Yankee so badly that he reaches out to them with a very cheap option. We are talking $1 million or less here for them to really consider it, and looking back at the money grab Damon made last year, this isn’t likely.

Related Stories

• Jan. 3, 2011—Heyman: Yankees Might Consider Andruw Jones or Johnny Damon
• Dec. 23, 2010—Cashman: There’s No Clear Role for Damon with the Yankees
• Dec. 22, 2010—Rumors: Yankees and Johnny Damon Talking Comeback
• Oct. 26, 2010—Quote: Cashman Admits to Bad Offseason

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Designated Hitter—home of the offensively talented and the defensively challenged players. By not having to play the field many players have been able to prolong, or even make, a career through offensive contributions alone. 

American League teams use the DH position for a variety of different reasons: from protecting a player’s health to finding a role for an aging player and everything in between. Despite the variety of reasons a particular player is used as a DH most of these players have a common trait—they can all hit but, usually, they are also a major liability in the field. 

Unfortunately, NL teams are not afforded this luxury; since there is no DH in the National League every player in the lineup must be on the field (so instead of a DH, who takes the place of the pitcher, in the NL, the pitcher must hit for himself). Because of this, NL teams must be more judicious in deciding which players to carry on their 25-man roster. 

Even if a player can undoubtedly contribute offensively he may not make a NL team because he will either not get many at bats (if he is used solely a pinch-hitter so to avoid him playing the field) or he becomes a major weakness in a team’s defense (if he is put in the field—either as a starter or to play more than a few innings…Pat Burrell started for the Giants in 2010 but when the Giants had a lead past the sixth inning Burrell would usually be pulled from the game for a defensive upgrade).

While some NL teams opt to have these type of players on their roster (Prince Fielder of the Brewers and Pat Burrell of the Giants, for example) most of these type of players are found in the American League. 

To help us look at fielding abilities, I use the sabermetric stat of Range Factor Per Nine Innings (I use this stat, rather than Range Factor Per Games so playing nine innings versus playing one inning is waited more equal). 

Let’s take a look at some American League players who could not, and should not, play for a National League team because their poor defensive would hurt the team more than their offense would help. 

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It has been an eventful 2010 off-season for Major League Baseball. Some of the league’s biggest names have changed uniforms, most notably Cliff Lee (back to the Phillies), Carl Crawford (Red Sox), Adrian Gonzalez (Red Sox) and Jayson Werth (Nationals). 

Of the remaining free agents, Adrian Beltre and Derek Lee seem to be the best position players still without a contract. Rumors are swirling all over the board as to the possible value of Beltre’s contract, and where Derek Lee will choose to play ball for the 2011 season. 

Besides Beltre and Lee, trade talks are ever-present, and prospective suitors also have other moves on the brain. Here are the most recent rumors, with speculation as to what they actually mean for Beltre, Lee, other free agents, and the teams involved.

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