Kuzul

Beginning with Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro we have seen that the Hall of Fame voters are not looking fondly on nominees that have their pasts tied to performance enhancing drugs.

Looking back to the stars that emerged in the late 1980’s and through into the early 2000’s, an alarming number of our favorite players were implicated in the steroids scandal.

Baseball saw some of the most hallowed and revered records in our national past time broken by the games modern athletes. Home run records fell, pitchers seemed ageless, and mediocre players became great.

Of course the scandal spread well beyond the game’s elite. Minor League players were implicated in taking steroids, their motivation to make it to The Show. Fringe players took steroids in hopes of holding onto their roster positions or improving their numbers in hopes of a bigger payday down the road.

Now that we are seeing these players reach Hall of Fame eligibility for the first times, the baseball voters will decide how these once immortals of the game will be remembered for all time.

Active players who have ties to the steroid era will have the chance to prove they are able to produce Hall worthy statistics under the assumption that they are now performing clean of any chemical-aid. Will it be enough though? Or will they too find their list of accomplishments not quite good enough when compared to the true immortals of the game.

After all, in most fans’ minds, 73 is not important as 61, nor is 762 as important as 755. 300 Wins does not have the same magical aura to it, nor do the 3000 hit or 500 home run plateaus. 

At one point these players were all considered locks for induction in Cooperstown, now only history will tell if their accomplishments reside with the best that have ever worn a uniform, the accomplishments we can safely assume were accomplished without any artificial aid.

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The biggest off-season talk so far in the AL East has clearly been about the Red Sox big moves. Around the division, beyond Boston, the Yankees have made little improvement from last year, losing out on Cliff Lee, and signing Rafael Soriano, all while waiting on Andy Pettitte.

As of recent, the Yankees have been most active, in signing veteran pitchers Mark Prior, Bartolo Colon, and Freddy Garcia, all to minor league deals. According to sources, Pettitte has a $12M offer waiting for him, if he decides to return for another year.

The Rays have now countered their mostly young roster, by adding veterans Johnny Damon, and Manny Ramirez. Damon last played for Detroit in 2010, and Ramirez split the season between Los Angeles and Chicago. They both played in Boston, and as most remember, were apart of the historic 2004 team.

Clearly, this piece is not to discuss the moves of the AL East, but to preview the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays, from player projections, to possible impact rookies, and overall record and division finish.

To see my complete preview and projections for all the AL East teams, feel free to become a fan as they’ll all be written soon

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As Spring Training nears closer, baseball fever is beginning to run rampant. With only one week left in the NFL season, it’s only a matter of time before people start looking south to Florida for hints at what’s to come in the new season.

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be breaking down a division each week before making my final predictions for how the season is going to turn out.

First up, the loaded AL East.

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Despite the fact that pitchers and catchers report in less than a month, there is still plenty developing and remaining to be decided for a number of teams across Major League Baseball.

Players are still out there looking for jobs, and general managers are still trying to fill in holes via a key free agent signing or trade. 

This week saw some big names catching on with new teams, so now is as good a time as ever to take a step back and try to rank some offseason winners and losers based on the moves they did or didn’t make during the Hot Stove season.

It’s obviously true that games and championships are not won during baseball’s offseason, but the restructuring and maneuvering of teams can have a huge impact.

I’ll go over 10 teams that improved, while also covering 10 teams that digressed during baseball’s offseason, and get you primed on what to expect for the new faces in new places across Major League Baseball.

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I knew the Tampa Bay Rays were interested in both Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, but I was stunned upon learning that the team signed the duo for a combined $7.25 million. Ramirez, 38, played with Damon, 37, on the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2005. Now the stars meet up again on another American League East power.

These one-year contracts may be the last deals these two sign, so they can’t be expected to produce as they did in their prime, but the Rays certainly need their presence. This offseason has been a tough one for Tampa Bay.

The team won the American League East in 2010, winning 96 games before falling to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series, but that success could not keep them from losing star outfielder Carl Crawford and closer Rafael Soriano through free agency to division rivals Boston and New York, while watching slugger Carlos Pena sign with the Chicago Cubs.

They also traded one of their top starting pitchers, Matt Garza, to the Cubs, receiving prospects in return.

Losing four key players who brought different skill sets to the table hurts. Those three “sprinted out of Tropicana Field for the nearest ATM,” as bitter St. Petersburg Times columnist John Romano put it, but they have found short-term solutions for both Crawford and Pena.

There’s no mistaking that, despite their old age, Damon and Ramirez can still rake. Their signings at least give Tampa Bay some confidence that they can compete with the Red Sox and New York Yankees.

Damon, a borderline Hall of Famer who has 2,571 hits to his name and a career .287 batting average, was very productive for the Detroit Tigers last season, hitting eight homers, driving in 51 and mashing 36 doubles while hitting a respectable .271. A slap-hitter from the left side with power to all fields, he should hit his fair share of gap-doubles and line-drive home runs in hitter-friendly Tropicana Field.

Ramirez, who battled injuries but hit .298 and posted a .409 on-base percentage with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox in 2010, should do the same. Given his usage of steroids in the early portion of this past decade writers may be hesitant to vote him into the Hall of Fame, but going solely by the numbers he has put up over the past 17 years he would without question be a first-ballot nomination.

Whether these two will be in Cooperstown is up in the air. For now, they are focused on putting the finishing touches to remarkable careers, to prove to the skeptics that they do have something left in the tank. And the Rays will need them to produce as they are still capable if they want to contend in the division.

Apparently, they were a package deal. Tampa Bay wouldn’t have signed Damon without Ramirez tagging along for the ride, and vice-versa.

Reacting to the deal in a text message sent to the St. Petersburg Times, Damon was excited to be joining another winner: “I am very excited to join an organization that has a very good chance to keep winning. And I love the opportunity to win in my home state, the team I will root for when my playing days are over. My family and I have been hoping for this for a while.”

Reaction was similarly positive throughout the baseball world.

Steve Slowinski of DRaysBay writes: “I’m still in shock. This feels like something out of a dream. This is probably the Rays’ biggest splash on the free agent market, and they managed to pull in two above-average players for less than Derrek Lee is making with the Orioles. This is the definition of a coup.”

Jonah Keri of FanGraphs chimes in: “They’ll win more games than they would have before these two moves. And even in perhaps the most fickle market in all of Major League Baseball, they may well draw more fans with Sideshow Manny in town, even after stripping out the effects of a higher win total. The Rays might still be a third-place team in 2011. But they’ll have plenty to YIPYIPYIP about.”

And finally, given both played for Boston, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald can’t help but mention when they return: “Mark your calendars: The Rays visit Fenway on April 11-13, Aug. 16-17 and Sept. 15-18.” Tampa Bay certainly hopes the latter series will carry more meaning than just that.

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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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After seeing the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays make their own offseason splashes this week, proceeded by the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles offseason marks happening earlier on, there isn’t a more accurate statement than “the AL East is the most dominant division in baseball.”

Sure, maybe the topic has been beaten to death, but it never ceases to amaze me on how competitive this division really is. For the past five years, the competitiveness in the division has really heated up. All five teams part of the ultra-tough division have competed against one another and never stop either and it’s entertaining.

For proof, look no further than this year’s offseason:

Boston Red Sox – The Sox acquire two of the games most prominent hitters in Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.

Baltimore Orioles – The Orioles complete a roster overhaul, adding veterans Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy, Kevin Gregg and Jeremy Accardo.

Tampa Bay Rays – The Rays decimated their roster, trading away many of their key pieces for the future, but also made an effort to fill the seats in South Florida by recently signing Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez to one-year pacts.

Toronto Blue Jays – After being quiet all offseason, resigning many within the organization and stock-piling draft picks and prospects, they finally made their move – acquiring power-hitters Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for Vernon Wells.

New York Yankees – Brian Cashman was snubbed on numerous occasions this offseason, from big names like Crawford or Cliff Lee to smaller names like Kevin Gregg. They finally made their mark late, signing closer/setup-man Rafael Soriano to a massive contract.

This is just one offseason, but it’s clear that when one team makes a move in the AL East, it has a very big ripple effect on the rest of the division. The first move was made on Dec. 4 by Boston, and it continued from there. And this isn’t the only offseason that this has happened, the competitiveness during the offseason has picked up in recent years especially:

2006 – The Jays sign Frank Thomas and give Wells his big contract, the Yanks bring back Andy Pettite, the Sox sign Japanese phenomenon Daisuke Matsuzaka, where the Rays bring in their own Japanese star in Akinori Iwamura, and the Orioles vastly improve their bullpen while also signing Aubrey Huff in his heyday.

2008 – The Jays add all-star infielders David Eckstein and Scott Rolen, the Yankees name Joe Girardi their new skipper while adding Alex Rodriguez back to the MLB‘s largest contract ever. The Red Sox bring in a heavy bat in Mike Lowell. The Rays bank their prospect system, while the Orioles complete a pair of blockbusters, acquiring future key pieces in Adam Jones, Luke Scott and Matt Albers.

These are just three recent off-seasons, but it proves my point well. Whenever one of the teams in the AL East make a move, it has a very big ripple effect on the rest of the division and sooner or later all the teams react in some way.

Perhaps it’s due to the amount of money the division produces. The Yankees and Red Sox have a payroll that succeeds the $200 million mark, while the Jays and Orioles have support from their owners as well. The Rays have the least of the five, but still remain competitive.

Either way, if it’s something in the air in the Eastern part of North America or the world’s best baseball mind just happen to all run teams in the same division – the AL East is baseball’s most competitive division and until the entire league shuts down, it always will be.

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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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