BREAKING NEWS: HUFF TRADED TO HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the devilrays are on a short lish with me
now trading good soild guys around the club
house and bring in new ones who are either in
the minors or just begining their MLB
experance. is like saying hey we are only half
done with the season lets make sure  we stay where we are at behind the yanks and redsoxs and
now the bluejays and Baltimore so it looks like we are only ahead of the  Kansas City Royals
The Washington Nationals the florida marlins and the Pittsburgh Pirates  TO Bad we are in the AL
AND NOT THE NL

Thats How much the rays traded along with a guy who could have put up some numbers this season you watch with the Astors and dont be shock and say why did we let him go ok
Patrick L. Kennedy

Don't know how Zobrist feels about the trade, but he probably ain't wild about the timing.  

Just checking the website of the Corpus Christi Hooks, the team he's leaving, I found that the team was in the midst of a series with the Springfield Cardinals, in Missouri.  Apparently a whole batch of Zobrist's family made the five-hour drive from Eureka, IL to Springfield to watch him play.  They got to see him hit a HR last night.

I'm guessing they were going to stick around for a doubleheader set for tonight, to make up for a rainout tomorrow night.  Instead, apparently they got to bid adieu and see Zobrist off to Montgomery.

Ah, the minor league life...

I waited until I got home from work and could read about Talbot and Zobrist.  I've concluded what a lot of people have, that this is an ok deal for us, but not great.

I think we got two big leaguers in the deal, although I don't expect either of them to be great players.  From his numbers and and his age, I think Zobrist could be up as soon as September.  I see him as a utility player long term, but we need a decent one of those, so he could be very useful.  I think he'll take Tomas Perez's role for next year, filling in at any IF role he's needed.  I expect him to be solid in this role.

Talbot has a solid fastball and good control, but has always struggled with his secondary pitches, and because of that, was hittable.  His numbers this year suggest that he's refined control of those two pitches, and could be a contributer in the pen relatively soon.

All in all, this is a decent deal.  But, considering Huffs track record, we gave up some solid production in the second half.  The Rays obviously though this was the best deal they could get, and happy that we got something for him.  They probably could have gotten a draft pick for him, but he may have just taken arbitration at the end of the year, and that's not a risk I or they were willing to take.  So getting two safe prospects, who probably have the ML in their near future is a decent return.  Although neither of them will be stars in the league.

First time poster here....

I'd really like to start actively rooting for the Rays, but am held back by the things I see the management doing.  This trade didn't help.

The Rays never seem to make a trade to help "RIGHT NOW", but somewhere down the road.  Every trade they make seems to have one common thread...saving money.  Our major leaguers for their prospects.  

I'm trying to give the new guys the benefit of the doubt.  Previous management was so bad that I was hoping there would be some solid changes, but so far, it looks like the same old D-Rays...once a players salary gets north of $3mill a year, it's time to dump him.  If I were Lugo, I'd put the house on the market now.

One could argue that a Lugo trade might not be a bad thing, and if the Rays were to get some decent pitching for him, it could even be a good thing.  But history says Lugo will fetch a couple of mid-range prospects. (Zobrist and Talbot were 16th and 26th on the Astros prospect list, as stated in the blog.  What I'd like to know is how many players in the Astro system that play the same position are rated ahead of them.  I'm guessing we got the third-best SS and the 9th best pitcher for a decent major leaguer.

If I recall the salaries correctly, the only players who made $3mill a year or more were Baez, Huff and Lugo.  Two down, one to go.

Carl Crawford's salary goes up quite a bit next season; he'll bust above that $3 million mark.  If he is traded for prospects in the next 18 months, I'll know the new boss is the same as the old boss.

I think that this move was inevitable: Huff may always light it up in the second half, but we need solid guys who can produce year-round.  That said, Huff's improvement was (very) impressive and it leads one to wonder if the Rays could have gotten a better deal elsewhere (perhaps a relief pitcher and 1-2 prospects?).  

However, the July 31 deadline is quickly approaching.  I'm no gambling man, so I figure that if a bearable deal like this one is on the table, I would take it before waiting 19 days for the deadline.  Who knows?  In that 19 days one of the greatest steals since Zambrano for Kazmir could pop up, but most likely nothing would arise and the Rays would be left with a FA who they wouldn't choose to pay next year that gets them nothing.  Therefore, I approve of this trade (far more than I approved of the Hall/Hendrickson trade).

That said, I'm concerned about the present roster.  We can likely bring up a suitable infielder from AAA at some point next year (If Longoria shows vast improvement, who's to sa that we don't give him a locker in the Rays' clubhouse at the Trop?).   But what about the interim?  I'm very comfortable with Ty Wigginton at third.  And Travis Lee at first is a fantastic defensive move.  

But its in the other half of the inning that I get frightened.  Ty Wigginton comes up to bat with two outs in the ninth.  He belts a base hit into short right.  Lee comes up in the same situation and he pops out to the first baseman.  I love Travis Lee (he's my favorite all-time player), but the man can't hit.  In the last month, when Huff made his resurgence, he batted .402, with Lee batting a sickening .138.  Unless Travis Lee stumbles upon some giant vat of talent that he had left in the trunk of his car and forgotten about, we're in trouble.

So what do we do?  Do we trade T Lee before the July 31 deadline for an inferior defensive talent and a superior slugger?  Do we stick with T Lee for the short run until we bring someone up?  Or, and this seems to be the consensus among the Internet baseball pundits that I just cannot agree with, do we teach Jonny Gomes first base?  Even if we go with the last route, the Rays aren't going to do it until the off season.  It seems to be a Catch 22 that the management will have to address.

Oh well, there go the playoffs this year.

The difference between Crawford and the players you mention (with the exception of Lugo) is Crawfords performance is in line with his salary.  In Lugo's case, he has made it clear to the Rays that he will test the FA market after this season so trading Lugo makes sense, if they do not think they can resign him and they can get value which is better than the draft picks they will recieve if they lose him to free agency.

I like the trade. FirstInning.com lists Zobrist as the Astros #5 prospect.  Looks like a big frame, and has significantly boosted his doubles output.  Huge OBP, never strikes out, and switch hits.  Great prospect at short.

Talbot looks to have improved significantly this year too.  Nice to see NDRO continue building some pitching depth.

Probably not a long tern solution but, Norton is playing well.

THE DELMON IS COMING!  THE DELMON IS COMING!