He got over $4 million in 2008 and had a good year. Before we got Joyce, I thought he might be a consideration as the role player Friedman talked about, but I doubt the Rays are willing to spend what he would command for a platoon right fielder who is not particularly good on defense and whose other roles are duplicated, and possibly played better, by Aybar and others.

I mentioned it elsewhere that I think Chris Britton is an interesting name. He has only pitched 89.1 innings in the majors with pedestrian results, but in the minors over 251 innings he has a 3.69/1 K/BB ratio and has given up very few home runs. Because he has so little major league exposure, his numbers are not very enlightening, although lefties did kill him while he handled righties very well. In the minors, he has had much less of a split.

There are also a few lefty relievers non-tendered, but none seem particularly suited to a loogy role as far as I can tell.

Nelson does strike out a lot of people and does not give up many homers, but he also walks more than 4/9 innings, and while he may compensate with the Ks, it is frustrating to bring in relievers who you cannot depend upon to throw strikes. I always feel that Balfour is on the edge of disaster for that reason, although he did improve in that regard this year. The reason I think Britton has a chance is that he does not walk many and in the minors struck out hitters at a good rate. He did not carry that over to the majors, but perhaps he needs more time.

Teams don’t seem inclined to drop that on guys that slot as floating corners / DH’s. Who that wants or needs him will push him to that level? The teams he’s been linked to thus far – SF, Minny, Cleve, Pitt – aren’t likely to go there. The $ comp in MLBTR was Blake – nearer $5 than $7.

Not to say jump in there – just saying that figure seems high.

Britton is an interesting option – seems a minor w/ invite deal could be a good get for pen depth. The latest joke about him in NY was that he landed a Greyhound Bus sponsorship – he did bounce back and forth from AAA quite a bit in his 2 years with the Yanks, but neither Torre nor Girardi seemed to have enough confidence in him. I think he’d be a good pickup for some team – he’s still young, has majors experience, etc. NY has too many young RRP’s at their upper levels that appear to have more upside to hang on to him.

And of course, NY likely has more shopping to do, so more will become available. Perhaps Mr. Gomes’ rumble opponent Mr. S. Duncan will interest you – he’s a DFA candidate with the next NY acquisition or 2. Dan Giese is another possibility if a long reliever / spot starter suits you, though it seems to me that’s Niemann’s job this year.