Expanded Roster in Sept.

by SC raysfan on Jul 25, 2008 10:26 AM EDT Comment 6 comments

I know its early, but if we don't make any deals before the trade deadline what will our expanded roster look like on 9/1.

Can we get buy until Sept. with what we have now?

Can the expanded roster make us that much better and help us with the final push?

The answer to the 1st question is probaly not unless our core players get hot with the bats or if the Sox and Yanks fade (not likely). We know what we need to get in the trade possibilities but is it worth it? We can all stay tuned for that.

The answer to the 2nd question is yes! Why? because the guys we can bring up can fill in the cracks pretty well. Here are my thoughts:

Pitching: Bring up Niemann, Price, Salas and Talbot and slot them into the Pen at the very least and maybe Price as a spot starter. 4 sound like alot but all might bring us something unique that would make time sharing worth the headache. Usually pitchers have an advantage when batters have not seen them before with Niemann, Price and Talbot having an advantage and Salas is just plain good. Plus in tight games which is our MO a pitcher to face just one batter is a skill that Maddon as our skipper could scheme up pretty good I think. Davis even though he is not on the 40 man could also be a choice.

Fielders: Bring up Jaso as the third catcher or even DeFelice (not on the 40). Bring up Brignac for infield depth and maybe E. Johnson as well (I saw an interesting idea that Brignac could slot in at RF in the future, maybe even next year if he is still around). Bring up Baldelli if healthy and certainly Perez for speed/pinch runner and Ruggiano for outfield depth. Dan Johnson could be a choice but he also is not on the 40. This total would be as many as 10 extra guys that with their specialties could make us pretty complete.

Sometimes because of a teams lack of flexibility which I think fits our current team, quite a few guys as role players can complete the whole maybe better than less numbers but guys that have to play all the time and get run down at years end. The main question is can we wait for Sept. 1 and hope to sustain our position until then? or do we overpay for a trade now?, or do we go for a cheap stop gap to try to hit lightning in the bottle? Another factor is this: do we wait until 9/1 because the RFO really thinks next year is more likely than our chances this year for making even a bigger run? Ideas? Thoughts?

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Which is another reason why we need to add an impact bat, not a role player

We have plenty of guys in the minors that can fill certain roles fairly well.

by matthan on Jul 25, 2008 12:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I just don't think adding a decent bat will make that big of a difference

Especially the kind of bats that are out there. Unless some of our core players start hitting like they should, our offense will continue to struggle.

by kurby on Jul 25, 2008 2:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Expanded Roster

I think the roster expansion will help a lot, for two reasons.

1) It’s easier to win games generally, because the other teams also have a bunch of their AAA guys playing, especially those that are out of the playoff hunt.

2) There are a lot of marginal players we have who could be useful in certain situations, who we wouldn’t want taking up a whole 25-man roster spot. I mean, how much better would it look if we had Fernando Perez pinch running instead of Jonny Gomes? Of if we had Ruggiano available as a pure pinch hitter? Or if we had Birkins available as a PURE one-out guy to face lefties only? Or if we had Zobrist up so we could pinch-hit for Bartlett in late inning situations?

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Jul 25, 2008 3:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs