Willy Aybar, 3B, Tampa Bay We've talked Aybar earlier this winter, but he still remains the best...

Willy Aybar, 3B, Tampa Bay

We've talked Aybar earlier this winter, but he still remains the best reserve player in baseball. A 25-year-old switch-hitting infielder who has accumulated +3.9 wins in 745 career PA shouldn't be looking at a job where he only plays a couple of times per week. Aybar is an everyday major league player, and only Tampa's loaded organizational depth chart prevents him from laying hold of a full time job. The question in his case, though, is what motivation would the Rays have to deal him? What else do they need?

In many ways, Aybar is being punished for the fact that the Rays have done such a great job of building a roster around him. Not only do they not have a regular job for him, but they don't have any glaring needs that they should be trying to fill via trade. Their weakest link is in the bullpen, but as they showed last year, you don't have to give up talented players to build a success relief corps. Realistically, Aybar's going to have to hope for an injury to get any real playing time. For his sake, let's hope he gets an opportunity before the reserve infielder label sticks.

Players who would have more value elsewhere.

over 3 years ago R.J. Anderson 21 comments 0 recs |

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Comments

This is why I'd like to see him tried-out in the OF

I really think that Aybar is good enough to be the kind of player who is rotated all over the place on a daily basis; he could be given almost-regular playing time if you rotate him across the IF and corner-OF positions, and he showed last year that when he’s in a groove, he’s a dangerous bat in the lineup.

I really do think the Dodgers and the Braves missed the boat on Aybar, not being able find a way to play him. I hope the Rays ultimately don’t make this same mistake.

by kericr on Jan 23, 2009 3:18 PM EST reply actions

2B 2010

Anyway, as I was lying in the puddle, I think I may have found a way for us to get Bonds and Griffey, and we wouldn't have to give up that much.

~George Costanza~

by Sandy Kazmir on Jan 23, 2009 3:30 PM EST up reply actions

2010 Line up

1. Upton CF
2. Crawford LF
3. Longoria 3B
4. Pena 1B
5. Burrell DH
6. Aybar 2B
7. Joyce RF
8. Navarro C
9. Brignac SS

ahhh…sweeeeet

by BossmanJunior333 on Jan 23, 2009 5:26 PM EST up reply actions

Perez??

by Dbullsfan on Jan 23, 2009 6:48 PM EST up reply actions

Doubt he's a starter here

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Jan 24, 2009 2:18 PM EST up reply actions

He doesn't have enough work at 2B to tell if he's good enough there

And I’m not about to ask for an Aki injury to find out.

by kericr on Jan 23, 2009 5:41 PM EST up reply actions

I'm all for that.

The cost of Aki’s contract doesn’t make it worth not picking up his option, though. So do you trade him? For what? Kind of presents the same problem as Aybar, except Aki is “proven” (both in a tongue-in-cheek way and a I’m-serious way.)

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Jan 23, 2009 8:58 PM EST up reply actions

I think the Braves more weren’t terribly interested in dealing with his alcoholism.

by 17843 on Jan 23, 2009 3:40 PM EST up reply actions

Thus, they missed the boat.

The Rays seemed to have handled it extremely well. Aybar seems to have realized that he can’t do stuff like that, and he seemed to have done so quite quickly. The Braves gave up on him way too early.

by kericr on Jan 23, 2009 5:42 PM EST up reply actions

If he is an addict

It’s too early too start patting ourselves on the back just yet.

by GomesSweetGomes on Jan 23, 2009 6:28 PM EST up reply actions

He read Hambone's book and set up a meeting with Jesus

to cure him of his disease. Problem solved.

Anyway, as I was lying in the puddle, I think I may have found a way for us to get Bonds and Griffey, and we wouldn't have to give up that much.

~George Costanza~

by Sandy Kazmir on Jan 24, 2009 6:21 PM EST up reply actions

Aybar's middle name is Del Jesus.

Just buy him a mirror.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 24, 2009 6:31 PM EST up reply actions

It would be a bad baseball move to trade Aybar right now

even if we had a position we were weak at, why would we want to sell low on Willy Aybar? Teams who trade young players who have nowhere to go but up, just because they dont have a place for them, always end up getting robbed.

It is a very good point that we have no immediate needs so no need to trade for the sake of trading, but even if we did I doubt this would be the time to trade Aybar.

Im not sure about Aybar as a starting middle infielder on a team that prides itself in defense, but I would like to see him get an opportunity to play everyday eventually. With the chemistry our middle infield has Id tend to believe that Aki wouldnt get pushed out the door because of Willy Aybar, unless of course it is the smart business move financially.

Im the guy who said Aybar might be one of the 4-5 top hitters in the organization back in May, so I dont want anyone to think Im an Aybar hater by any means. I love the guys approach and swing.

by Rays4242 on Jan 23, 2009 4:14 PM EST reply actions

Nobody is suggesting we should trade Aybar.

Even Dave admitted there was no reason to.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 23, 2009 4:21 PM EST up reply actions

give the glove some love

a lot of Aybar’s current value is derived from his glove, Aybar has only played around 200 innings at second but has shown to be at the least as competent as Aki there, and Willy also played a better third base than him as well (both have logged ~1000 innings there). Rest of what you said is right on, only had to take issue with the defensive questions. I think most of us feel Aybar can give more with his glove/bat than Aki will be able to this year and next, and I feel that if Zobrist doesn’t fall back to earth to hard in ’09, Aki with two years left on a very team friendly deal should be traded.

'talkin 'bout practice?

by CubFanRaysaddict on Jan 23, 2009 4:55 PM EST up reply actions

Tiny sample at second

Two different teams that really needed second basemen thought he was incompetent enough not to try him there. While that shouldn’t control, it’s a pretty good indication of what the scouts think about his glove there.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Jan 23, 2009 5:39 PM EST up reply actions

Why would we sell low?

If another team sees his potential, they’ll give what he’s worth. Maybe not his 90th potential worth, but counting on him to reach that level is just as much a gamble for the Rays as for any other team.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Jan 23, 2009 8:59 PM EST up reply actions

don't think you can imply scouts POV from that

Aybar has played about the same amount of third as second since ‘04(incl minors obviously), Dodgers and Braves both had established second basemen at the big league level (not sure what you meant there, each had minor league candidates Delwyn Young and K. Johnson), and most of Aybars ATL playing time was filling in for Chipper, I don’t think even with just the limited sample size that you can disagree with what I was saying in that he would be more valuable than Aki.

'talkin 'bout practice?

by CubFanRaysaddict on Jan 23, 2009 6:08 PM EST reply actions