Financial Flexibility: What's the Current State of the Budget?

Assuming the last game of the season had average ticket costs of like ~30 bucks and the two playoff games averaged ~40 that’s another ~3 million dollars that came out of nowhere, not counting money spent on parking, concessions, etc

Selling at a peak, frees up money, will bring back a haul, we have plenty of SPs to fall back on. I still think Upton stays, at least for the first half. His offense is needed.

He made an impressive parting performance rather than curl up and cry, and now he is an attractive option for other teams to choose.

but I think Shields stays. Even with expected regression, he’s still a pretty significant upgrade over Davis/Niemann/Cobb, and with a few creative trades, this team is not just a fringe contender but a major one.

I know Billy Butler is my personal white whale, but an Upton-for-Butler trade makes so much sense for both sides. Add to that the possibility of bringing in Iannetta for Cobb, and then dumpster-diving for an 800 OPS lefty DH (Jason Kubel? Jorge Posada?), and you’ve massively upgraded the lineup AND you’ll have a Price-Shields-Moore-Hellickson postseason rotation, which is pretty sweet. Oh, and toss in a couple of cheap bounceback relievers with nasty K rates (Michael Wuertz, Mike Gonzalez) while you’re at it.

How about a blockbuster of Shields/Price + Upton for Cabrera and Santana. Now this is a stretch, but realistically with the trading pieces we have we should be able to wrestle one of those pieces from the Indians and would fill a big hole. They’re likely to let Sizemore walk, so very possible they would be interested in Upton.

Shields would approximate roughly 15% of our total payroll. That would be the equivalent of the yankees having a pitcher making $30-35 million next year…and rising in the out years. I really don’t see Shields staying. The same math applies for Upton, but at least he’s a hitter/everyday player at a key position who plays good defense. Upton probably gets moved mid-season, but why wait for a regression to move Shields. His value will never be higher to other teams as it is right now.

who do you guys believe to have the highest trade value of the Davis/Niemann/Cobb triumverate?

I think its Niemann, Davis, Cobb. But in terms of who I’d like to keep its probably Cobb, Davis, Niemann.

Also, any chance Jake McGee gets a shot as a starter next year?

Too bad. The Reds seem like a good fit for Shields, no? Would they trade Alonso and Mesoraco? Maybe add Cobb and ask for another prospect?

Hollywood Collette mentioned it on his twitter, but didn’t give any details.

The beauty of the Rays’ management is that there is not a player on Slow’s list who is making more than his value in the open market. What that means is that if you wake up one morning and find that, for instance, Shields has been traded, you can rest assured that you will be happy with who Andrew got for him, and with what issues had been solved.

That said, this is that wonderful season where we all get to act as GM. Since I think that a blockbuster may be in the works, I’m considering utilizing my best assets, which as we all know, is a slew of young starting pitchers with favorable contracts. I’m looking for a team with a good number of good young hitters with favorable contracts. My search lands me squarely upon the Kansas City Royals, a team with great young hitters and the worst pitching staff in the world. Any one or two from the group of Perez, Hosmer, Gordon, and Butler could be enough to make the Rays the AL favorites for next year, and it might get done without increasing our Runs Allowed, Or so it seems to me.

How good is that Ben Zobrist extension looking right now?

One of Niemann/Davis/Cobb and one of Torres/Archer for Yasmani Grandal who hangs up first?