Rays Talk
The Rays didn't make any trades or signings yesterday, but they did still make a bit of news. They announced that they have resigned the majority of their coaches for another two seasons -- yes, that includes Derek Shelton -- and that they have promoted some familiar names higher in their front office. Chaim Bloom, Erik Neander, and James Click all received some well deserved promotions.
The one coach that wasn't brought back? Bobby Ramos, the lovable teddy bear who missed the majority of last season with a number of medical issues. The good news is that he's healthy and doing well, and that the Rays might give him another job within the organization.
Remember back when Molina signed and I quoted some catcher framing numbers from Mike Fast's study? I adjusted them to the best of my ability, but Mike Fast chimed in over at Baseball Think Factory (see comment #46) and applied some regression to the numbers. Even if you only take 65% of the regressed scores - which Fast feels is the most accurate way to do so - Molina still looks like he's around two wins better than Jaso on defense alone. That's a far cry from the four wins I was spouting (whoops, sorry for being misleading), but it's still quite impressive.
MLB Chatter
So the Rockies traded Chris Ianetta to the Angels for Tyler Chatwood? I'm somewhat shocked that Ianetta was acquired for that cheap, and it suggests to me that the Rays weren't interested in paying a starting pitcher for one season of Ianetta. If they can manage to deal Wade Davis for Logan Morrison, I'd take him over Ianetta any day of the week.
So the 2012 Hall of Fame ballot is officially out, and Bernie Williams is the leading candidate among all the new guys. I love Bernie -- he was my favorite player growing up for a long time there -- but he's likely not going to get in. The interesting storylines with the Hall of Fame voting will be to see if Tim Raines gets much love, and how all the guys with steroid accusations continue to fare. Woohoo, more baseless steroid accusations!