As I'm sure most of you hear, Yonder Alonso is now off the trade market. He was dealt this past weekend to the San Diego Padres in a trade for Matt Latos, and it appears that the Padres intend to use him as their first baseman of the future. The Reds had to pay a high price to get Latos, though, and the final package -- Alonso, Grandal, Volquez, and Boxberger -- was probably about what the Rays would hope to get back for Shields.
But thankfully, there's another young first base target we can all lust over: Anthony Rizzo. As Tommy Rancel notes over at ESPN Florida, this trade suggests that the Padres have essentially given up on Rizzo and are planning to store him down in Triple-A or trade him. The Rays have already been rumored to be interested in Rizzo, so this whole situation might work out even better for the Rays.
There were two other tidbits of Rays news/rumors this weekend. The Rays were mentioned as one of the teams interested in Carlos Beltran, and while I'm sure they've kicked the tires on him, I can't see the Rays putting together a competitive offer for Beltran that matches what the Red Sox or Cardinals are willing to put up.
Also, Andrew Friedman talked with Marc Topkin this weekend, and he mentioned that he's content with the bullpen arms he has now. Then again, that could merely be Friedman double-talk, as he also implies that the he would like to add one more high-lev reliever if possible. Could that be code for Joel Zumaya?
Extra Links:
- The winning bid for Yu Darvish is rumored to exceed the record $51.1 million posting bid for Dice-K. The winner should be announced tomorrow, and it appears that there are only two clubs that could have won the bid: the Rangers or Blue Jays.
- There's an article by Wendy Thurm over at Baseball Nation about MLB's contradictory messages about sex in the new CBA. One on hand, MLB makes a progressive statement; on the other....eh, not so much.
- Grant Brisbee has a really fun take on why the Rays and Padres should just hook up already. They're a match made in heaven, so the trick is just figuring out what sort of deal both sides is willing to do.