The Hit-And-Run Rays Tank

AF is already preparing to wine and dine Beltran. He can show him a great little Puerto Rican deli near the Trop and take him on the ten minute drive to the beach. Cheap $250 flights to San Juan that are 2 hours and 45 minutes non-stop(for all those trips he will take on off days!). He will already have a new friend, teammate and countryman here in Jose Molina. He won’t have any trouble getting a great deal on a condo in this depressed real estate market in the area.

And most importantly, he can look forward to the "soft’ media in Tampa Bay where the toughest question he will face daily is “how are you adjusting to playing under the dome?”

Considering that I don’t see any other teams offering much more than 3/36, I think we have a shot.

Not many guys choose to leave 11 million bones on the table, but it’s not unprecedented for a guy to give up money if he truly favors a team or locality. Thome took 1.25 m from the Phillies when he probably could’ve scored 5 m elsewhere. Longo and Matt Moore probably lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars combined for a comfortable situation (I realize the differnces between extensions and FA signings, but still).

Beltran has made 135+ million in salary over his career, maybe he values weather, proximity to PR and a comfortable playing situation more than money. But he probably doesn’t.

suggest to me that the top free agents are signing with contenders at unprecedented levels. Werth aside, several top folks have left money on the table to try to make a run at a World Series ring.
With that in mind, the Cardinals, and the Red Sox are our main competition, and I feel the Blue Jays, and Indians just don’t have a serious shot, regardless of the money, especially if Beltran is looking for hist last contract before retirement. He signed with the Mets when they were seen as a rising powerhouse, which suggests to me that this pattern holds true with him, at least to an extent.
We have the advantages listed above over both Boston and St. Louis, and arguable are better positioned to make it to the Series—I think this will be our biggest selling point.
(Teams mentioned as involved from watching Sportscenter last night)

There is no better bat the Rays can find to upgrade their offense for under $100 million than Beltran. It’s not often the Rays get an opportunity to pick up someone like Beltran. If we can spend $7 million on a closer, I hope Andrew convinces $tu this is another exception worth pursuing. I never want the Rays to become a team that buys its players, but this is the type of financial flexibiity I wish the Rays had.

He may have knee problems and everything but at the same time, I think it’s well worth the risk. I don’t see Beltran being another Pat Burrell. It’s the injuries I’d be worried about the most.

…on everything not money related .

He’s going to have to play in the field with on a regular basis with the Cards and Red Sox, which also saps some of his value. Toronto’s turf is a nightmare and he’d be far from home and Cleveland has the same money issues we have and aren’t all that competitve. He and Joyce could split RF/DH.

I hope it doesn’t happen. He’s too much of an injury risk at this point, given his age. The Rays don’t have the financial flexibility to tie up some $8M a year in a player whose average games played probable projects less than 120 a year.

The team needs offense, but there may be significant improvement without spending on a 35 year old DH with a bum knee. Longoria, Upton, and Sean Rodriguez could improve their stats. Desmond Jennings won’t have to wait until July or whenever it was.

Rays are generally conservative. I don’t see them taking this big a risk.

because I don’t know if Beltran can hold up playing defense that long.

And having a winning team doesn’t equate to fans pouring through the turnstiles. Great pitching has not shown to interest fans at the gate. At some point, you may need to think about giving the fans a reason to come to the Trop…like an exciting offense that will score runs consistently and not put those who show up to sleep.

Perhaps the tag line should be ’Build it…an offense…and they will come!"

#2,3 and 5 of their top prospects and Milone is pretty good as well.

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