How the 2011 Rays will help 2012.

by tallyray on Jul 25, 2011 10:03 AM EDT

There was a lot of talk recently about the Rays stubbornness to promote young players. It's been touted as a management flaw, a slap in the face to the prospects, or some unhealthy obsession with mediocrity. However, if you think about the history of the front office and their dedication to getting the most out of every piece, the entire chain of events can begin to make sense.

The Rays cannot try to compete every season. It's just not possible within their constraints. They must set themselves up for certain windows in which to compete. Obviously 2008-2010 was one of those windows and 2012-2014 looks like the next. Why not 2011? The Rays do not have the financial ability to fill more than a handful of spots on the free agent market. They must build from within, which is why they continually stock depth. If they can find a cheap, internal solution to a hole, then the money saved can be allocated elsewhere. The Damon/Ramirez deal was a low-risk high reward deal that could have pushed the team in 2011 and if it didn't work (which it didn't) it wasn't going to stunt the teams future growth.

The one opinion that must be taken as fact for any of this to make sense is that 2011 was always seen as a bridge between 2010 and 2012. The Rays had a lot of questions going into 2011, but more importantly, the same problems would carry over into 2012.

Catcher - Is Jaso or Shoppach the answer?

1B - Is Dan Johnson a capable major leaguer again?

SS - Can Brignac be the every day SS?

OF - What pieces can be relied upon? What will Joyce's role be? Do Fuld or Ruggiano have any worth?

Pitching - What would be the best rotation for 2012? Can Sonnanstine be a useful reliever/spot starter? What players will be candidates for the pen in 2012? How will JP Howell bounce back? Can Farnsworth close? How will McGee translate to the majors?

Almost every action (or lack there of) during this season helped to answer a future question. Regardless of how the season finishes, the 2011 season has made the picture for 2012 a lot clearer.

(As for Jennings, I have hard time believe the front office were the only people in the planet that didn't know Jennings was ready. If they knew he'd be part of 2012, why not let the other outfielders get enough plate appearances to more accurately prove their value?)

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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Comments

Well, to answer some of that

For SS, either Reid is going to really have to work on his swing because that thing will never succed in the majors or Sean will play a whole lot of SS next Spring. Dan Johnson is not a 1B, if we don’t trade for one, we might need to go the stop gap route again and in the OF, you can probably get some decent production out of Guyer, Jennnings and Joyce.

Hellllllllllllllllll no on Sonny being a useful anything. McGee should be the closer next season.

Under construction

by joeybw on Jul 25, 2011 11:13 AM EDT reply actions

I dont know if Reid will ever hit that well

I think its a choice between if we are happy to stick with him for D or not. Saying that, didnt Zobrist start at SS with a shitty bat? The thing also is, we have potentially 2 future SS in our system already who will most likely see time in 2013 so is it worth investing money in a SS for a year?

Cant see us having Shop with us next year. An OF of Joyce, Jennings, Guyer and Fuld as a 4OF sounds good, if not unproven yet.

by OneTonneBaby on Jul 25, 2011 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

Reid would have to turn his swing around quickly with the SS we have coming up in the system.

And I don’t think it will happen. I doubt he makes the Opening Day roster in 2012 unless it is as a late-inning defensive replacement. I thought he was maybe showing signs of turning his bat around before he was sent down, but it took way too long. I like Briggy, but I really don’t see him being an everyday SS at the major-league level.

by M.J.R. on Jul 25, 2011 4:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Will be an interesting situation in 2012

Brignac played himself out of a role this year. Lee or Beckham won’t be ready by 2013 at the earliest. The 2012 Rays will have a hole on SS unless they feel S-Rod can adequately defend. It appears they’ll be testing out Rodriguez for the rest of the year and see how he fits.

by tallyray on Jul 25, 2011 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions