The biggest news from yesterday is already old, but here it is anyway. David Price and the Rays avoided arbitration, as Price signed a one year, $14 million contract. That's exactly what MLB Trade Rumors had him predicted for in arbitration.
Said Ken Rosenthal about the deal:
With Price locked in at $14M for 2014, #Rays’ payroll likely would be in $70M range if they kept him. Do not believe any team has reached…
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 16, 2014
…post-season with one player eating up that large a percentage of payroll - about 20 percent.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 16, 2014
This is one of those situations where you look at the team, and don't cherry-pick stats. Only in the Rays world do we talk about $14 million for an ace as expensive. Let's not go overboard.
Chris Archer is happy Price is back, and said so when he talked with Justin Pawlowski.
Andrew Astleford of Fox Sports Florida has a profile of Nick Ciuffo, the Rays first round pick this year.
MLB.com discusses Rays prospects Vince Belnome and C.J. Reifenhouser. Friedman, as quoted in the article:
"Draft position only really matters in terms of your signing bonus -- and while that matters, once you get into the system, it's much more about who you are, how you perform and how your skills evolve," Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. "Both of those guys are examples of not letting the Draft round affect their desire and quest to get to the big leagues."
Here a picture of Tampa Bay's (@RaysBaseball) new #BattingPractice jerseys for 2014: pic.twitter.com/Hm3zBYlqeJ
— Majestic Athletic (@MajesticOnField) January 16, 2014
Apparently, some owners think Masahiro Tanaka will end up with the Cubs. That would be great, as the Yankees are another likely destination.
A challenge from Wil Leitch for the independently wealthy: Visit 30 baseball stadiums in 30 days.
Your daily dose of Jeff Sullivan. What happens when a veteran pitcher faces a rookie hitter?
And lastly: REPLAY!