Quick hits from Ken Rosenthal

The White Sox are asking teams for a young starting pitcher plus additional players for right fielder Jermaine Dye. The Mets, Rays and Phillies are among the teams balking at such a price.

Good to see Andrew walking away from that deal. Dye has one year at $11.5 mil left on his deal so he'd be a rent-a-player. He bounced back in '08(wOBA .371) from a down year '07(wOBA .338), but he'll be 35 by opening day and I suspect the Trop's turf would be death to his legs.

Second note from Rosenthal

The Rays are one team that could pounce if the prices of free-agent hitters plummet.

The club's best-case scenario is to add a DH who could play nearly every day, plus a right-handed hitting platoon partner for Gabe Gross in right field.

The market offers several intriguing options.

Milton Bradley, Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, Jason Giambi and even Manny Ramirez are among the free-agent DH types. But the only way any of them would appeal to the Rays is if they failed to generate strong multi-year interest and suddenly became bargains.

Such a development is not out of the question: The state of the economy, the number of sluggers available and the desire of many clubs to become younger, more athletic and better defensively all could work to the Rays' advantage.

Great news, more waiting. It's frustrating, but It's the right way to go. Let the market frenzy play out and scoop up the best option on the cheap after the dust settles. Let's hope the option is Giambi.

With the recent signing of two Indian pitchers to the Pittsburg Pirates I must pose the question: Should the MLB have baseball academies in India.

I believe that developing academies in India would be a great idea   Why? An academy would potentially open a market of baseball lovers in the world. The country already play cricket so, it would be an easy transition in term of skill.

On the other side though I could see how some would not want an American baseball academy and claim that such an academy would ruin the Indian "culture." I respect that argument but disagree.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? What do you think?        

From Daily News

One potentially intriguing trade possibility is the Rays' Edwin Jackson, the 25-year-old righthander with the big fastball and plenty of potential. Lack of command kept him from living up to early raves, but he showed signs of blossoming in 2008, going 14-11 with a 4.42 ERA. With David Price on the horizon, the Rays have a surplus of starting pitching.

One Rays person said Tampa has interest in Aaron Heilman - "as a reliever, not a starter" - but said the Rays value Jackson's potential as worth more than that.

"It would have to be more," the person said. "I know that some of our guys think Jackson started to turn the corner this year, and they think he could still be something special."

It's not pitching the Rays need anyway. They're looking for a right fielder, so if the Mets really want Jackson, and perhaps a prospect too, they could probably do it by offering Ryan Church, whose lefthanded bat they could replace with free agent Raul Ibañez.

Ryan Church? Not impressed. Why trade Jackson for a older, more expensive version of Gabe Gross?

Bill James 2009 projections

Church

.275/.348/.457 16 HR, 62 RBI, wOBA.352

Gross

.262/.355/.437 11 HR, 48 RBI, wOBA .350

Again, Gross is cheaper and younger and his career O-swing is about 10% lower. I'll pass.

While so much can happen in this off-season (two key times to watch for...GM Meetings in December, and bargain-bin shopping after big FAs sign) the Rays can be better next year regardless of how this off-season unfolds.  With Turkey day coming fast, here are some early thoughts for thanksgiving why the '09 product of the Rays will be better than the '08 version:

1.  Carl Crawford will product more to his career norm of .293 and 50 SB.  The 27 year old outfielder, along with Upton and Perez (if he gets a shot to start in RF) should produce well over 120 SB's and wreak havoc on pitching staffs.  Upton showed us this post-season how an baserunner can take over any given situation.

2.  B.J. Upton will have two shoulders.  It was amazing to see Upton put together the season he had, despite working with only one good shoulder.  In fact, it may have helped him become a better hitter.

3.  The Rays will have the real Scott Kazmir.  Whoever that imposter was last year, a healthy Kazmir gives the Rays four potential aces.  Pitch counts aside, unlike his first few seasons with the Rays, Kaz doesn't have to feel he has to do it all himself.  If Kaz can tap into his potential, or at least be the pitcher he was the two seasons before last, the Rays pitching staff can go from solid to dominant.

4.  All of the AL will get to know Mr. David Price.  The Rays have had some hyped players make their way to the big leagues.  C.C, Kazmir, Upton, Baldelli...none of them had the combination of makeup and talent that Price appears to possess.  It's unbelievable Price is this good this early in his career.  A formidable Rays rotation will be that much more dangerous in '09.

5.  Longoria version 2.0.  A healthy Longoria that has had his taste of the majors and playoff baseball, and saw with his own eyes what it takes to succeed in the bigs.  He is in a very good position to build off of his Rookie of the Year campaign.  What could Boston's Dustin Pedroia and Phillies Ryan Howard have in common with Longoria?  How 'bout an MVP to put on the mantle next to the ROY in just their second season?

6.  Our 23rd, 24th, and 25th players are better than your 23rd, 24th, and 25th players.  A main reason for last year's success can be attributed to the solid depth on this team.  Riggans looks like he's becoming a solid backup catcher.  Aybar proved he can handle as big of a load as the Rays need, evidenced when Longoria went down late in the season.  Baldelli, if resigned, could be one of the better 4th outfielders in the game.  Zobrist came through well last year for the Rays and can play nearly every position on the field.  The quality of arms waiting in the minors (Davis, Niemann, Hellickson, Thayer, Salas) is added insurance in case of injury.

7.  *If* the Rays can add a DH the offense will not just have speed, but some power to go with it.  A solid DH gives the Rays the type of offense that can compete in the AL, especially the AL East.

8. *If* the Yankees strike out and cannot add Sabathia, Lowe, or Burnett.  It sure wouldn't hurt if the Yankees or Boston cannot make any major upgrades to their teams.

What do you think?  Do you agree with the points above?  Are there others?  A better team does not mean more wins, but the Rays should be equipped to try to duplicate last year's success and try to get back to the big dance.  It would be nice if the Rays could trade E-Jax for offensive help and hang on to Niemann and others for a mid-season upgrade depending upon injuries and how the first half of the season unfolds.

This is an off-topic forum to discuss what you wish with an emphasis on the college football games today.

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It is always interesting to break-down the trading process and to try to figure out different teams approaches etc.  One trend that I see wtih us and maybe this is also a league wide approach is the trade to fix multiple needs instead of just one at a time.  The multiple need approach is more complicated perhaps but if you match up well with another team less can go wrong. ie. if you are making a series of moves with multiple teams and half way through a team breaks-off on a key player you needed to make further moves then you may be stuck without anywhere else to go.

Last year we made a multiple need trade with the Twins that worked out really well and we have done this with the Dodgers in the past as well. Some reasons for this approach may be the fact that many trades involve multiple players anyway, many trades are expanded because one team or the other needs to get a fair balance which seldom happens when dealing just one player and it is very hard to find in the recent market the most complicated 3 and 4 team deals. Many teams are holding out for a coveted free agent or waiting to see where others go which complicates multiple team deals. With all of that being said who do we match up best with this year? Might we seek one main team to fit our multiple needs wtih us meeting theirs' as well? Here are my thoughts:

We probaly match up best with the Brewers, Cards, Indians, Rangers and Royals. All of these teams need pitching and they in turn have RF/DH types.

I would say that we can help a team get a starter (E. Jackson or equivalent) get a middle infielder (Brignac) and a starter/reliever (Talbot or equal).  We need a RF (prefer everyday type) a RH bat (can be a DH only) and a LH reliever or good late inning reliever. Let's look at each team;

Brewers: C. Hart could be the main part of a deal and we have dealt with them before

Cards: Ankiel or Ludwick could be the main part

Indians: a Gutierrez, Garko, R. Perez for Jackson, Talbot and Niemann might work

Rangers: Murphy and Byrd could be a good place to start

Royals: Right now I think we match up best with them, why not a Teahen, Butler and Mahon for Jackson, Brignac and Talbot deal

What do you think?

   I would love to get a quality photo of Aki making the last out at 2nd from an angle that shows Price in the foreground.  That moment has to be the biggest in Rays history and I would love to have it on my wall.  Any ideas?

    I have nothing else to say, but I'm going to make my post 75 words long.  We'll miss ya Kelly Frank & Joe Magrane!   Does anyone think Dale Thayer is a legitimate bullpen piece next year?   I go back and forth on that one.

Bill Chastain of MLB.com is speculating that Jason Giambi might become a Tampa Bay Ray in the near future:

http://hotstove.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/11/giambi_a_ray.html

The Rays are down two left-handers since they did not pick up Cliff Floyd's option and Eric Hinske is a free agent. [. . .] At age 38, Giambi will not command near the salary he once played for, but that's still not to say his pricetag won't be too much for the payroll-minded Rays, who are also believed to have some interest in Pat Burrell and Milton Bradley. So it's likely to be determined by how the market sorts out this offseason. If the market is depressed, all three could definitely be on the Rays' radar.

Personally, I think Milton Bradley would be the best option. I think he would fit well in our clubhouse despite his past indiscretions, and his versatility both as a switch hitter and a LF/CF/RF/DH fits well for the Rays' get-as-much-as-you-can-for-as-little-as-you-can free agent philosophy.

The only, and fairly likely, thing that would prevent the Rays from signing Bradley is if some team makes him a financial offer he cannot refuse and the Rays cannot match. Until then, I'll just cross my fingers and hope that we can find a way to bring MB to TB.

Goodbye Hammel? Ryu? Orvella?  We have to put Davis, McGee, and Morlan on right?  Royster is also eligible for Rule 5.  Chris Mason? Any predictions?  At least we will finally see some action today....

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http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/11/cardinals-sign.html

According to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals signed lefty reliever Trever Miller (pending a physical).  GM John Mozeliak said southpaw relievers were flying off the shelves, so he acted quickly.  It's a bit of a surprise in that the Cards were said to be targeting Will Ohman and Arthur Rhodes.

Miller, 35, posted a 4.15 ERA in 43.1 innings for the Rays this year.  He held lefties to a .235/.327/.382 line.  Earlier this month, the Rays chose Miller's $400K buyout over a $2MM option.  Miller was a Type B free agent, so the Rays will get a sandwich pick for their loss.