Over at the Boxscore I came up with seven names that teams looking for LOOGYs should be interested in. The Rays are without a "true" LOOGY and thankfully are smart enough to realize free talent can do the job just as well as Mr. Multimillionaire McLefty. Here are the seven names:
John Rheinecker
Carmen Cali
Royce Ring
Randy Williams
Ian Ostlund
Stephen Randolph
Mariano Gomez
That's roughly in order of preference, although past the first few it doesn't matter too much. Rheinecker is the most interesting, he's only 29, and he's coming off an injury derailed season, but despite being a starter for almost half of his major league career his success against lefties is astounding. Oh and he gets groundballs, God I love that. Carmen Cali is more of the same, older guy, has some major league experience, throws low-90's, got a decent amount of swinging strikes, and gets a ton of grounders.
Odds are, guys like Will Ohman, Brian Fuentes, and possibly even Jeremy Affeldt are going to be out of the Rays price range. These alternatives would probably sign for the minimum and on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. What's the worst that can happen, they become Kurt Birkins?