Non-Tender day is like Christmas and Hanukkah in these parts. Or, as friend-the-site, owner-of-my-heart, Tommy Rancel, said, it's kind of like Friedman's Black Friday.*
*Yes. Five commas. All of them correctly placed.
So, let's do what we've already been doing all around this site and in the private confines of our rooms. Let's IMAGINE! Let's FORECAST! Let's talk ROSTERS!!!
Rules of The Game
Much like the blues bar in Adventures in Babysitting, nobody leaves without posting a roster (or sangin' d'blues). Remember, these are forecasts, not wish-lists. Post would you would both like and expect to see come Opening Day.
The official guidelines:
- Post your hopeful/expected lineup, bench, and pitching staff.
- For all free agents, write the terms of the contract in parenthesis out to the side. Let's use the (years/annualy salary format) so we don't have to do math.
- Free agent acquisitions should not exceed $10M. That's the expected room Friedman has this year.
- If you like, you can copy and paste my roster (below the jump) and then change the names accordingly. That should make it easy for everyone to see what changes you've made.
- For positions with platoons, list the player you expect to get the most playing time first (i.e. D. Johnson/M. Diaz means DanJo faces righties and gets the most PAs).
- Remember: It's a 25-man roster, so count your players.
Happy rosterbating!
BEHOLD! THE 2011 RAYS!
C: John Jaso / Kelly Shoppach
1B: Dan Johnson
2B: Ben Zobrist / Sean Rodriguez
3B: Evan Longoria
SS: Reid Brignac
LF: Desmond Jennings
CF: B.J. Upton
RF: Matt Joyce / Ben Zobrist
DH: Jack Cust (1 yr/$1.5M) / Matt Diaz (1 yr/$1.0M)
BE: Matt Diaz (platoon DH, backup OF)
BE: Fernando Perez (platoon poet)
BE: Elliot Johnson
BE: Kelly Shoppach (platoon C)
SP1: David Price
SP2: James Shields
SP3: Wade Davis
SP4: Jeff Niemann
SP5: Jeremy Hellickson
CL: Bobby Jenks (1 yr/$3.5M)
SU: Jake McGee (fire man)
MI: J.P. Howell (when healthy; 2 yr/$1.0M) / Joe Bateman otherwise
MI: Cory Wade
MI: R.J. Swindle (LOOGY)
SP6/LM: Andy Sonnanstine
Total 2011 FA Budget: $7.0M
Remaining Budget: $3.0M to buy as many cats as possible and then set loose in the lower decks of Tropicana Field. The mewing and meowing will be so loud that opposing teams will have to eat cat food and huff glue in order to relax.
Notes: Bullpens are important? Tell that to the Padres, White Sox, Rockies, Brewers, and Nationals. Their relievers combined for xFIPs under 4.00, but where were they in October? That's right, soaking in a pool of regret, eating the porridge of sadness.
And yes, that is Dan Johnson starting full time at first base. If it doesn't work out, then he becomes a cog in the Zobrist platoon swing. If it doesn't work out and Leslie Anderson is killing AAA, then that's the way we move.
I'm assuming Matt Garza gets traded for a slew of awesome, yet non-ML-ready, prospects.
Alright! Let's see what you've got! Tell me what I've done wrong and how you would do it differently!