Of course, I wanted to extend the season. Yet, I find myself incredibly satisfied with the wild ride that was the 2011 Rays baseball season. A year ago we said goodbye to past hero's Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit, Grant Balfour and the trusted ROOGY/LOOGY tandem of Dan Wheeler and Randy Choate. This was the year that was supposed to be highlighted by the amateur draft due to the surplus of picks and watching some of the young guns develop their games in an environment of lowered expectations.
Below is a quick look at the talent that was lost along with the contract received and any trade or draft pick compensation received:
|
Player |
years/$M |
Compensation |
|
Carl Crawford |
7/142 |
Taylor Guerreri, Tyler Goeddel |
|
Carlos Pena |
10 |
|
|
Jason Bartlett |
2/11 |
Brandon Gomes, Cesar Ramos, |
|
Adam Russell, Cole Figueroa |
||
|
Matt Garza |
5.95 |
Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer, Hak Ju Lee, |
|
Robinson Chirinos, Sam Fuld |
||
|
Rafael Soriano |
3/35 |
Mikie Mahtook, Brandon Martin |
|
Joaquin Benoit |
3/16.5 |
Kes Carter |
|
Grant Balfour |
2/8.1 |
Jeff Ames, Granden Goetzman |
|
Dan Wheeler |
3 |
|
|
Randy Choate |
2/2.5 |
Grayson Garvin |
|
Brad Hawpe |
3 |
Blake Snell |
|
Chad Qualls |
2.55 |
James Harris |
|
Total |
239.6 |
|
The departing free agents earned an incredible $239.6 million in contracts, while the Rays received a legend named Fuld and 18 prospects. Oh, and the Rays won the wildcard out of the American League East.