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Before we ask you how you think we did, let's review.
Major League Roster
| Player | Salary | Player | Salary | ||
| C1 | Ryan Hanigan | $3,500,000 | SP | Alex Cobb | $4,500,000 |
| 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | $3,100,000 | SP | Drew Smyly | $3,000,000 |
| 2B | Nick Franklin | $550,000 | SP | Jake Odorizzi | $550,000 |
| SS | Yunel Escobar | $5,000,000 | SP | Justin Grimm | $550,000 |
| 3B | Evan Longoria | $11,000,000 | SP | Kwan-Hyun Kim | $2,900,000 |
| LF | Wil Myers | $550,000 | DL | Matt Moore | $3,100,000 |
| CF | Desmond Jennings | $3,200,000 | |||
| RF | Kevin Kiermaier | $550,000 | RP | Rafael Soriano | $10,000,000 |
| DH | Michael Cuddyer | $11,000,000 | RP | Jake McGee | $3,800,000 |
| RP | Brad Boxberger | $550,000 | |||
| C2 | Jose Molina | $2,750,000 | RP | Jared Hughes | $1,100,000 |
| IF | Logan Forsythe | $1,200,000 | RP | Louis Coleman | $700,000 |
| IF | Yonder Alonso | $1,600,000 | RP | Jeff Beliveau | $550,000 |
| OF | David DeJesus | $5,125,000 | RP | Cesar Ramos | $1,300,000 |
Total Salary: $83,125,000
Again, the budget the Rays were given was $84 million, and we took advantage, including trading $1.4M in cash to facilitate the trade of Sean Rodriguez for prospects.
Batting Order
by Steamer wOBA
Steamer does not come out sexy for the bottom half of the order, but some platoon work should help things along, particularly from Yonder Alonso (.325) and David DeJesus (.306). All should improve slightly with a handedness advantage. The rest of the bench is Logan Forsythe (who knows what his bat will do this year) and Jose Molina (who doesn't own a bat anymore - budget cuts).
I'm giving the starting nod to Nick Franklin at second base in hopes that Derek Shelton can begin his magic and help the switch hitter step up his game. Wil Myers moves to left field, presumably because he could defend better than Cuddyer would in left, though I expect David Dejesus could push his way into the conversation.
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Kim Kwang-hyun -- iamkoream.com
Rotation
by Steamer ERA - FIP
RH Jake Odorizzi - 3.96 - 4.34
LH Kwan-Hyun Kim - ? - ?
RH Justin Grimm - 4.24 - 4.32
Kim has no projection just yet, but the Fake Rays think they can teach him a change up, and I gave Grimm a 1.00 penalty for switching from relief to starting again. There's six names because Moore is recovering from TJ, and will take someone's place in the rotation down the road, given injury or incompetence. If need be, Nate Karns is next in depth, with a 4.38 - 4.47 projection.
The Bullpen looks solid with MFIKY Rafael Soriano back at 2/3 his contract in Washington. McGee/Boxberger are high leverage, and the rest of the roll players will fill in nicely.
Salary Commitments
| Player | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| C1 | Ryan Hanigan | $3,500,000 | $3,700,000 | ($3,750,000) | ||
| 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | $3,100,000 | $5,750,000 | $8,750,000 | $11,000,000 | |
| 2B | Nick Franklin | $550,000 | Pre-Arb | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration |
| SS | Yunel Escobar | $5,000,000 | ||||
| 3B | Evan Longoria | $11,000,000 | $11,500,000 | $13,000,000 | $13,500,000 | $14,500,000 |
| LF | Wil Myers | $550,000 | Pre-Arb | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration |
| CF | Desmond Jennings | $3,200,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | ||
| RF | Kevin Kiermaier | $550,000 | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | Arbitration | Arbitration |
| DH | Michael Cuddyer | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | |||
| C2 | Jose Molina | $2,750,000 | ||||
| IF | Logan Forsythe | $1,200,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | ||
| IF | Yonder Alonso | $1,600,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | ||
| OF | David DeJesus | $5,125,000 | ($6,500,000) | |||
| SP | Alex Cobb | $4,500,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | ||
| SP | Drew Smyly | $3,000,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration | |
| SP | Jake Odorizzi | $550,000 | Pre-Arb | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration |
| SP | Kwan-Hyun Kim | $2,900,000 | $3,100,000 | $5,500,000 | $5,500,000 | ($6,000,000) |
| SP | Justin Grimm | $550,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration |
| DL | Matt Moore | $3,100,000 | $5,000,000 | ($7,000,000) | ($9,000,000) | |
| RP | Rafael Soriano | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 | |||
| RP | Jake McGee | $3,800,000 | Arbitration | |||
| RP | Brad Boxberger | $550,000 | Pre-Arb | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration |
| RP | Jared Hughes | $1,100,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration | |
| RP | Louis Coleman | $700,000 | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration | |
| RP | Jeff Beliveau | $550,000 | Pre-Arb | Arbitration | Arbitration | Arbitration |
| RP | Cesar Ramos | $1,300,000 | Arbitration |
We are rather pleased with the core of players that will be around into 2016 and 2017.
The slew of prospects will inject some life around then as well, including Almora and Jokisch from the Cubs, and Arcia from the Brewers. That's not to mention the power prospect possibilities of Vogelbach, Jones, Roache, and Lambo, or Rays top flight prospects Adames and Gillaspie.
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Albert Almora - Photo by Sarah Glenn/Getty Images
Full List of Transactions
We will have a write up on the week's transactions tomorrow, but for now here's a full list of the moves made by the Fake Rays, GM Hatfield, and VP D-Russ.
- Rays trade P Jeremy Hellickson and OF Mikie Mahtook to the Pirates for OF JaCoby Jones, OF Andrew Lambo and P Jared Hughes
- Rays exercise the option on IF Ben Zobrist
- Rays decline the option on P Joel Peralta, making him a free agent
- Rays trade IF Ben Zobrist and P Taylor Guerreri to the Cubs for OF Albert Almora and 1B Dan Vogelbach
- Rays trade OF Matt Joyce to the Reds for P Ben Lively and P Ismael Guillon
- Rays trade 1B James Loney, P Alex Colome, P Steven Geltz, IF Tim Beckham to the Brewers for IF Orlando Arcia, OF Victor Roache, and P David Goforth
- Rays sign OF Michael Cuddyer to a 2 year $22 million contract
- Padres trade OF/1B Yonder Alonso to the Rays for OF Kes Carter
- Rays sign P Rafael Soriano to a 2 year $20 million contract
- Rays sign P Kwan-Hyun Kim to a 6 year $29 million deal, including two club options
- Rays sign OF Ryan Ludwick to a minor league contract
- Cubs trade 1B Paul Goldschmidt, P Eric Jokisch, P Justin Grimm to the Rays for P Chris Archer, P Enny Romero, P Ryne Stanek, 2B Ryan Brett, P Blake Snell, 3B Richie Shaffer, and P Grant Balfour
- Royals trade P Louis Coleman, P Sam Selman, and P John Lamb to the Rays for IF Sean Rodriguez and $1.4 million
- Rays trade P Brandon Gomes and OF Brandon Guyer to the Yankees for P Preston Claiborne and OF Ramon Flores
- Rays sign SS Hiroyuji Nakajima and DH Raul Ibanez (as player/coach!) to a minor league contract
I'm giving those last two minor league deals to myself, as the deadline ended before the Commish was able to approve, but in all likelihood those moves would not have been contested, and it paints the full picture of what GM Hatfield and I were after.
Closing Thoughts
This entire process was a microcosm of the entire offseason within just four days, requiring snap judgements on limited information, and throwing around monopoly money to create the best team possible. And damn was it fun.
Tomorrow we will have analysis from Scott and Ian with a final verdict on whether we improved the farm system and major league roster, or sank the ship we planned of sailing to the World Series. Before all that, though, we would like your opinion.
How did we do?