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The general consensus seems to be that the MLB offseason has been rather slow so far, but in all honesty, I’m not sure I totally agree.
From a Rays perspective, the team has already addressed arguably their biggest hole coming into the offseason (catcher), and they have been noted in rumors for nearly every big name on the market, be it the trade market or the free agent market.
On a league-wide scale, the Yankees have added to their Evil Empire, and it appears that their brothers in Queens are looking to move back towards contention with a massive deal centered around Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, Jay Bruce, and a butt-ton of prospects reportedly to be finalized at some point today.
Its getting late. Feel good about my reporting but not my typing. As just said on @SNYtv, deal right now is: Cano and Diaz for Bruce, Swarzak, DUNN, Kelenic and Bautista. I forgot to type Dunn in last tweet so I'm deleting it.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) November 30, 2018
McNeil was in deal but isn't right now. Deal not done
Meanwhile, the rumor mill has been in full gear, with names as massive as Corey Kluber, Paul Goldschmidt, and Noah Syndergaard been bantered around. Yes, the Mets may be taking on two big names and sending one out at the same time, who said their new GM wouldn’t be as Mets’y as ever?
The Rays typically aren’t in the conversation when it comes to these big-name rumors, but due to the extremely small amount of money the teams has on the books as of right now for the 2019 season, their name has popped up in nearly all these rumors, making this offseason one of the engaging in recent memory.
It’s a glorious position to be in.
Rays News
- Marc Topkin shared his list of ten hitters the Rays should be in on. A few of these would be perfect fits (I say a little prayer to the Goldy Gods every night), and a few would seem to be, well, less of a good fit (I do not go to bed saying a little prayer to the Adam Jones Jehovah’s every night).
- The always-excellent Neil Solondz released his weekly This Week in Rays Baseball. This week he talks to new third base coach Rodney Linares and Rays prospect Ian Gibaut:
This Week in @RaysBaseball: New #Rays 3B Coach Rodney Linares & Ian Gibaut join @neilsolondz as the offseason rolls along. https://t.co/IXUX2t1p9Y
— RaysRadio (@RaysRadio) November 29, 2018
- It’s far from shocking that Kyle Snyder would have nothing but praise for our 2018 boy-became-man Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell, but it’s nice to hear, regardless:
- Chaim Bloom was on MLB Now, discussing Mike Zunino and the rest of the Rays offseason:
Around the League
- Sad news for those who loved to get their MiLB news from our sister site:
I have just been informed that Vox Media is discontinuing Minor League Ball. I want to thank all the readers we've cultivated over the last 13 years.
— John Sickels (@MinorLeagueBall) November 29, 2018
- This certainly seems worthy of at least a light bit of fining:
From someone who attended Patrick Corbin’s recent wedding: “His younger brother gave a best-man speech and at the end took out a Yankees hat and put it on, which elicited a great applause, and said they all hoped that he and Jen would be moving closer to home.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 30, 2018
- Hey, San Diego, the Rays did it first and did it for $11 million less. But sure, get in on the two-year TJS contracts now:
Sources: Free agent right-handed Garrett Richards has agreed to a two-year deal with the San Diego Padres. The guarantee is for around $15 million.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 29, 2018
- Finally, here’s an homage to some cool throwback baseball writing. Usually this kind of “they just don’t make em like this anymore” writing makes me a bit nauseous, but Joe Distelheim does a good job avoiding that lane and selecting some interesting passages.