DARN IT!!! - RAYS GET PAT THE BAT
The Slav's Baseball Blog - BASEBALL 24-7-365 — WHAT DO THE RAYS HAVE THAT THE GIANTS DON'T? Dang it. The Rays get Burrell. At two years, $16M this is a good move for the Rays lineup. Maybe it's the Rays just have a better chance to win...maybe it's the better scenery in and around the ballpark. Heck, I don't know. Big loss for the G-men. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3811501 This is the guy I think the Giants could have used the most because of his impact on the entire lineup. And without the negative impact on the clubhouse that Manny might bring. Now ...

Holy Crap
Lookout Landing — I don't understand how they pulled this off. Pat Burrell is leaving the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies for the runner-up Tampa Bay Rays. Burrell has agreed in principle to a two-year, $16 million contract with the Rays, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney on Monday. The deal is pending a physical. Going into the offseason, Burrell was one of those slugging corner outfield types I had pegged as likely to receive a retarded contract. Instead, the Rays signed him for less money and fewer years than the ...

Source: Burrell to Rays
Rise of the Rays — ... According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, Pat Burrell is to sign a 2-year, $16-million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, to become our DH.  The deal is pending a physical. ...

Patt Burrell agrees with Rays
Rotoprofessor — ... It looks like the Rays have gotten their DH.  According to Buster Olney of espn.com (click here for the article)m the Rays have reached an agreement with Pat Burrell on a 2-year, $16 million contract. ...

A Collective Sigh of Relief Comes from Queens
Why's My Head Growing? — ... Pat Burrell has finally left the dirty streets of freezing Philadelphia for the dirty streets of balmy Tampa Bay, agreeing to a two-year deal with the Rays. ...

Pat Burrell Signs A 2 Year, $16 Million Contract With The Tampa Bay Rays
FanIQ Blog — ... made their first big move today, reportedly  with former Phillies outfielder Pat Burrell (unless you consider the Matt Joyce deal to be a "big move"). They must have looked at a lot more than his performance in the World Series against the Rays. Burrell batted .071 in that series, with only 1 hit in 14 at bats. That one hit was an important one, however, as he later scored, giving the Phillies an early 2-0 lead in the game 5 clincher. ESPN just reported this, and gave us a glimpse at the Rays projected lineup for ...

Pat Burrell Signs A 2 Year, $18 Million Contract With The Tampa Bay Rays
FanIQ Blog — ... made their first big move today, reportedly  with former Phillies outfielder Pat Burrell (unless you consider the Matt Joyce deal to be a "big move"). They must have looked at a lot more than his performance in the World Series against the Rays. Burrell batted .071 in that series, with only 1 hit in 14 at bats. That one hit was an important one, however, as he later scored, giving the Phillies an early 2-0 lead in the game 5 clincher. ESPN just reported this, and gave us a glimpse at the Rays projected lineup for ...

Rays improve with Burrell
ESPN Feed: neyer rob — ... is apparently heading to a new team, a new league … and a substantially lower salary … What a fantastic move. As you've no doubt read, this winter there's a buyer's market for sluggardly sluggers like Burrell and Giambi. Burrell earned roughly $28 million with the Phillies over the past two seasons. That was too much. Because of his obvious limitations -- he's not only a left fielder, but a poor one -- he was really worth something like $20 million over those two seasons. He's in his early 30s now, and moving to the better league's best division, so we may assume he'll be ...

Pat Burrell signs with the Rays
All Things Philly Sports — We knew this day was coming ever since Raul Ibanez signed with the Phillies. Pat Burrell, who spent 9 years in a Phillies uniform, signed a 2 year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team the Phils vanquished in the World Series. Burrell signed for a relatively cheap 16 million dollars over the two years and will be the Rays designated hitter. That's a great deal for someone who will give you 30 homers and 90 RBIs a season. Burrell's Philadelphia career is now officially over and it ended on the highest note possible. He went from longtime goat to ...

Pat Burrell to the D-Rays
Lone Star Ball — Pat Burrell has reportedly agreed to a 2 year, $16 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. Bah. Good addition for the Rays.  I would have liked him in Texas on a one year deal at $8-9 million, but there was no need (and I suspect, no desire on the part of the Rangers) to have him for more than a year.

Switch Hitter: Burrell Agrees In Principle With Rays [Mlb]
Deadspin — Pat Burrell rips out Daulerio's heart, stomps on it, gives it a mohawk. [ESPN]

Pat Burrell Signs with Tampa
The700Level.com - Philly Sports & Minutiae — It's official, Pat Burrell has signed with the Tampa Bay Rays pending a physical. I did my farewell of sorts to The Bat back when the Phils signed Ibanez, so feel free to get out your Kleenex and stroll down memory lane. I'm worried a bit about Pat in terms of the lack of night life in Tampa and St. Pete but I'm sure he'll do fine on the beach. ...

Speaking of Right-Handed Power...
El Lefty Malo — ... The Rays have signed Pat Burrell to a two-year, $16 M contract. Burrell was one name bandied about as a possible Giant this winter, more than anything because he's from the Bay Area. He would have been a terrible fit with S.F. Remember, this was a guy who was replaced for late-inning defense in the World Series, even when games were fairly close and his potent bat might still have been necessary. That's how bad his glove is. ...

The Price of Manny Plummets (Along With Gas Prices)
Sons of Steve Garvey — "Gas is up and so am I," sayeth Manny Ramirez. He scoffed at arbritration. He spit on the Dodgers' first offer (which was admittedly much shorter in duration than he desired). And now, Pat Burrell goes out and signs a two-year deal with the Rays for the low low price of $16M. Rob Neyer thinks it's a steal, echoing the rest of the ESPN brass. And I know Burrell only hit .250 last year with the Phillies. But that's still almost twice Andruw Jones' batting average; and, 33 HR is a hell of a lot more than team leader Andre ...

Musical Chairs
Just A Nats Fan — By AllStarsPlus [image] The music stopped and Holliday, Ibanez, Teixeira, Bradley, and Burrell all have taken seats with new teams. Of the “Big Boppers” Adam Dunn and Jason Giambi are still standing unless a trade takes place. If you watch the entire Buster Olney video link, he mentions Dunn and the Nats at the very end. Personally, I am not sold on Dunn, but have been reminded that if he can play 1st base he fills a void. If Dunn was bookended with Orlando Hudson who is a Gold Glove 2nd baseman and can bat leadoff then you can say the sum of the parts are better than any ...

happy new year
the metropolitans — ... Pat Burrell signed a good contract with the Rays and I like the move for them. His home/away splits were balanced and he should bring value to them especially as a DH. Thank god he’s not in the NL East anymore. ...

Reviews are good on Burrell deal
The Heater — ... (all bat, little or no glove, no speed) to something more reflective of the supply (deep, with Adam Dunn and Jason Giambi still available) and demand (shallow), which would indicate that Ibanez's deal will continue to stand out as high in dollars and years for a player who was not the best in his class this winter. From ESPN.com's Rob Neyer: Fresh off winning the World Series, Pat Burrell is apparently heading to a new team, a new league … and a substantially lower salary … What a fantastic move. As you've ...

The Market Comes To The Pirates
Bucs Trade Winds — Pat Burrell agreed to terms with the Rays, having signed a two-year, $16 million contract Monday. The Cubs have agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract with free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley. BTW Take: Why would a Pittsburgh Pirates blog be concerned with the dealings of the Cubs and Rays? The easiest way to look at this is what these players made in 2008 and who signed them.  Burrell's salary in 2008 was $14.25M.   Bradley made $5.25M. The Cubs are morons.  They have overpaid for a player ...

Romero Suspended 50 Games, Pat Signs For Peanuts
The Shibe Times - A Phillies Blog — I was just about to work on a career retrospective on Randy Ready as well as a piece on Dickie Thon’s 50 Greatest Phillies moments. Such is life when you’re digging for content about the Phillies in the middle of the winter. Randy and Dickie are going to have to wait. There’s Phillies news to spare. We’ll start with Pat Burrell. He signed a 2 yr. $16 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. 2 years. 16 million. For the folks who didn’t major in math, that’s $8 million a year. Wow. ...

The Gentleman Meddler
Sox Machine — ... look much different even if Thome finished with 1,099 plate appearances. No. 1: They could have tried exercising Thome's buyout ($3 million) and restructuring his 2009 deal. This would've been a fun alternate scenario, because the economy is really holding things up. His most direct comp on this market is probably Jason Giambi, who is nearing signing with the A's. There's no official figure, but the perpetually sweaty Giambi might receive something in the balllpark of Pat Burrell's two-year, $16 million contract , with one of the years an option according to ...

Buyer’s Remorse
Bugs & Cranks — ... happened, and then we knew it would be over, it was just a matter of when. Now we know: Pat Burrell has found a new home . For the bargain price of 16 million over 2 years. ...

MLB Weekly: Rickey Henderson, Andre Dawson, Pat Burrell, Hall of Fame Inductions, & More
Hip 2 Da Game — ... Pat Burrell: The Tampa Bay Rays signed Pat Burrell for 2 years and just $18 million, which is a steal for the defending AL Champions. Burrell, who is a liability in the field, will be the full time DH for the Rays, which only increases his value because he won't be able to cost the team with his sub-par defensive play. He is a patient slugger who has not only slugged over .500 for the past 4 seasons, but has also walked 98 times or more in the last 4 season as well. Burrell will certainly add some punch to the Rays offense that should be improved from last ...

The best general managers, 2009
Sports stories from Newsday — ... a strong farm system that can promote Alcides Escobar to replace Hardy at minimum wage, and the lineup is strong enough - 785 runs scored last year - that it just might be able to withstand the replacement of Gomez for departing free agent Mike Cameron. 5. Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay (8 in '08, NR in '07) . Another case of bumping up someone whose team played worse in '08 than in '07, and Friedman followed a sublime '07-'08 Hot Stove League with a very human one, signing a bust in Pat Burrell and trading ...