Updates, News, Etc.
Watching Durham Bulls Baseball —
... Marc Topkin in the St. Petersburg Times quotes the Rays’ Andrew Friedman as saying that it’s unrealistic to expect Desmond Jennings to play major league ball next year. Does that mean we get to keep him? And that Matt Joyce needs to have the mind set to “come in and win a job.” ...
Odds & Ends: Padres, Burrell, Upton, Jays
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com —
... Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times says that unless the Rays find someone willing to take on the $9MM left on Pat Burrell's contract, he'll be back next year. He also notes that Tampa would need to be "overwhelmed" to trade B.J. Upton, as you could imagine. ...
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Bringing Back Navi, Prospects Making The Jump And Kevin Kennedy’s Crystal Ball
Rays Index —
... Let’s start this with a Topkintopia before we get to the regular Webtopia. Several good tidbits in Marc Topkin’s latest piece… ...
Buzz: Rays Need to be “Overwhelmed” to Move Upton
MetsBlog.com —
... In a report in today’s St. Petersburg Times, Marc Topkin says that the Tampa Bay Rays would need to be overwhelmed with an offer to move outfielder B.J. Upton. ...
Rays Place Pitching Staff In Position To Succeed In 2010
Rays Index —
... Looking at the table, it now seems that the Rays have been building this pitching staff with their eye on 2010. In fact, the Rays recently stated that one of their goals for 2010 was 1,000 innings pitched from their starting pitchers. While the young arms were held back to an extend in 2008, each starting pitcher will be free to throw 200+ innings next season and it will be exciting to see what they can do. ...
Overwhelmed for Upton
baseballmusings.com —
Via MetsBlog.com, the Rays are trying to get the bidding on B.J. Upton to start high:
Unless the Rays find a taker for Burrell and his $9 million salary (a chatted-about deal with the Cubs for Milton Bradley appears unlikely) or unless they get overwhelmed with an offer for Upton (since they can’t afford to trade when his value is low), both will be back — and, the Rays can only hope, better.
Why would anyone overwhelm the Rays for Upton at this point? He’s about to enter the prime of his career with two seasons that ...
A Look At Where Rays Can Upgrade This Off-Season
Rays Index —
... It is also no surprise that the three positions that struggled the most in 2009 were catcher, center field and DH. Most indications are that BJ Upton and Pat Burrell will be back in 2010, so the Rays will just have to hope that both players rebound offensively. Dioner Navarro on the other hand is no guarantee to be back, as the Rays could decide to non-tender him and not offer arbitration. However, some quotes from the front office suggest Navi will be back in 2010 also. ...
