Friedman hints that the team may be willing to tweak the Rays way
The Tampa Bay Rays won 90 games in 2012 and missed the playoffs. The New York Yankees won the American League East with a 95-67 record.
That’s a difference of five games and enough evidence for some to call for the Rays to trade pitching for hitting. Rays GM Andrew Friedman appears to feel different, and he may be right, but can he hold the line in 2013?
“I think pitching is something that is a bellwether,” Friedman said. “There is no era in baseball where you could ever win without pitching.”
No argument there, but what about the offense?
Friedman hints that the team may be willing to tweak the Rays way.
“Our strengths and weaknesses aren’t necessarily a philosophical mindset as much as it is optimizing the guys that we have with the depth that we have and trying to put together the best team that we can,” he said.
It is widely assumed the Rays can dramatically improve the offense by trading either James Shields or David Price. That duo will make at least a combined $18 million in 2013. Trading Shields seems to be the most popular option, although Jeremy Hellickson, Wade Davis, and Jeff Niemann have all had their turn in the rumor hopper.
The Rays are loaded with depth in their starting rotation, and could part with Hellickson or Shields and perhaps shortstop prospect Hak-Ju Lee in a potential deal with Arizona for outfielder Justin Upton, ironically to replace his brother B.J. Upton.
Financially, the Rays aren’t going to see any relief from dealing one salary for another. So does that deal make sense?
Upton’s price tag ($9.75M, $14.25M, $14.5M the next 3 years) might be easier to swallow if they move Shields, but the last two years at nearly $29 million isn’t the kind of risk the Rays normally take.
Offense needs an upgrade but…
All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria played in just 74 games in 2012. Longoria hit .289/.369/.527 in his time this year. Prior to 2012, Longoria averaged 140 games per year over the previous four seasons for Tampa Bay.
Do you think the Rays could have won five more games had Longoria been able to play 70 more games? Not to mention the effect his loss had on the team defensively. Carlos Pena and Luke Scott were disappointments in 2012 , but still the difference was only five games.
Upton will be missed. Pena will need to be replaced. Scott may find his way back in to the Rays plans for 2013. The team needs an everyday catcher, although Jose Molina will be back in 2013, hopefully as a backup.
The Rays offense needs an upgrade to be sure, but it gets down to money, again. The 2012 opening-day salary of $ 63,627,200 may be increased or reduced and is anything but static. Salary fluctuations year-to-year are also part of the Rays way.
RaysIndex.com projects a 2013 opening-day salary of approximately $61.4 million and while that could change it doesn’t leave a lot of room for a big free-agent signing.
Defense can be better quickly
Tampa Bay committed 114 errors in 2012, the most in the American League after making just 73 and 2011.
Ben Zobrist added stability after taking over as the everyday shortstop in 2012, but the damage was done, and the difference was five games in the American League East, and shoddy defense had a part in that.
With the right players the Rays defense can be better quickly and much more economically than adding offense. The Rays should target an every day type middle infielder, either at shortstop or second base. Zobrist can play either position.
The Rays have the best pitching staff in baseball. Until 2012 the Rays were generally one of the better teams defensively.
The Rays way to success with pitching and defense is not broken. The question is can they keep the system in place with the salary constraints in place for 2013 and beyond? Perhaps all that is needed is a tweak to the system.
Remember, there was five games of difference between winning the American League East and finishing third. The outlook for 2013 presents a new set of challenges for Tampa Bay.
My money is on Friedman.
Rays News – RHP Chris Archer leads Baseball America‘s ranking of the Rays’ top 10 prospects, the rest are as follows: 2011 top pick RHP Taylor Guerrieri at No. 2, Hak-Ju Lee is No. 3, RHP Alex Colome 4, 2012 top pick 2B Richie Shaffer No. 5, 6,LHP Enny Romero, 7, INF Tim Beckham 8, LHP Blake Snell 9, INF Derek Dietrich 10, OF Drew Vettleson.
