Right-handed pitcher Andy Sonnanstine and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a contract for the 2012 season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sonnanstine, who turns 29 in March, has spent the last five seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. He has been used as both a starter and reliever.

Sonnanstine has a 28-31 record and 5.26 ERA in his major-league career.

He spent 2011 with both the Rays and their Triple-A team Durham. Sonnanstine went 0-2 with a 5.55 ERA in 15 major-league apperances.

Sonnanstine began his Rays career by making 71 consecutive starts before pitching mostly out of the bullpen the last two seasons.

By Al Yellon

– Editor

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Dec 24, 2011 – According to this Spanish-language report from ESPN Deportes, the Tampa Bay Rays are interested in signing former Yankees catcher/DH Jorge Posada. Here’s Google Translate’s helpful translation:

Sources said this week that the Tampa Bay Rays are in “interest in exploring” the possibility of signing veteran Puerto Rican Jorge Posada for the 2012 season to serve as a kind of “utility” in the first base, designated hitter and backup catcher behind the recently signed Jose Molina .

The article goes on to say that Posada has also “drawn interest” from the Orioles and Phillies, but has not yet decided whether to play or not in 2012.

This idea makes some sense from the Rays’ point of view, although it would give them two catchers over age 36; on the other hand, this is something that has been completely opposite from the way Andrew Friedman (and his predecessors) have operated in Tampa. Posada turned 40 last August.

The Rays are entering their 15th season. In the previous 14, they have had only five players age 40 or older:

Wade Boggs, who was a Tampa-area native and was signed for a specific reason — because he was headed to the Hall of Fame and the then-Devil Rays wanted him to get his 3000th hit in a Tampa Bay uniform (and subsequently got the Hall to change its “cap” rules when they tried to pay Boggs to say he wanted to have a Tampa Bay cap on his plaque).

Fred McGriff, another Tampa native who had been good for the Rays before leaving for the Cubs and Dodgers and who was repatriated for 72 pretty bad (.181/.272/.306 with two HR) at-bats in 2004. The “Crime Dog” was trying to burnish his credentials for the Hall of Fame, too. (Didn’t work out, and probably won’t.)

Julio Franco, who had one at-bat for Tampa Bay in 1999 and who they probably should have kept; he played seven more years after that as a useful bench player for the Braves and Mets.

And two 40-year-old relievers, Brian Shouse and Russ Springer, who both pitched for the team in 2009, the only season in the last four that the Rays have not won 90+ games and made the playoffs.

So the Rays’ record with 40-year-old players isn’t great — they either do it for box office reasons, have him in his one useless season, or get guys who don’t contribute to a playoff team. Truth be told, Posada is probably done; he had the worst year of his career in 2011, hitting .235/.315/.398 and making news only because he played second base for an inning in this bizarre game on Aug. 25.

Announce your retirement, Jorge. Go out as a Yankee and have your legacy like that of the two men you came in with, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera; don’t be one of those 40-plus guys who takes a spin with another team “just because”.

And with the Rays, being over 40 doesn’t appear to work out that well, anyway.

Read More: Derek Jeter (SS – NYY), Jorge Posada (DH – NYY), Mariano Rivera (P – NYY), Julio Franco (1B – ATL), Russ Springer (P – CIN), Brian Shouse (P – BOS), Jose Molina (C – TAM), Tampa Bay Rays

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Just call him Mr. January. Again.

While executive VP Andrew Friedman has explored numerous ways to improve the Rays offense in filling the first base and DH spots, he is comfortable going into next month before making any big deals, much as he did last offseason.

The way the Rays see it, patience is not only a virtue but even an advantage.

Without financial resources to pre-empt the free agent market, the Rays are accustomed to waiting to bargain shop as prices drop.

“We’re not in the right revenue environment to be able to not be patient,” Friedman said.

Plus, by waiting, they feel they get a broader look at all possibilities, with additional trade opportunities being presented as other teams reassess their plans.

“It can be very valuable to wait,” Friedman said. “So it’s not all bad.”

While several free agents have come off the board (Carlos Beltran, Josh Willingham) and other teams have traded starting pitchers (Gio Gonzalez, Mat Latos), the Rays feel good about their remaining possibilities.

What they have to consider, given a limited amount of payroll flexibility and some lesser priorities (another catcher and reliever), is what amounts to a series of paths to head down.

For example, if they land a big-bucks DH, they’d likely have to fill first base by trading for a young, minimum-salaried player (San Diego’s Anthony Rizzo? L.A. Angels’ Mark Trumbo?). If they invest in a veteran first baseman (Carlos Peña?), they’d more likely have to fill the DH slot with complementary pieces.

So, as usual with the Rays, it’s not a simple process.

“Once the first domino falls, it will certainly limit the scope for us,” Friedman said. “Right now we have so many different ways we can go, we’re trying to figure out which way to go and where to lock in first.”

PROSPECTING: After the obvious choice of LHP Matt Moore as No. 1, Baseball America‘s top 10 prospects ranking got interesting, with SS Hak-Ju Lee second, 2011 top pick RHP Taylor Guerrieri fourth, SS Tim Beckham re-emerging at No. 7 and the disappearance of 2010 first-rounder OF Josh Sale. Writer Bill Ballew lauded the overall depth but cited a “lack of top-shelf prospects” after Moore and Lee and said the Rays were no longer in MLB’s top three.

RAYS RUMBLINGS: RHP Joel Peralta is skipping winter ball at the Rays’ request, agent Mark Gilling said, but is working out daily and has lost a few pounds. … C Robinson Chirinos, who broke his right wrist in October, is taking batting practice in Venezuela and looks to start playing games in January. … Latest chatter aside, ex-Yankee Jorge Posada sounds like much more of a backup plan. … OF prospect Todd Glaesmann‘s Australian Baseball League stint ended early due to a right wrist injury, but he is expected to be ready for spring training. … Former C Toby Hall, who announced his retirement last week, hopes eventually to manage. … Jason Grey, most recently an ESPN.com fantasy baseball blogger, was hired as a pro scout. … Triple-A Durham pitching coach Neil Allen interviewed for the Boston job that went to Bob McClure. … RHP James Shields turned 30 on Tuesday, so if he stays with the Rays, his likely opening day outing would end their streak of starts by pitchers under 30 at 764. … Rays players won two mlb.com GIBBYs (Greatness in Baseball Yearly awards): Dan Johnson’s Game 162-tying pinch-hit homer was top “moment” (edging Derek Jeter‘s 3,000th hit); and Evan Longoria‘s Game 162-winning homer was top walkoff.

SUNY/ALBANY COURTESY PHOTO | SUNY/Albany pitcher Dave Kubiak, who played for Southold/Greenport in high school, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Dave Kubiak has a New York Yankees logo tattooed on the inside of his left arm, but the Tampa Bay Rays are undoubtedly close to his heart.

That must have been the case in June when the Rays told Kubiak that they wanted him. Tampa Bay picked the SUNY/Albany pitcher in the 36th round of the Major League Baseball draft. He was the 1,109th player selected.

Kubiak greeted the news of his selection with “a lot of excitement, but I guess a lot of relief.” Discussing his baseball future, he said: “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fun ride.”

Kubiak, a Jamesport resident, played for the Southold/Greenport Clippers when he attended Southold High School. The 6-foot-7, 245-pound right-hander, was Albany’s ace pitcher, starting 14 games on the mound this past season. He recorded a 4.72 earned run average as a senior and led the Great Danes’ pitching staff with 73 strikeouts. He threw five complete games, including one shutout, and allowed 43 earned runs in 82 innings of work. Kubiak finished his four-year career as the Albany program leader with 227 strikeouts and 278 innings pitched. His 82 innings this past season were good for second on the school’s single-season record board.

A ground-ball pitcher, Kubiak’s pitching arsenal includes a two-seam fastball, four-seam cutter, curveball, changeup and splitter.

“I’m not going to throw 89, 91 [miles per hour] and overpower anybody any more,” he said. “I’ll strike some people out, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m pitching to contact. … Make them get thrown out. It’s a hard game as it is, don’t make it harder.”

This past summer Kubiak was promoted from the Gulf Coast Rays in the Gulf Coast League to the Princeton Rays in the Appalachian League. He posted a 2-1 record at Princeton with a 3.26 earned run average, three saves, three walks and 27 strikeouts.

“Everyone is just very, very good,” he said. “Every player makes the routine plays look routine. They look so athletic and everybody is so fast here.”

And what about that Yankees tattoo on his arm?

Kubiak said it’s a tribute to his late grandfather, Arthur Phillips. Phillips, who died last year, was a big Yankees fan. If he was alive today, there is little doubt, however, that he would be cheering for the Rays as well.

bliepa@timesreview.com

The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly been in pursuit of free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran of late, but it appears they’re out of the running to land him now as Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted on Thursday that the bidding is down to the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals. 

Meanwhile, Rosenthal and his Fox colleague Jon Morosi write that the Rays have now turned their interest toward trading for Colorado’s Seth Smith.

The 29-year old from Jackson Miss. hit 15 home runs and drove in 59 runs while posting an .830 OPS for the Rockies in 2011. He also flashed a bit of speed in stealing 10 bases. His power numbers have not dipped below 15 homers since 2008, when he played in just 67 games. For his career, Smith owns a .275 batting average and an .833 OPS.

For more on the Rays, check out DRays Bay, SB Nation’s Tampa Bay Rays blog.

By Steve Slowinski

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Dec 21, 2011 – The Tampa Bay Rays have one of the deepest farm systems in the majors leagues, a depth they constantly are drawing from in order to keep their major league team competitive. So while the Rays may not get that involved in offseason bidding for free agents, Rays fans have something else to look forward to each year: the preseason prospect rankings!

Prospect rankings certainly aren’t as sexy as going after Albert Pujols, but hey, this is how the Rays do business. As long as they continue to win with this strategy, it’s difficult to fault them.

Baseball America is among the best in the business at prospect analysis and coverage, so when they speak, it’s important to listen. They released their Top 10 prospect list for the Rays this morning, and there aren’t too many surprises:

*Green represents that the player rose in the rankings from the previous year.

Matt Moore was the easy, consensus #1 pick, as he dominated Triple-A last season and then proceeded to tear through the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rangers in September and October. The Rays recently signed him to a contract extension that could keep him in Tampa Bay for up to eight seasons (and pay him as much as $40 million), and he’s expected to start the season in the Rays’ rotation.

Also, former #1 draft pick Tim Beckham has worked his way back into the Rays top 10 list. He fell all the way down to #15 last season, but he rose back up to #7 after an impressive 2011 season. While still a mere 21-years-old, he hit well in Double-A (.275/.339/.395), and then managed to transition well to Triple-A at the end of the season. He still needs to work on cutting down on his strikeouts, but he’s flashed some power potential (5 HRs in 100 plate appearances) and improved his defense to boot.

To join in the discussion about these rankings — yeah, I’m talking to you, prospect nerds — drop by SB Nation’s site on the Rays, DRaysBay.

Read More: Tim Beckham (SS – TAM), Matt Moore (P – TAM), Tampa Bay Rays

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays have re-signed right-handed reliever Joel Peralta to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.

Peralta went 3-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 71 appearances last season, helping the Rays make the playoffs. The 35-year-old also had a career-high six saves, four of them in September while filling in for injured closer Kyle Farnsworth.

Over parts of seven major-league seasons, Peralta also has pitched for the Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays have re-signed right-handed reliever Joel Peralta to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.

Peralta went 3-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 71 appearances last season, helping the Rays make the playoffs. The 35-year-old also had a career-high six saves, four of them in September while filling in for injured closer Kyle Farnsworth.

Over parts of seven major league seasons, Peralta also has pitched for the Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays have re-signed right-handed reliever Joel Peralta to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.

Peralta went 3-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 71 appearances last season, helping the Rays make the playoffs. The 35-year-old also had a career-high six saves, four of them in September while filling in for injured closer Kyle Farnsworth.

Over parts of seven major league seasons, Peralta also has pitched for the Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—The Tampa Bay Rays have re-signed right-handed
reliever Joel Peralta to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.

Peralta went 3-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 71 appearances last season, helping the
Rays make the playoffs. The 35-year-old also had a career-high six saves, four
of them in September while filling in for injured closer Kyle Farnsworth.

Over parts of seven major league seasons, Peralta also has pitched for the
Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies and Washington
Nationals.