A few days ago, word was that Francisco Cordero had a number of surprise suitors, the Tampa Bay Rays being among them. This seems a touch crazy though. Cordero fits in only one of the Rays’ typical free agent criteria, and its an unimportant one at that:

As far as free agents go, the Rays typically look for the above items. However, three of those items (age, injury, and down season) work in service to one of them (price). If all three are yes, but price is no, then it doesn’t matter. Price matters more.

The last item — being undervalued by traditional analysis — is another big one. For instance, Jason Bartlett fit into that category in 2007 when the Rays pursued him and Matt Garza. Also, Jose Molina fits that bill right now.

The Rays are typically too poor to go after an established closer who is coming off a string of five-straight 30+ saves seasons. They have to find cheap arms like Jason Isringhausen and Troy Percival — past-their-prime relievers who recently had a major injury. They go after the Joaquin Benoit and Juan Cruz types, not the traditional closers.

In other words, I think there’s a legit chance the Rays are in fact not pursuing Cordero. Honestly, nothing about it sounds Raysian. Tack on the fact the Rays actually had excellent production from the top of their bullpen last year, and the whole rumor — which was started by Cordero himself — begins to sound fishy.

I’m not saying Cordero lied about the Rays inquiring about him, all I’m saying is the Rays pretty much have no desire or precedent to suggest they will sign a $10M reliever.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—The Detroit Tigers were facing a potentially
long night with a short-handed bullpen against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Starter Brad Penny(notes) wouldn’t let that be an issue. He pitched effectively
into the seventh inning, Alex Avila(notes) had an RBI single and the Tigers beat the
Rays 2-1 on Tuesday night.

“You know you’re running into a buzzsaw with that (Tampa Bay) pitching
staff, but we pitched pretty good, too,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
“Brad got in some trouble, but he pitched his way out of it.”

Penny (9-9) gave up one run and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings. He had gone
1-3 with a 6.99 ERA in his previous five starts.

Phil Coke(notes) allowed two doubles, two intentional walks and struck out five
over the final two innings for his first save. Leyland stuck to his plan of
giving eighth-inning setup man Joaquin Benoit(notes) and closer Jose Valverde(notes) the night
off.

After Johnny Damon(notes) hit two-out double and Evan Longoria(notes) was intentionally
walked in the ninth, both advanced one base on Coke’s wild pitch. Ben Zobrist(notes)
then hit three foul balls on 3-2 pitches before grounding out to end the game.

“That was awesome,” Coke said. “I’m just glad I got him out. That was a
battle, and it was fun. I enjoyed myself.”

David Price(notes) (11-11) allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings. The
Tampa Bay left-hander was coming off consecutive road wins against the New York
Yankees and Boston in which the AL All-Star was touched for one run and nine
hits in a combined 16 innings.

“They’ve got a good team,” Price said. “They’re in the playoff hunt right
now so they’re feeling good about themselves.”

The game started after a 20-minute delay because of a weather-related
problem with the lights at Tropicana Field. The Rays say thunderstorms in the
area affected a power line running into the domed stadium, which caused the
problem.

Detroit scored twice in the seventh, ending Price’s scoreless streak at 18
consecutive innings, and took a 2-1 lead on Avila’s RBI single and a sacrifice
fly by Jhonny Peralta(notes).

Avila, who hit a two-run homer in Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Rays, has
15 RBIs in 19 games this month.

Zobrist put the Rays ahead 1-0 on a third-inning RBI double. He has 42
doubles this season.

“Overall, this is the kind of game when if you’re going to the playoffs,
you win, and when you’re not, you don’t,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.
“We’ve got to start winning these games to go the playoffs. You have to win
2-1, 1-0, 3-2 games to win championships.”

Penny gave up hits in five of his first six innings, but was able to limit
the damage. The right-hander left with one out in the seventh after walking
pinch hitter John Jaso(notes).

Daniel Schlereth(notes), who replaced Penny, got one out before giving up a single
to Desmond Jennings(notes) and walking Damon to load the bases. Ryan Perry(notes) worked out
of the jam by getting a fly ball to center from Longoria.

“Perry got a huge out, that’s good to see,” Leyland said. “Maybe that’s a
confidence builder for him.”

Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez(notes), a late scratch Monday because of
lower back spasms, had a double in four at-bats.

Notes: Tampa Bay CF B.J. Upton(notes), who sprained his right shoulder Monday,
struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. … Tigers RHP Al Alburquerque(notes)
(concussion) could be re-evaluated later this week. … Detroit RHP Max Scherzer(notes)
(13-7) will face Rays RHP Wade Davis(notes) (8-7) in the third game of the four-game
set Wednesday night. … Rays RHP Alex Cobb(notes), who underwent surgery last Thursday
to remove a blockage in the area of his first right rib, was back at the
ballpark. The rookie is thinking about keeping the pinkie size rib that was
removed during the procedure in his locker. “I think it’s a good thought and
it’s a reminder,” Maddon said. “But I do not need to see it.”

“You know you’re running into a buzzsaw with that (Tampa Bay) pitching staff, but we pitched pretty good, too,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “Brad got in some trouble, but he pitched his way out of it.”

Penny (9-9) gave up one run and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings. He had gone 1-3 with a 6.99 ERA in his previous five starts.

Phil Coke allowed two doubles, two intentional walks and struck out five over the final two innings for his first save. Leyland stuck to his plan of giving eighth-inning setup man Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde the night off.

After Johnny Damon hit two-out double and Evan Longoria was intentionally walked in the ninth, both advanced one base on Coke’s wild pitch. Ben Zobrist then hit three foul balls on 3-2 pitches before grounding out to end the game.

“That was awesome,” Coke said. “I’m just glad I got him out. That was a battle, and it was fun. I enjoyed myself.”

David Price (11-11) allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings. The Tampa Bay left-hander was coming off consecutive road wins against the New York Yankees and Boston in which the AL All-Star was touched for one run and nine hits in a combined 16 innings.

“They’ve got a good team,” Price said. “They’re in the playoff hunt right now so they’re feeling good about themselves.”

The game started after a 20-minute delay because of a weather-related problem with the lights at Tropicana Field. The Rays say thunderstorms in the area affected a power line running into the domed stadium, which caused the problem.

Detroit scored twice in the seventh, ending Price’s scoreless streak at 18 consecutive innings, and took a 2-1 lead on Avila’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Jhonny Peralta.

Avila, who hit a two-run homer in Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Rays, has 15 RBIs in 19 games this month.

Zobrist put the Rays ahead 1-0 on a third-inning RBI double. He has 42 doubles this season.

“Overall, this is the kind of game when if you’re going to the playoffs, you win, and when you’re not, you don’t,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “We’ve got to start winning these games to go the playoffs. You have to win 2-1, 1-0, 3-2 games to win championships.”

Penny gave up hits in five of his first six innings, but was able to limit the damage. The right-hander left with one out in the seventh after walking pinch hitter John Jaso.

Daniel Schlereth, who replaced Penny, got one out before giving up a single to Desmond Jennings and walking Damon to load the bases. Ryan Perry worked out of the jam by getting a fly ball to center from Longoria.

“Perry got a huge out, that’s good to see,” Leyland said. “Maybe that’s a confidence builder for him.”

Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez, a late scratch Monday because of lower back spasms, had a double in four at-bats.

Notes: Tampa Bay CF B.J. Upton, who sprained his right shoulder Monday, struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. … Tigers RHP Al Alburquerque (concussion) could be re-evaluated later this week. … Detroit RHP Max Scherzer (13-7) will face Rays RHP Wade Davis (8-7) in the third game of the four-game set Wednesday night. … Rays RHP Alex Cobb, who underwent surgery last Thursday to remove a blockage in the area of his first right rib, was back at the ballpark. The rookie is thinking about keeping the pinkie size rib that was removed during the procedure in his locker. “I think it’s a good thought and it’s a reminder,” Maddon said. “But I do not need to see it.”

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

It’s the end of May and the Indians have received much applause for their unexpected rise to the top of the AL Central. They deserve it, but the Rays have been just as big a surprise in the AL East.

Tampa Bay won 96 games last season to snatch the division from megapowers New York and Boston for the second time in three years. During the off-season, the number of key players that migrated out of Tropicana Field as free agents could have been filmed by National Geographic. The Rays were cutting payroll and the prospects for 2011 did not look good.

They lost relievers Rafael Soriano, Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler, Joaquin Benoit, Chad Qualls and Randy Choate to free agency. Not to mention core position players Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. Starting pitcher Matt Garza was traded.

So what are they doing 1 1/2 games out of first place in the AL East after 50 games with the second-lowest payroll ($41.1 million) in the big leagues? It says much about the talent in the organization and their ability to draft and develop players.

It was speculated the Rays’ window of opportunity was closing. They’ve kept it propped open, offering hope to small and midmarket teams.

Alex Avila’s second homer of the game gave the Detroit Tigers the lead in the eighth inning and they held on for a 7-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays tonight at Comerica Park.

Avila hit a go-ahead, two-run shot off Cesar Ramos. He had a solo drive in the sixth off starter Wade Davis.

Al Alburquerque (1-1) earned his first major league victory in his 14th appearance after getting two key outs in the eighth. He inherited a bases-loaded, one-out jam and got out of it by striking out Sean Rodriguez and getting Sam Fuld to ground into a fielder’s choice.

Joaquin Benoit pitched the ninth for his first save, filling in for Jose Valverde because the Detroit closer threw 27 pitches Monday night.

Ramos (0-1) gave up hits to both batters he faced.

Justin Verlander gave up six runs in six innings for the Tigers.

It was the second straight win over the Rays and the third in a row overall for the Tigers.

SEE THE BOX SCORE

By Jeff Sullivan

– Editor

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May 17, 2011 – To say that the Tampa Bay Rays renovated their bullpen over the offseason would be an understatement. The Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen wasn’t a bathroom in need of minor repair, or a kitchen with a wall to knock down. The Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen was a two-story house flattened by a tornado. The Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen was a bullpen that had to be completely rebuilt from the ground up.

Gone was Rafael Soriano. Gone was Lance Cormier. Gone wer Joaquin Benoit and Dan Wheeler and Randy Choate and Chad Qualls and Grant Balfour. Of the eight Rays relievers who threw at least 20 innings out of the bullpen in 2010, the only pitcher remaining was Andy Sonnanstine, and in 2010, Andy Sonnanstine wasn’t good.

So the Rays got to work. By various means, they assembled a brand new bullpen. And more, where a lot of people were skeptical and calling the Rays’ bullpen a probable weakness, the unit to date has gotten the job done just fine. Rob Neyer just talked about the Rays’ bullpen a few weeks ago, and right now, its 3.12 ERA ranks third in the American League, between the Blue Jays and the Indians. The message there seems obvious: the Rays know what they’re doing, and they once again have a strong relief corps despite having to build it on a budget practically from scratch.

But, as is so often the case, that collective ERA is misleading. The Rays’ bullpen has done a good job of preventing runs to date, but there’s reason to believe that rougher times might lie ahead. Below, find where the Rays’ bullpen ranks league-wide in a few important statistics:

Strikeout rate: 30th
Walk rate: 15th
Groundball rate: 25th
Contact rate: 25th
K/BB: 28th
BABIP: 3rd
HR/Fly Ball: 1st
xFIP: 28th

While the Rays’ bullpen has a shiny ERA, it has a shiny ERA and the third-worst strikeout-to-walk ratio in baseball. That shiny ERA is in large part the result of an unsustainably low BABIP, and an unsustainably low rate of home runs per fly ball. xFIP isn’t a perfect metric, and it’s an even more imperfect metric for measuring relievers, but it’s a heck of a lot more meaningful than ERA, and the Rays’ bullpen xFIP is bad. The Rays’ bullpen xFIP suggests that this group of relievers isn’t actually very good at all.

The individual pitcher breakdown:

Kyle Farnsworth has been okay, even though he hasn’t missed bats. Joel Peralta has been fine, if worse than he was a year ago. And after them, you have seven relievers with 42 strikeouts and 40 walks in 71-1/3 innings. That is not good.

Fortunately for the Rays, it looks like they’re about to get J.P. Howell back, and while he hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2009 due to injury, he has an excellent track record when healthy, so he’ll probably provide a boost. Additionally, bullpens aren’t hard to adjust on the fly, so the Rays will be able to shuffle out ineffective relievers for different options if they so desire. They are by no means doomed to a summer of inconsistent relief.

But all those articles about how the Rays’ bullpen is a feel-good story in the early going – they both hit and miss the mark. The Rays’ completely reconstructed bullpen hasn’t allowed many runs to date, which is impressive, but it’s going to start allowing more of them soon if it doesn’t shape up.

Read More: Rafael Soriano (P – NYY), Lance Cormier (P – LOS), Tampa Bay Rays

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By Jeff Sullivan

– Editor

Follow , and

Like Baseball Nation on Facebook.

May 17, 2011 – To say that the Tampa Bay Rays renovated their bullpen over the offseason would be an understatement. The Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen wasn’t a bathroom in need of minor repair, or a kitchen with a wall to knock down. The Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen was a two-story house flattened by a tornado. The Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen was a bullpen that had to be completely rebuilt from the ground up.

Gone was Rafael Soriano. Gone was Lance Cormier. Gone wer Joaquin Benoit and Dan Wheeler and Randy Choate and Chad Qualls and Grant Balfour. Of the eight Rays relievers who threw at least 20 innings out of the bullpen in 2010, the only pitcher remaining was Andy Sonnanstine, and in 2010, Andy Sonnanstine wasn’t good.

So the Rays got to work. By various means, they assembled a brand new bullpen. And more, where a lot of people were skeptical and calling the Rays’ bullpen a probable weakness, the unit to date has gotten the job done just fine. Rob Neyer just talked about the Rays’ bullpen a few weeks ago, and right now, its 3.12 ERA ranks third in the American League, between the Blue Jays and the Indians. The message there seems obvious: the Rays know what they’re doing, and they once again have a strong relief corps despite having to build it on a budget practically from scratch.

But, as is so often the case, that collective ERA is misleading. The Rays’ bullpen has done a good job of preventing runs to date, but there’s reason to believe that rougher times might lie ahead. Below, find where the Rays’ bullpen ranks league-wide in a few important statistics:

Strikeout rate: 30th
Walk rate: 15th
Groundball rate: 25th
Contact rate: 25th
K/BB: 28th
BABIP: 3rd
HR/Fly Ball: 1st
xFIP: 28th

While the Rays’ bullpen has a shiny ERA, it has a shiny ERA and the third-worst strikeout-to-walk ratio in baseball. That shiny ERA is in large part the result of an unsustainably low BABIP, and an unsustainably low rate of home runs per fly ball. xFIP isn’t a perfect metric, and it’s an even more imperfect metric for measuring relievers, but it’s a heck of a lot more meaningful than ERA, and the Rays’ bullpen xFIP is bad. The Rays’ bullpen xFIP suggests that this group of relievers isn’t actually very good at all.

The individual pitcher breakdown:

Kyle Farnsworth has been okay, even though he hasn’t missed bats. Joel Peralta has been fine, if worse than he was a year ago. And after them, you have seven relievers with 42 strikeouts and 40 walks in 71-1/3 innings. That is not good.

Fortunately for the Rays, it looks like they’re about to get J.P. Howell back, and while he hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2009 due to injury, he has an excellent track record when healthy, so he’ll probably provide a boost. Additionally, bullpens aren’t hard to adjust on the fly, so the Rays will be able to shuffle out ineffective relievers for different options if they so desire. They are by no means doomed to a summer of inconsistent relief.

But all those articles about how the Rays’ bullpen is a feel-good story in the early going – they both hit and miss the mark. The Rays’ completely reconstructed bullpen hasn’t allowed many runs to date, which is impressive, but it’s going to start allowing more of them soon if it doesn’t shape up.

Read More: Rafael Soriano (P – NYY), Lance Cormier (P – LOS), Tampa Bay Rays

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Like Baseball Nation on Facebook.

Do you like this story?

NEW YORK ——

Who are those guys? Maybe the other corners of the baseball world wrote off the decimated no-name Tampa Bay Rays, but the Yankees and Red Sox know them all too well.

“They like lipping under the radar, doing their thing, not being known,” said Carl Crawford, whose departure was expected to send the Tampa Bay franchise spiraling back to the bottom of the AL East. “They don’t want to be known, and they use that to their advantage.”

The AL East was expected to be a six-month Red Sox-Yankees slugfest, but once again the Rays, who won the division in 2008 and 2010, are disrupting the party.

Crawford, who came up through Tampa Bay’s system then entered his late 20s and the chance to enter free agency and move on to bigger bucks, saw what was going on.

“The minor league complex is right next to [ours],” he said, “so I saw all those guys. I know they have a lot of young talent in that organization.”

Much of that talent was assembled near the end of the Rays’ 10-year run in last place in the division. They had so many high draft picks, they couldn’t keep misfiring. More recently, their organization has grown proficient at picking players anywhere in the draft and developing them. So after last season, when Crawford, Carlos Pena, Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit left as free agents and Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett were traded away, it was anything but a white flag.

Smart, resourceful organizations win. The Rays got the best years out of these players without paying them market value. Now other teams are overcommitted in years and dollars for them. The Rays, meanwhile, have replaced them with more young, fast and inexpensive talent and, through the free agency process, gathered a slew of compensatory draft picks to replenish their organization for the next cycle.

It’s going green, baseball style.

“It’s pretty much what we’ve seen since 2008,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.”They have good pitching and good defense; they have a lot of range everywhere. They do a lot of little things. They’re fundamentally sound.”

While the Yankees and Red Sox, with two of the highest payrolls in baseball, are off to lackluster starts and beating each other up this weekend in New York, the hustling, hungry Rays (23-15) rebounded quickly from an 0-6 start and are atop the AL East. They won two games at Fenway Park in April and now have the sluggish Yankees coming to Tampa Bay this week.

“So pleased with our effort every day,” Rays manager Joe Maddon tweeted this week. “They always come ready to play. I just have to make a decision once in a while.”

The Rays’ payroll of $41 million — $30 million less than they spent in winning the East last season — is second-lowest in baseball to the Royals (who are also doing surprisingly well). Johnny Damon, who signed a one-year, $5.25 million contract, is the highest-paid player, the veteran signed to steady the clubhouse. When their bargain-basement bullpen of 2010 went on to greener pastures (Soriano to the Yankees, Benoit to Detroit), general manager Andrew Friedman assembled another: Kyle Farnsworth is closing games without incident, and the group has a 2.84 ERA, one of the lowest in baseball. The Rays’ starting rotation, anchored by David Price and James Shields, remains solid.

Evan Longoria, their resident superstar, just came off the DL; he has eight homers and 24 RBI in 45 at-bats. They have solid role players everywhere, including Sam Fuld, who has been playing left field and became a Twitter sensation after a series of spectacular catches.

And what of the players who are gone? Carl Crawford was hitting .212 in Boston entering Saturday, Soriano has been a disappointment in New York, Pena is hitting .212 with three homers and Garza is 2-4 with a 4.17 ERA entering Saturday for the Cubs, and Bartlett is hitting .256 for the Padres.

“I’m pretty sure [the Rays] want to show people they can still win,” Crawford said. “I don’t know who’d be sleeping on them.”

By John Romano, Times Sports Columnist

In Print: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

They woke up this morning scattered around the country. The first baseman. The leftfielder. The shortstop. The starting pitcher. The entire bullpen.

If you plotted it on a calendar, 14 of the 25 players from the roster of May 10, 2010, are no longer employed by the Tampa Bay Rays on May 10, 2011.

Call it a makeover. An overhaul. Call it the dismantling of the American League East champions with one important caveat.

On May 10, 2010, the Rays were in first place.

And precisely one year later, they are back again.

Who knows if it will last, but the improbability of a pawn shop roster challenging once more for the lead in baseball’s most intimidating division is a story worthy of wonder.

And if you are not yet convinced that it is a remarkable achievement, think of it this way:

The seven highest-paid Rays of 2010 have all departed.

A lot of teams lose one, or even two, of their best players and struggle to come back the next season. The Rays, on the other hand, lopped off almost the top one-third of their roster and are still on pace to win 95 games.

To put that in context, if we were talking about the Yankees, that would mean Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada would have turned in their pinstripes this season.

So how, exactly, have the Rays pulled this off?

Well, the basic formula remains the same as in 2010. Tampa Bay still has the most cost-efficient (i.e. young) starting rotation in the league. That concept of stockpiling young, talented starters is the basis for everything else the franchise does.

But, beyond that, executive vice president Andrew Friedman appears to have done a marvelous job of sifting through the marketplace to find usable spare parts.

He signed a handful of free agents (Juan Cruz, Casey Kotchman and Felipe Lopez) to cheap minor-league contracts and plucked another (Rob Delaney) off waivers.

He traded for a collection of players (Sam Fuld, Brandon Gomes, Brandon Guyer, Cesar Ramos and Adam Russell) who spent the bulk of 2010 in the minors.

And when he did spend a little money, Friedman got a DH (Johnny Damon), a closer (Kyle Farnsworth) and a setup man (Joel Peralta) for less than what the Cubs agreed to pay Carlos Peña this season.

So did the Rays get lucky?

Perhaps, in some ways.

Fuld played above his head at a time when the Rays needed help. Kotchman got hot as Dan Johnson continues to struggle with his swing and confidence.

Still, in a lot of ways, this has gone precisely by design. Maybe not in every individual case, but in the overall concept of stockpiling cheap players with high upsides.

The Rays will never be able to chase the Jayson Werths or the Cliff Lees of free agency, so they have to find players who are undervalued for some reason.

Maybe it’s because the player has yet to prove himself at the major-league level. Maybe there is an injury involved. Maybe it is a veteran player coming off a down year or two.

Whatever the reason, the player is far from a sure bet. This is why, for instance, no one was willing to give Kotchman or Lopez or Cruz or Dirk Hayhurst or Cory Wade a major-league contract in the winter.

And when you’re dealing with this type of player, you are invariably going to have misses. For every Kotchman, you will have a Hank Blalock. For every Joaquin Benoit, you will have a Jason Isringhausen.

So what it comes down to is calculated risks. You accept that not every deal will work as planned, but you must be sharp enough to find the occasional payoff.

And you have to understand that you’re not going to find a Derek Jeter using this method, so you must be willing to find players with complementary skills to fill a particular need.

Some of this also speaks to a franchise’s deep farm system. The Rays could not have traded Matt Garza or Jason Bartlett if they were not confident in Jeremy Hellickson and Reid Brignac. In this sense, the Rays added at the same time they were subtracting.

Now, it is still far too early in the season to say whether the Rays have approximated the skill of their 2010 roster with all of their low-cost additions in 2011. And, to be honest, their 20-14 record might be due, in some part, to a fairly soft schedule.

Nonetheless, it’s pretty impressive that a team can reduce its payroll by more than 40 percent and still be in first place nearly six weeks into a new season.

And if the Rays are still there in six months, it will be the story of 2011.

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By John Romano, Times Sports Columnist

In Print: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

They woke up this morning scattered around the country. The first baseman. The leftfielder. The shortstop. The starting pitcher. The entire bullpen.

If you plotted it on a calendar, 14 of the 25 players from the roster of May 10, 2010, are no longer employed by the Tampa Bay Rays on May 10, 2011.

Call it a makeover. An overhaul. Call it the dismantling of the American League East champions with one important caveat.

On May 10, 2010, the Rays were in first place.

And precisely one year later, they are back again.

Who knows if it will last, but the improbability of a pawn shop roster challenging once more for the lead in baseball’s most intimidating division is a story worthy of wonder.

And if you are not yet convinced that it is a remarkable achievement, think of it this way:

The seven highest-paid Rays of 2010 have all departed.

A lot of teams lose one, or even two, of their best players and struggle to come back the next season. The Rays, on the other hand, lopped off almost the top one-third of their roster and are still on pace to win 95 games.

To put that in context, if we were talking about the Yankees, that would mean Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada would have turned in their pinstripes this season.

So how, exactly, have the Rays pulled this off?

Well, the basic formula remains the same as in 2010. Tampa Bay still has the most cost-efficient (i.e. young) starting rotation in the league. That concept of stockpiling young, talented starters is the basis for everything else the franchise does.

But, beyond that, executive vice president Andrew Friedman appears to have done a marvelous job of sifting through the marketplace to find usable spare parts.

He signed a handful of free agents (Juan Cruz, Casey Kotchman and Felipe Lopez) to cheap minor-league contracts and plucked another (Rob Delaney) off waivers.

He traded for a collection of players (Sam Fuld, Brandon Gomes, Brandon Guyer, Cesar Ramos and Adam Russell) who spent the bulk of 2010 in the minors.

And when he did spend a little money, Friedman got a DH (Johnny Damon), a closer (Kyle Farnsworth) and a setup man (Joel Peralta) for less than what the Cubs agreed to pay Carlos Peña this season.

So did the Rays get lucky?

Perhaps, in some ways.

Fuld played above his head at a time when the Rays needed help. Kotchman got hot as Dan Johnson continues to struggle with his swing and confidence.

Still, in a lot of ways, this has gone precisely by design. Maybe not in every individual case, but in the overall concept of stockpiling cheap players with high upsides.

The Rays will never be able to chase the Jayson Werths or the Cliff Lees of free agency, so they have to find players who are undervalued for some reason.

Maybe it’s because the player has yet to prove himself at the major-league level. Maybe there is an injury involved. Maybe it is a veteran player coming off a down year or two.

Whatever the reason, the player is far from a sure bet. This is why, for instance, no one was willing to give Kotchman or Lopez or Cruz or Dirk Hayhurst or Cory Wade a major-league contract in the winter.

And when you’re dealing with this type of player, you are invariably going to have misses. For every Kotchman, you will have a Hank Blalock. For every Joaquin Benoit, you will have a Jason Isringhausen.

So what it comes down to is calculated risks. You accept that not every deal will work as planned, but you must be sharp enough to find the occasional payoff.

And you have to understand that you’re not going to find a Derek Jeter using this method, so you must be willing to find players with complementary skills to fill a particular need.

Some of this also speaks to a franchise’s deep farm system. The Rays could not have traded Matt Garza or Jason Bartlett if they were not confident in Jeremy Hellickson and Reid Brignac. In this sense, the Rays added at the same time they were subtracting.

Now, it is still far too early in the season to say whether the Rays have approximated the skill of their 2010 roster with all of their low-cost additions in 2011. And, to be honest, their 20-14 record might be due, in some part, to a fairly soft schedule.

Nonetheless, it’s pretty impressive that a team can reduce its payroll by more than 40 percent and still be in first place nearly six weeks into a new season.

And if the Rays are still there in six months, it will be the story of 2011.

[Last modified: May 09, 2011 09:47 PM]

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By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, March 14, 2011

DUNEDIN — Halfway through the exhibition season, the Rays still don’t know what their bullpen is going to look like.

But, manager Joe Maddon said Sunday, they are pretty sure it’s going to end up better than they expected.

“We’re going to mix and match a little bit, but I feel as though we have the ingredients to do that,” Maddon said. “It’s looking pretty good right now. I feel a lot more confident about how it’s going to look now than I did on the first day of camp.”

For the most part, the competition for the bullpen spots, as well as the two open bench spots, has been stiffer than expected. And settling on a batting order, the other major question of the spring, a bit trickier than thought.

With 18 days until the season opener, here’s a look at where they are:

Bullpen

The Rays opened camp figuring four spots were claimed, though right-hander Adam Russell needs to show a little more velocity and command to make sure he joins Kyle Farnsworth, Joel Peralta and Andy Sonnanstine.

And from a field of a dozen candidates for the remaining spots, three appear to have emerged as the leaders: right-hander Juan Cruz, and left-handers Jake McGee and Cesar Ramos.

McGee, a prospect who came up at the end of last season, has an overpowering fastball and good mound presence but needs to continue development of his slider as a much-needed second pitch. Ramos, who had been used as a starter and reliever by the Padres, has an effective three-pitch repertoire and seems to have settled into a bullpen role.

Cruz, a 32-year-old in camp on a minor-league deal whose eight-plus seasons of big-league experience would be a big benefit, has thus far shown in velocity and command that he has recovered from last year’s shoulder surgery. But the Rays will have to see more, specifically if and how he can handle pitching back-to-back days, and that could be the biggest determination if he starts the season in the majors or is sent to Triple-A Durham for a while, as Joaquin Benoit was last year.

Even if there’s a slight question, the Rays may want to wait so they, as is their wont, can conserve assets. If Cruz starts the season on the roster and is ineffective, they’d risk losing him on waivers if they wanted to send him down.

If Cruz isn’t deemed ready, right-hander Mike Ekstrom appears next in line from an up-and-down field for an opening-day spot, with Cory Wade possibly next.

Bench

With 10 position players set and first baseman Dan Johnson expected to be the 11th, the Rays are looking to fill the final two spots from a field of five reserves: infielders Joe Inglett, Elliot Johnson and Felipe Lopez; outfielder Sam Fuld; and first baseman Casey Kotchman.

Only, of course, it’s not that simple.

In theory, they’d carry one extra infielder and outfielder. But because of the versatility of so many of their players (including Ben Zobrist and Sean Rodriguez, who will be on the team), there are other ways to look at it.

For example, if they kept Elliot Johnson, who can fill in in center­field, they could skip the extra outfielder and keep Kotchman, assuming that addition to golden defense he can hit enough to be more than a late-inning replacement. Or if they kept Fuld, then Lopez, with experience and a bigger bat, could be a better fit than Elliot Johnson.

Plus, Fuld and both Johnsons are out of options, so they could be lost on waivers, while Inglett, Kotchman and Lopez could be sent to Durham, at least for a while (or until another team offered them a major-league job).

Batting order

Maddon said Johnny Damon, Evan Longoria and Manny Ramirez are now set in the Nos. 2-3-4 spots. And he made it sound like the most likely leadoff scenario is a platoon between Zobrist (vs. righties) and B.J. Upton.

The rest of the order will be pieced together, primarily based on the pitching matchups. It will be trickier against left-handed starters, as they decide which three of their left-handed hitting position players (Damon, Matt Joyce, Reid Brignac and Dan Johnson) will stay in the lineup each day. Catcher John Jaso, who emerged as the leadoff man against right-handers last season, may end up hitting ninth.

Marc Topkin can be reached at topkin@sptimes.com.

[Last modified: Mar 14, 2011 04:05 PM]

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Tampa manager Joe Maddon is preaching: ‘Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.’

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Going about their on-field baseball business flush with optimism, followed by off-field fishing parties at manager Joe Maddon’s rental home by a nearby lake, the Tampa Bay Rays are hardly the picture of a team feeling doomed by the departures of one their best all-around players, Carl Crawford, their No. 2 starting pitcher, Matt Garza, their starting shortstop, Jason Bartlett, and their top four relievers, Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit, Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour in last winter’s payroll purge.

Call it spring’s eternal hope if you will, but, right now, having gotten to know each other, the Rays really like what they see in their new teammates and, as Maddon is preaching: “Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. Our goal is not to participate but to repeat as American League East champions.”

Maddon admits a lot of things are going to have to fall into place for that to happen, particularly with his almost completely-overhauled bullpen in which the aforementioned quartet had accounted for 226.1 of the Rays’ 454 relief innings last year. It probably hasn’t helped that Crawford, the Rays’ franchise player, and Soriano, the AL saves leader last year, defected as free agents to their two division rivals, the Red Sox and Yankees respectively, and will therefore be back in their faces 18 times this season. But as Maddon says, what matters are the players the Rays have, not the ones who have left. Two of those players, Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, have world championship pedigrees from the Red Sox and are being counted on to contribute a goodly share of the lost offense from Crawford and first baseman Carlos Penã, who also left as a free agent to the Chicago Cubs. For what it’s worth, Damon, belying the general scouts’ assessment that his bat and range afield really slowed down in Detroit last year, says he feels rejuvenated playing close to his Orlando home and insists he can still get big hits. “I still have a lot in the tank,” he says. As for the noticeably trimmer Manny, well, would you believe he’s consistently been one of the first players to the ballpark every day and actually volunteered to go on spring road trips?

“We’ll see how long that lasts, especially if they get off to a slow start,” grumbled one veteran scout following the Rays this spring.

Maddon, understandably, is delighted by Manny’s enthusiasm and with the veteran leadership Damon is already adding to his young clubhouse. The Rays could have as many as 10 new players on the roster this year, nearly a 50% turnover from last October.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The vision in front of manager Joe Maddon is one of dreadlocks (Manny Ramirez) and Mohawks (Johnny Damon). But the book on his desk, The Bullpen Gospels, is more telling.

See, the book’s author, Dirk Hayhurst, is in camp vying for a spot in a bullpen riddled with more holes than Al Capone’s car. And when Maddon says Hayhurst will move past Pat Conroy as the manager’s favorite author if he wins the Tampa Bay closer’s job this spring, maybe he’s not kidding.

Winners of two of the past three AL East division titles, the Rays will be in a hairy situation indeed if a remodeling job that would make Home Depot proud doesn’t produce consistent outs from the seventh inning on.

Last year’s pen led the AL with a 3.33 ERA. Then seven of the eight relievers with the most innings hit the free-agent market. Last thing the Rays heard were slamming suitcases and squealing tires.

“We have a lot of confidence in different components of our team,” says general manager Andrew Friedman even after a 50 percent roster turnover from 2010. “We feel like offensively we’re going to score runs. We’re going to add value on the bases. We feel like we’re a good defensive team. We think our starting rotation is going to be really good.

“Every year, the most difficult thing to predict with any confidence is your bullpen. And so this year’s no different for us. We have less experience than we’ve had in the last couple of years, but from a talent standpoint it’s fairly similar.”

Except the leading candidate to close is veteran Kyle Farnsworth. Not that his ninth-inning resume is spotty, but the man has only 27 career saves … and only one in the past five seasons.

Veteran Juan Cruz is here after missing nearly all of 2010 following May 12 shoulder surgery. Adam Russell came over from the Padres for shortstop Jason Bartlett. Joel Peralta, who has pitched for four teams over six seasons, has a chance to stick. So does Cory Wade, who hasn’t been heard from since ’09 (Dodgers). Homegrown rookie Jake McGee has the stuff and the makeup to come quickly.

Hayhurst? He has only 25 lifetime appearances with the Padres and Blue Jays (and zero saves). Then again, Keith Olbermann called his book (subtitled “Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran”) “one of the best baseball books ever written.” And Bob Costas checked in with “hilarious and poignant.” So he’s got that going for him.

None of this, on the surface, is as sexy as Damon, or as riveting as Manny (who bade farewell the other day by saying, “Put in a good word for me.” To whom, and for what, I have no idea).

But even after Carl Crawford fled for that $142 million Red Sox contract, Carlos Pena zoomed off to the Cubs and starter Matt Garza was traded, Friedman insists there is as much talent in this camp as in any since he’s been here.

“We did lose a lot,” Maddon says. “But, my goodness, we’ve got a lot here, too.”

The pride and joy remains the young rotation of All-Star starter David Price, James Shields, Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis and rookie Jeremy Hellickson.

But without closer Rafael Soriano (signed with the Yankees), Grant Balfour (A’s) and Joaquin Benoit (Tigers), it could unravel in a hurry.

It’s why Friedman for months has been looking under sofa cushions and at bus shelters for relievers.

Sleeper … Ben Zobrist: Zobrist’s performance last year prompted an “I told you so” from everyone who thought his 2009 season was a mirage — and yeah, maybe it was too good to be true. But his 2010 was equally too bad to be true. He hit only .177 in the second half, which was clearly an anomaly for a player who hit .318 during his minor-league career. So what was his excuse? He had a sore back all year that no doubt affected his swing. With an offseason to recover and regroup, he should be able to continue his high-OPS ways, which actually began in 2008, well before anyone gave him any notice in Fantasy. Breakout … Jeremy Hellickson: The Rays kind of took all the drama out of this pick by giving us a sneak peak at Hellickson last year. He posted a 2.05 ERA and 0.76 WHIP in four starts before Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis returned from injuries. His time in the bullpen is the only reason his ERA finished as high as it did. His walk rate of 2.0 per nine innings is almost inconceivable for a rookie and would have ranked him in the top 10 if he had enough innings to qualify. By keeping his pitch count low, he should be able to pitch six and seven innings consistently, avoiding some of the usual pitfalls for rookies. Hellickson will slip into the middle rounds just because he’s a rookie, but he has ace written all over him. Sleeper … Matt Joyce: Yeah, the Rays kind of messed up Joyce’s golden opportunity by signing Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez late in the offseason, but nobody really thinks they’re going to meet the team’s offensive needs, do they? In other words, Joyce is still getting his chance, and if his trial run last year is any indication, he’s ready to take advantage. The guy is an OPS machine in the making. His walk rate is impressive, and he showed the power to hit 25-plus homers over a full season. The Rays have been waiting for this kind of performance from him since they acquired him for Edwin Jackson in 2008, so you can bet he’s getting the nod at the lineup’s first opening. – Scott White

Rays outlook | Depth Chart | 2011 Draft Prep

“Last year, before the season started, we knew the position we were going to be in at the end of the [2010] season,” he said. “We started passively going through lists and going through target names.

“We actively scouted certain guys in the second half of the season, potential free-agent targets or potential trade targets. I think that’s when it really picked up for us, in the second half of last year.”

Now, the bodies are here (though Friedman said he would have liked to have added one more veteran reliever had price tags not skyrocketed over the winter). And if you’re a reliever filling out resumes, Tampa Bay is where you want to be.

“I really believe most of my time [this spring] needs to be spent on knowing these bullpen candidates, having them understand what’s expected of them, of us,” Maddon says. “Because therein lies our success.”

There’s no telling where it will lead.

Then again, the Rays’ culture has changed, and they’ve all been here before.

“Going into the 2008 [World Series] season, the thing that scared me the most was our bullpen,” Friedman says. “And it was tremendous. It was the reason we had the success we did. In 2009, I felt pretty good about it and it was a reason why we won only 84 games.

“Last year when we broke camp, Soriano had made only six [spring] appearances, Joaquin Benoit’s velocity wasn’t back yet and Balfour was throwing 89 [mph]. We were scared to death of our bullpen. And we had the best bullpen in the AL.

“So I’m giving up riding the rollercoaster, or trying to predict. It’s just a process. We take guys and we try and put together a seven-man bullpen that gives us diversified looks. And we run them out there and see where we’re at.

“And if it’s not working, then ideally we have the depth on hand to react.”

By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, February 4, 2011

Rays pick up veteran reliever

The Rays added a candidate to their bullpen competition Thursday, signing right-hander Juan Cruz to a minor-league deal.

Cruz, 32, has pitched in parts of 10 seasons, mostly in middle relief, and has a career 4.15 ERA. He made five appearances for the Royals last season before being released April 23. A few weeks later he had shoulder surgery to remove a cyst. The Rays, who had success with Joaquin Benoit last year after signing him in similar circumstances, will have a better gauge of Cruz’s status after seeing him in spring training.

Cruz had a solid 2006-08 stint in Arizona, going 15-7 with a 3.47 ERA in 141 appearances. He was ineffective with the Royals after signing a two-year, $5.5 million deal. He also has pitched for the Cubs, Braves and A’s.

The Rays have 28 pitchers on their spring roster. At least 11 will compete for three bullpen spots. Four are considered claimed by Kyle Farnsworth, Joel Peralta, Andy Sonnanstine and Adam Russell.

Marc Topkin, Times staff writer

[Last modified: Feb 03, 2011 11:29 PM]

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