As expected, the Rays will exercise James Shields' 2013 contract option. The club has informed Shields that they'll pick up his $10.25MM option, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Shields, 30, posted a 3.52 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 227 2/3 innings this past season. His name will no doubt surface in offseason trade rumors in the coming months.
The Rays have three remaining contract options. They'll exercise Fernando Rodney's option at $2.5MM and Luke Scott will probably obtain a $1MM buyout instead of a $6MM salary. The Rays also have an option for Jose Molina valued at $1.8MM.
Shields was a no brainer. One of the best Starters in baseball always gives his team a chance to win. Rodney was the best closer this season and had maybe the best season ever by a reliever. His option is a bargain. I would re-sign Scott for 2 Million maybe he owes us that much with being injured every other week.
I would sign Molina if anything for his defense , work ethic, and his ability to manage a pitching staff. Those Molina’s sure know how to play Catcher!
I think Molina was getting a bit lazy the last half of the season. He doesn’t block balls in the dirt the same way he did when he was younger.
But a quality catcher is tough to come by. They might decide to stick with him.
Maybe it was because the Rays were playing him more than his age…and body type would suggest he should.
Mr Friedman..Terry Ryan is on line 3 and says he’s willing to give you Denard Span for James Shields.
I’m Mr. Friedman’s personal assistant and i’m here to say that Mr. Friedman laughed hard at that trade offer and said “If I made that trade, i’d be worse than Ed Wade”
Why is that so awful, Liquid? Denard is three years younger than James, he has one of the best team controlled contracts $4.75, $6.5, $9MM the next three years, and he’s a solid defender and above average leadoff hitter. You can’t afford James next year, and we probably can’t either, but we’re wiling to take a shot at it.
Because we don’t need another outfielder in Span. We need Catcher, First Base, DH and possibly Shortstop. It all depends on what we do with Zobrist and Keppinger.
More specifically, if i’m Friedman then i’m calling the Rangers about Elvis. Elvis would make more sense than Span. We get Elvis, it moves Zobrist back to 2nd, and if we resign Keppinger then he can either play First or DH.
Keppinger gets on base, but a DH should have power. Kep would be a good #2 hitter, Longoria #3 and DH #4. If Kep is in the 4 hole, he won’t offer Longo much protection.
i agree with liquid, rays have des jennings to replace what upton gave us.shields is still a beast i think mr friedman should call kc. what would it take to make a deal for big game james in exchange for hosmer or moose
The Rays aren’t interested in short-term solutions to get them to 90+ wins and contention for one season and certainly won’t make any trade which will not benefit them for years to come. My guess is that if not before ST, Shields will be gone by the trade deadline and we will receive a plus-infielder plus a boatload of prospects, assuming the Rays want to gamble on his performance through the trade deadline.
I was thinking about that deal before, BUT I think solving the problem at 1B is the bigger issue.
We’ll include Chris Parmalee and you send over a lower level prospect.
Not interested. We need power.
Signed,
Andrew Friedman
Shields and Rodney are no brainers. Rodney is an absolute steal considering the year he just had. With Shields, Price, and Moore not to mention Hellickson, Cobb, and Davis the Rays have so much young pitching. Picking up Jose Molina would be smart as he is very dependable and mentors the staff well. If the Rays lose Luke Scott and decline his option, other players are available who hopefully can stay healthier than he was.
So the Rays may be shopping for a 1B, a SS, at least one OF, and a DH… Proposed deals for Shields offering up these types of players should start appearing on MLBTR any minute now…
The currently have 7 starters:
– Price, Shields, Hellickson, Niemann, Moore, Cobb and Arhcer.
I could imagine Archer starting in AAA, while trading away another pitcher. I’m looking at Jeff Niemann.
Perhaps something like this might work?
– Jeff Niemann + someone for Mark Trumbo OR
– Jeff Niemann for CJ Cron and Nick Maronde
In before all other fans tear those trades apart
What do you mean? Could you elaborate? Are you agreeing/disagreeing?
I’m a Rays fan, and if we can make one of those trades you just named, then great! I just don’t think the Angels will
that might have worked a year ago , i think it will take a lot to get trumbo now but don’t see why halo’s would wanna lose that power
Shields and Rodney are obvious. Luke Scott, I say no. Molina is a tough one though. It depends on the talent of free agent catchers this year
We have Lobaton, Vogt, Giminez, Chirinos and Molina. You really think they’ll look at free agent catchers with that depth?
Vogt didn’t even have 1 hit this year. Chirinos is injured. And Molina is a backup. Lobaton and Gimenez fighting it out for the starting catcher? No, not good enough
True, Vogt did not have one hit this season over 27 PA. However, his contact% was 85.1. Carlos Pena’s was 66.9. Granted, the sample size is much larger for Pena, but I would rather have a player who puts the ball in play more often than striking out. Pena’s K% was 30.3. Vogt’s was 7.4. Apples to apples, Lobaton was at 80.5 and 23.4, Giminez was at 69.8 and 22.0, and Molina was at 80.1 and 21.9. I believe a bigger sample size is needed for Vogt, but I believe he has a lot of upside considering the preceding numbers. If he had a high K rate, then I probably wouldn’t be as optimistic. Giminez had more scored hits but made less contact and had 109 PA versus Vogt’s 27. Excluding Vogt, between the other three catchers we’re looking at roughly a 22% K rate and 77% contact. Vogt is definitely worth a shot, especially compared to the other three active catchers (excluding Chirinos for obvious reasons).
Agree with you on Scott. I believe he’s a gonner. Molina actually benefitted the pitchers with his great ability to frame the close pitches and getting called strikes. Vogt is the guy the Rays are really trying to develop as a catcher. They think he’ll become a good hitter as demonstrated in AAA.
Luke Scott needs to be let go. Molina will most likely be back considering the price tag. Shields or Price will be dealt to improve the woeful offense.