Reid Brignac made the Rays' Opening Day roster, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times and that makes Hank Blalock the odd man out. Topkin says Blalock will now assess his major league options. Blalock has until Sunday morning to find another big league opportunity, according to Topkin (via Twitter). Otherwise, Blalock will play in the minors for the "foreseeable future."
Blalock, who would have earned $925K if he'd made the team, can opt out of his deal with the Rays since he's not on their major league roster. Earlier in the week, Blalock said he's not interested in playing minor league baseball at this point in his career. Before Blalock signed with the Rays, the Marlins appeared to have some interest as well.
Blalock hit .175/.277/.325 in 46 plate appearances this spring. Last year he hit 25 homers and posted a .234/.277/.459 line for the Rangers. That's a better representation of what the 29-year-old Scott Boras client can do at the plate.
That sucks for Blalock. I really like him and hope he signs somewhere soon. Here are some potential suitors:
Mariners, Mets, Marlins, Cubs, & possibly the A’s.
Where ever he ends up, I hope he sticks with the team and plays well.
So it looks like the Rays are stuck with Burrell all year as DH..Good Grief!
Yeah it’s messed up because Burrell now has to bat against right handers and now that infield is more and mroe crowded. Blalock had a great spring. So did Sean Rodriguez and this means that now Sean Rodriguez doesn’t get the full-time 2B job.
“Blalock hit .175/.277/.325 in 46 plate appearances this spring”
“Blalock hit .175/.277/.325 in 46 plate appearances this spring.”
He had a terrible spring.
Brignac had a good one, and hes a SS who can play in the infield.
Lost me at “Blalock had a great spring”
Well his spring wasn’t great, but even still you know what you’re going to get from Blalock at this point.
which isnt much
Yeah, well he may not be worthy of a starting position anymore, but he can still contribute from the bench.
Spring stats mean nothing. His .277 OBP last year is the telling stat. He sucks offensively.
Too bad for Blalock. I was thinking that the Rays were probably going to award him the last spot on the roster, but apparently I was wrong. It would be a shame for him to retire so young, which is what he hinted at earlier if he couldn’t make a ML squad. Hopefully someone picks him up for some depth on the bench in the coming months. Lord knows there are going to be some injuries, and he might be able to catch on as a replacement in the near future.
Yeah. Agreed.
The Pirates?
I’ve emailed you folks but got no response, so let me tell you here that your “Odds & Ends: Edmonds, Suzuki, Red Sox, Lo Duca” story from March 23rd was coded with a 2011 date. That means for the next year this story will show up as the latest story in my RSS feed from you guys.
Please, please, please go back and change that story to 2010.
i hear mcdonalds is hiring
Good one. A guy with his OBP should be applying there because he has no use on a major league playing field.
Rays would have been wise to DL Aybar for a few weeks, kept Blaylock around that long and then re-evaluate. Hope this doesn’t play out like Adam Kennedy last season. They elected to trade him but could have used him when Aki went down. What happens if Pena gets hurt again?
He should swallow his pride, go down to AAA, rake for all of April, then get flipped once someone is injured or under performs which always happens. If he’s healthy you can do worse for a bench guy/spot starter.
I agree with this. But what happens if he goes down and tanks?
We’ll either he’ll just retire, or keep working through it. Pretty much would depend on if he cares about playing any more.
I guess I’m not seeing what everyone else is. The man can’t post an OBP above 300 and can’t field a position adequately. Why is everyone so sad or trying to find places for him to play? A one dimensional player that can’t get on base doesn’t deserve a spot in the bigs.
Sucks for him, but that’s the reality of the situation.
I would like to see the Mets go after him and let Mike Jacobs go or send him to minor. Because did not he sign a minor league deal. Hank Blalock had a better season last year then Jacobs did.