The Rays have released first baseman Ryan Shealy according to the International League transactions page. Tampa signed Shealy to a minor league deal back in December.
The 30-year-old hit .238/.354/.512 with ten homers in 206 plate appearances for the Rays' Triple-A affiliate, so performance wasn't the issue. Shealy last appeared in the big leagues back in 2008 with the Royals, and he's a .271/.335/.429 career hitter in the show.
I remember Pirates fans were very disappointed when the Royals got this stiff from the Rockies, I believe.
I don’t remember that, nor was I disappointed.
Have a stroll down memory lane and look him up on bucs dugout. Outrage the Bucs didn’t deal Mike Gonzalez for him. Gonzalez was later dealt for Adam LaRoche, a still somewhat decent big leaguer.
I think hes got potential hes just never been given an opportunity. His low average scared the royals pretty quickly.
Well there goes the Rays chances at a championship
The problem is that he’s a first baseman. The numbers he’s put up are above average for a hitter, but not for a first baseman. He’s one of those AAAA players, since he tears up the minors but is below average for his position in the majors.
That slash line just screams replacement-level.
He is the person they had in mind when they came up with the WAR stat.
I GOT IT!
WAR doesn’t stand for Wins Above Replacement, it stands for Wins Over Ryan.
He’s pretty decent. I hope he gets the opportunity somewhere like the M’s or Pirates. Even as a DH, he would be a help for quite a few teams.
Shealy had an opt-out clause in his contract that kicked in on 6/15. He requested his release. He had to split time in Durham with Chris Richard, who got more playing time; probably Shealy just wanted to prove he could stay healthy (he missed all of 2009 with knee problems) before finding a place where he could play every day.