The Rays are looking for impact bats and have inquired on Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The Rays, who can spend this summer, aren’t looking for offense at a particular position, since the versatile Ben Zobrist can play just about anywhere.
Dunn is drawing interest from the White Sox, but would fit well on the Rays, who don’t have a traditional DH now that they have cut Pat Burrell and Hank Blalock. I suggested yesterday that Dunn would be a fit for the Rays, perhaps in a trade for center fielder B.J. Upton.
The Rays would listen to offers for Upton, but are telling rival clubs that they have no interest in “selling low” on the 25-year-old. The Mariners and Braves are believed by Stark to have checked in on Upton.
If the Brewers are sellers, Prince Fielder could be in play here. He could DH this year, and then shift to first base next year when Pena is likely gone. The Brewers would have to be interested in a package based around Jeremy Hellickson or Wade Davis.
I’d imagine it would be centered around Hellickson.
This trade would make a lot of sense for both sides. The Brewers would get the pitching they need, the Rays would get a helluva DH, who would play 1B once Pena leaves. Fielder would easily put them over the top for contention this year.
I don’t think the Rays would want to send 6 years of Hellickson away, when they have a valuable CF that their willing to part with.
A 3 way deal where the Rays send BJ to Team X, Brewers send Fielder (and probably some cash) to the Rays, and Team X sends prospects to the Brewers. That would be a blockbuster deal and if it weren’t for the Rays being in my teams division, I’d be hoping they pulled it off.
You are smoking some good stuff if you think the Brewers are going to trade Fielder for anything other than young, cheap, major league ready pitching. AND you think they are gonna send away cash with Fielder?!
Please tell me where in my comment I specified what type of prospects the Brewers would be receiving?….Oh that’s right it was just a very vague idea where I didn’t specify what kind of prospects because I didn’t even specify who would be the 3rd team in the deal.
And by the way, if the Rays were to acquire Fielder, the Brewers would most likely have to send some money to offset salaries for at least this season, and if they did that, then the prospect package would probably be of better quality, so you should be hoping that the Brewers send cash with Fielder if/when he gets traded.
Not going to happen because you really think Team X would send enough prospects to make the Brewers give up Prince and then justify getting BJ for all those prospects?No matter what either Team X or the Brewers lose.
Edit: And the Brewers send cash? Not going to happen.
No team is going to give up enough prospects for Fielder for BJ Upton. Rays would have to send a top prospect to the Brewers because Team X isn’t going to give up a top prospect for Upton
I agree, Fielder gives them a great chance to contend and they still get to keep him for another year to perhaps go for another run.
Lets get Upton to the Braves. He needs a change of scenery and Atlanta would be great.
Agreed! A McLouth-Upton-Heyward OF would be amazing. The Braves could use the extra speed and maybe Upton could turn things around there. I wonder if Atlanta is looking to deal McLouth? He is affordable now but he will be expensive in a few years.
McLouth has zero trade value right now.
I think it may end up A Diaz/McLouth-Upton-Heyward outfield. Giving up Escobar for Upton doesn’t seem very high on the Braves list. Rays want a lot for him and although the Braves could afford it, I don’t think they will give the Rays what they want.
nobody wants yunel escobar, especially the rays. the rays dont need infield help, they are have brignac and s-rod who are both wayyyyyy better than yunel
then why did 2 teams, including the Rays ask about him. Braves want Escobar. He’s a career .292 hitter and has a rocket for an arm. He did great every year but this half year.
To go along with Fielder to the Rays, why couldn’t Hart go there? These 2 teams match up better than San Francisco and Milwaukee IMO. Rays have lots of young pitching, Brewers have lots of young hitters. The Rays have better pitching prospects and more of them than the Giants do.
The Braves are in the same boat as the Rays, they are both looking for impact bats. So what else would it take for the to get B.J. Upton since they don’t have an “impact bat” to give up? Maybe Melky Cabrera, Michael Dunn, Willie Cabrera, & Chris Resop.
Melky knows the league and can hold down the center field position, Dunn is a LH major league ready set-up man who can help in their pen, Resop has become a Major League starter this year and would add depth to their rotation, and Willie is a 24 year old in AA who has been hitting up a storm.
I think it is worth the amount of players it will take to aquire Upton because the way I see it is he could turn into a younger, cheaper version of Carl Crawford if he can turn his season around in a new atmosphere.
The Rays just need to get themselves a DH, period. Zobrist is a super-utility man (can play anywhere except catcher & pitcher).
Rays are taking 20M off the books after this season in Crawford and Pena and may be looking for someone they can sign to take up the lack Pena provides them. Dunn could do that and though his fielding is atrocious, if something could be worked out with the Nationals, there probably is no team with more chips than the Rays for getting a deal done and that does not even necessarily include Upton if the Nat’s are not interested in him.
Dunn might be a target of the rays anyway if Pena/Boras decide they want to drag out negotiations after the season, sure pena likes the Tampa area, but Boras may think he can get more than 10M over 2-3 years somewhere for his declining client who will be 33 in May of the 2011 season and Tampa may not want to wait on them long before looking elsewhere.
Making a move before the 7/31 deadline for Dunn, then getting him locked up to a deal in the 3/36-40M range would seem to be a ++ move on their part and if they could get Dunn now in a deal for say, Upton straight up, or some of their abundance of prospects? Why not.