Andrew Friedman told ESPN 1040 in Tampa Bay that he's 'confident' the team will find someone who will help them score before the season begins (audio here). But the Rays' executive VP of baseball operations says he's focused on adding a relief pitcher and suggested a trade is more likely than a free agent signing.
Friedman said the market for relievers got 'out of control' for the small-market Rays this offseason. The team has added Kyle Farnsworth, Chris Archer, Joel Peralta, J.P. Howell, Cesar Ramos, Adam Russell, Cory Wade and R.J. Swindle, but lost Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit, Dan Wheeler, Randy Choate, Grant Balfour and Chad Qualls to free agency. Rays fans aren't the only ones worried about the club's remade 'pen.
"We're kind of freaking out about it, too," Friedman said. "It's extremely daunting to reconstruct a bullpen in one offseason."
Tommy Rancel of ESPN 1040 speculates that Frank Francisco, Joel Hanrahan and Michael Wuertz could be potential trade targets for the Rays.
Gee wiz, the Rays are looking to add relief? Yeah, I guess that’ll happen when you lose 90% of your bullpen….
We’re kind of freaking out about it, too
Well, at least he’s remaining calm.
It will be an interesting experiment. Many believe that bullpen arms are pretty fungible. We’ll see if they can really replace those quality arms that departed.
On the positive side … those draft picks will be really, really nice.
I doubt the Pirates are moving Hanrahan at this point. He’s one of the few bright spots of their bullpen.
I think the Pirates will give Hanrahan up in a second with the depth in the Rays system. the main reason they have been trying to get some back end guys is so they can trade them. If they got McDonald/Lambo for a few months of Dotel they should be able to really bring some value for Hanrahan. And he’s so cheap 1.4 i think.. Throw in garret Jones and really try to pry something good out of them.
Perhaps longoria?
Maybe… but in order to pull that one off the Pirates would have to hold Friedman’s family hostage.
or get some scandalous pitchers of Friedman and his lady companion… at least he swears he thought she was a lady
“If they got McDonald/Lambo for a few months of Dotel”
If you believe Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan was a good deal for Blake maybe. Cant use Coletti trades as a reference point…
I think its a great deal for the indians. Hey they only gave up bryan morris and andy laroche for manny. Point is Hanrahan is low cost young with multiple control years has pitched really well has unreal K numbers with a mean FB
Go Rays go?
…(until the 6th or 7th inning)…..
Tejada from the Royals for McGee?
Jake McGee for Robinson Tejada?
are you on crack cocaine
trying to quit
Could the Cards be a match? They’ve got some professional bats blocked by that Pujols guy (Hamilton and Craig, specifically) and they’ve got a plethora of RHRP.
The Cards need infield help… Reid Brignac maybe? Brignac + B- prospect for Boggs/Motte? This would allow Salas and maybe even Sanchez to emerge on the ML roster. I don’t know that Brignac is much better than Tyler Green though…
Would the Rays sell low on Ben Zobrist? Maybe Zobrist for Motte/Boggs + Hamilton?
I can’t see them selling low on Zobrist right now, they just resigned him to a long term deal mid of last season. Zobrist fits into the play style Joe Maddon loves, of having players who can play at multiple locations.
Aggreed. Although it’s an interesting thought by redbirds, there’s just no way. Zo(bea)st is not going anywhere and neither is Reid “crawdad” Brignac.
A trade of Hanrahan (closer)and Steve Pearce(RH platoon bat) for Tim Beckham and a second tier pitching prospect(like Barnese or Cobb) might work. Beckham immediately becomes the leading SS prospect(maybe one more year to get ready) and a young good arm for their rotation down the road for the Pirates.
And no way the Rays trade Brignac after sending Bartlett packing. Frank Francisco is very intriguing considering he had 25 saves in ’09. Anybody with any decent closing experience would be a welcome addition at this point.
Howell has been a Ray for two years now? Either way he’s a perfect lefty specialist. Peralta and Farnsworth are funny cases, each looked very impressive last year though they’ve been inconsistent over their career while Ramos and Archer are pretty unpredictable as far as how much they can produce this year. Winston Abreu blew opponents away in AAA last year as well. I say sign one more cheap but respectable set-up man and let these kids fight through ST for the closing and set-up roles.
I’d personally love to see Farnsworth be given an actual chance to close, I think he’d be good at it. He’s overpowering and from what I’ve seen of him pitching in Atlanta he does well in the clutch.
I think Kelvim Escobar would be a good fit in Tampa. He kinda fits that mold of a guy rebounding from an injury that turns out to be golden for the Rays. At this point I’m almost sure he’d take a minor league deal, but I’m also not 100% sure about how healthy he is.
the Pirates need to drop the payroll more than likely and will trade hanrahan for a bucket of baseballs the rays need hanrahan and the pirates want prospects since they are starting to rebuild maybe they would trade Pedro alvarez and Cutch there CF since they can’t afford them and there almost ready for arbitration