jaysfan2014

Ryu and McCarthy are still question marks post-injury. And Urias won't reach the majors until late 2016 at best, if not 2017. And even with those arms, they need a decent bullpen.. that has been the weakness for the Dodgers in recent years which has cost them in the postseason.

Not unlimited funds. The payroll is going to go down from last year.. but they should still be around the $220-240M level. Remember, they're getting up there in the repeater tax. Plus, they need a 2B as well. Also, the ownership has been aiming to reduce payroll anyway.. that $280M+ last year was an outlier. Their aim is to reduce it closer to the $200M level.

Still, they don't have a lot of flexibility. Davis and Chen are well out of the O's price range.. and they have needs at multiple positions.

Yep. This hurts any chance of bringing back Chen or Davis now having to add $15.8M to payroll. This'll take them well over a projected $100M+.. not exactly the smartest move by the O's front office, unless Wieters rebounds.

Interesting. Of course, having the short porch helps.

Good OBP guy.. something the Mariners BADLY need. Hope he's good in the OF--the Mariners have had issues with OF defense in recent years.

At least until they deal Longoria, Loney and McGee in the coming weeks trying to reduce the team's payroll for prospects/young and/or controllable and affordable players. This deal is both good for feeling needs, but it also indicates huge salary dumps are coming in Tampa, with those three of Longoria, Loney and McGee being too expensive for Tampa to keep when the team's not guaranteed to be in St. Pete long term and drawing Expos-level attendance. Forgot to mention that as it stands, this actually raises the Rays payroll at the moment. Don't expect this to last long.

Of course, the Rays are likely to trade more pieces over the offseason as well, with Longoria, Loney, and McGee still at risk of being dealt due to the Rays financial issues and continued issues with the stadium. One note--LoMo is a free agent after 2016, so the Rays are only paying for one season of him. And Miller's role is still TBD--no guarantee it's at SS, though it should be. They control him until 2019-- but it will depend how he develops in Tampa. Farquhar is basically the throw-in.. the Rays have had issues with the bullpen in recent years, and that trade might mean McGee's about to be dealt.. Rays can't afford his salary he will get in arb.

Plus Loney is likely to be dealt shortly, as his salary does not fit Tampa's plans.

Brad Miller's stock has plunged dramatically... and his defense is awful at SS. This means both Franklin and Miller are now in the Rays org... both castoffs of the Mariners, which may be a sign LoMo probably means Loney's going to be dealt soon, as the Rays can't afford the $9M he's owed. Farquhar was awful last season..

Insider article--waste of money BTW: http://espn.go.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/14044275/mlb-future-power-rankings-heading-2015-free-agency

And the Rays are headed for some very lean years ahead.. watch them draw Expos level attendance and trade Longoria away to meet payroll that will be slashed dramatically. And the Reds need a major rebuild. And Loria has f'd up the Marlins pretty bad..

MLB Future Power Rankings according to ESPN: 1. Cubs 2. Dodgers 3. Red Sox 4. Astros 5. Mets 6. Rangers 7. Pirates 8. Cardinals 9. Yankees 10. Nationals 11. Giants 12. Blue Jays 13. Royals 14. Twins 15. Indians 16. Phillies 17. Braves 18. Angels 19. Diamondbacks 20. Mariners 21. Rockies 22. Tigers 23. White Sox 24. Orioles 25. Rays 26. Reds 27. Brewers 28. A's 29. Padres 30. Marlins

That rotation better purchase some insurance.. Dusty Baker ruins arms by leaving them out for way too long, as Kerry Wood and Mark Prior can tell you..

Including options, which include guaranteed money ($63.5M for 10 players), Davis and Escobar's options ($13.25M), and the likely declines of Rios, Guthrie, Gomes and Gordon's options, and Guthrie's buyout ($3.2M), that's about $80M there. Cain and Moustakas are expected to get substantial raises to about $16-20M.. so that's $100M. Other arb raises take it up to about $110M.. and of course, the Royals need a 1-2 pitchers and potentially 2 outfielders.

Unfortunately, with today's free agent market, that is the reality.. there'd be a team stupid enough to give that money. Especially after his strong playoffs. Ask Pablo Sandoval..

Congrats to the Royals for winning the World Series. Good thing they won it this year--next year might be a little dicey for them. They have at least 1-2 holes in the rotation to fill, with Cueto and Young expected to leave for bigger money in free agency, Zobrist heading elsewhere, Madson and Franklin Morales expected to get better deals elsewhere, Rios and Guthrie expected to have their options declined.. and of course, Alex Gordon is likely to leave, as he is expected to get overpaid elsewhere (possibly Boston, as they are seriously interested in him.) In addition, arb raises are expected to eat up any financial flexibility. Due to their World Series win, Moustakas, Cain and Hosmer will likely get massive raises to close to $8M-$10M/year. Escobar gets a raise to $5.25M (good thing they locked him up until 2017, as he'd easily get a close to $100M+ over 6-7 years contract right now if he had his option declined. So the Royals are going to have to get creative.. no way they can afford to drive the payroll to about $140M-150M, which is where they're headed. This market is much smaller than Toronto.. and plus, when 2017 hits, the Royals will need to choose who to lock up, as all their core is expected to get huge money in free agency. And it is a possibility Wade Davis may be dangled in trades, as he has $18M left in two options for 2016 and 2017, as the Royals need to reload their farm system and MLB club for when the core leaves after the 2017 season.

Pretty much in line with expectations of around $140-150M. Still gives us enough to get a pitcher or two.. but I don't expect Price back.

And this is likely just the beginning.. ESPN is headed for a ton of trouble as the new NBA and NFL deals make it difficult for the network to survive, as people and cable companies refuse to pay the huge rates ESPN is demanding. And their news coverage.. don't ask!

Red Sox are a maybe.. but that will depend if Dombrowski spends on the right pitching via either free agency or trades (most likely trades, as they have a deep farm and limited financial flexibility.) And they need to actually build a bullpen, which is Dombrowski's Achilles heel--ask Tigers fans. And of course, the Yankees are basically waiting for 2017-18 when the bad contracts finally come off the books.

Keep an eye on the offseason... MLB isn't going to wait forever. Something is going to give, as Manfred isn't waiting another decade for this situation to be fixed.

Rays reject St. Pete's offer-- how long is this going to last before MLB says "Enough!"? http://shadowofthestadium.blogspot.ca/2015/10/breaking-rays-reject-st-petes.html

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/155895822/gold-glove-award-finalists-announced?partnerId=as_mlb_20151029_54642966&adbid=659778254958559233&adbpl=tw&adbpr=18479513 AL Pitcher: Mark Buehrle Sonny Gray Dallas Keuchel C: Castro Martin Sal Perez 1B: Hosmer Napoli (WTF?) Teixiera 2B: Altuve Dozier Kinsler SS: Bogaerts Escobar Gregorius 3B: Beltre Longoria Machado LF: Cespedes Gardner Gordon CF: Kiermaier Pillar Trout RF Calhoun JD Martinez Reddick What's your thoughts?

Basically, similar to the Nationals. That's what is likely to happen.. MLB is not going to wait forever, especially with a new CBA looming, which 29 other owners may cut off the Rays and relocate them as a new stadium is nowhere in sight.

Well, MLB is going to have to do something.. owners would probably prefer a team in Montreal right now over Tampa, because the Rays are a money pit basically propped up by revenue sharing, with a stadium that is so unsuitable for MLB, it makes Le Stade Olympique look better (though it's a dump too.) The Trop was supposed to be replaced by now.. but the city of St. Pete has refused to pay for a new stadium due to a poor economy and poor support for the Rays.