Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez sign with Tampa

[Dirty Water]

Guess the ole Devil Rays are reverting back to their 90s form. This wreaks of Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Greg Vaughn, Vinny Castilla and Wade Boggs (oh you forgot about him ), etc. in the long list of over the hill guys who come in and try to keep the Rays respectable. They lost half their great talent which made their run in the last couple years and they are trying to offset it by bringing in big names. I think they still have decent pitching but they had a lot of guys playing over their heads and their bullpen took a blow as well. I actually don't think they will be a laughing stock again, but it looks like winning the AL East may be out of the question.

Here's my AL East predictions

1. Boston 98 wins
2. New York 94 wins
3. Baltimore 81 wins
4. Tampa Bay 80 wins
5. Toronto 68 wins

Baltimore has a pretty good lineup imo. Their bullpen is pretty good and if their starters can develop I think they are a sleeper team. Buck Showalter did a great job with them in the 2nd half last year.

[craig01]

The departures of Bartlett, Pena, and Garza may not be that difficult to replace in productive terms. The roster and farm system are deep.

Losing Crawford, Soriano and Benoit will be next to impossible to replace in production.

I agree that the Rays won't be a contender and I would predict a record around .500 as well.

It sucks to have a $35 mil payroll........

[bigboy1234]

Please tell me you are not trying knock the Rays for signing someone who has an OPS+ of 147 the past 2 seasons for $2M? That is one of the best signings, if not THE best signing this offseason.

[craig01]

Please tell me you are not trying knock the Rays for signing someone who has an OPS+ of 147 the past 2 seasons for $2M? That is one of the best signings, if not THE best signing this offseason.

If he stays healthy and keeps all of his marbles in tact.

It's a no risk signing though, and if Ramirez is able to be productive with a 25 hr- 80 rbi year, then yeah, his signing is fantastic. On the other hand, he could be dumped by the end of May too, if he's not in the all-together......

[bigboy1234]

Manny is without a doubt a top 30 hitter in the game. There are 30 teams in baseball, that alone should tell you how great of a signing this is.

The Rays will be fine. Jeremy Hellickson is a stud and already just as good as Garza. Pena and Barlett were awful last year anyways. Johnson isn't much if at all a decline at 1B, and Brignac has upside although I may think about bringing Zobrist back into SS some. Manny is a better hitter than Crawford. Desmond Jennings is a stud and it looks like he won't even have a full time gig on the Rays this year. There isn't much to love in the bullpen, but McGee could break onto the scene and be a stud closer and the bullpen should be the last thing you think about when building a team anyways.

[trwi7]

1. Boston 98 wins
2. New York 94 wins
3. Baltimore 81 wins
4. Tampa Bay 80 wins
5. Toronto 68 wins

I think you're severely underestimating the Rays.

1. Boston 96 wins
2. New York 89 wins
3. Tampa Bay 87 wins
4. Toronto 82 wins
5. Baltimore 73 wins

[sunshinekids99]

I thought the Rays overpaid for Damon, but on the other hand they got a great deal with Manny. Problem is which Manny shows up. You know he's going to take time off, but last year the White Sox lost him. Ramirez was awful for them and seemed to have no power at all. He's never been a huge fan of being a DH either, so I wonder how he will handle that for a whole season.

I think the Pen took a huge hit this offseason, but they still have a very good starting rotation and some very good pieces in the lineup. I'd have them in the 82-87 range for wins.

[Wo1verine]

Yeah, Not so sure Manny will be all that happy playing for 2M..
Especially if they get off to a rocky start..

[Dirty Water]

I was just pointing out how funny it has been to see some All-star/Hall of Fame type players rock a Rays jersey at the end of their careers. I think it's a great deal for the Rays if the two play somewhat decently. The problem is, if things go bad I can see it going real bad. Not sure what their order will be but having the protection of solid htiters in the lineup will only help a guy like Longoria. Rays pitching has to scare you as a Rays fan, especially with all the offensive upgrades of other teams in their division like the Red Sox and Orioles.

I think the Blue Jays could be really bad this year. They lost Marcum and Wells, no one on that team jumps out to me. Does everyone really expect Jose Bautista to have a repeat performance?

[OSBB]

Guess the ole Devil Rays are reverting back to their 90s form. This wreaks of Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Greg Vaughn, Vinny Castilla and Wade Boggs (oh you forgot about him ), etc. in the long list of over the hill guys who come in and try to keep the Rays respectable. They lost half their great talent which made their run in the last couple years and they are trying to offset it by bringing in big names. I think they still have decent pitching but they had a lot of guys playing over their heads and their bullpen took a blow as well. I actually don't think they will be a laughing stock again, but it looks like winning the AL East may be out of the question.

Yeah, because the Rays are the only team that signs free agents over 30 to short term deals. And other than the signings of the guys you mentioned by name, who were all signed within a relatively short time span about a decade ago by a different owner and management, who else is on that "long list"?

Anyway. It's funny to see how much flack the Rays front office catches for doing the most with the smallest payroll in baseball. Manny and Damon will make 7.25 million combined next year. That's less money than Carl Crawford will make by the AS break and an incredible bargain, even if they both underperform.

The Rays have to be a little more thoughtful and creative than your average team, but don't knock them because you don't understand.

[craig01]

I thought the Rays overpaid for Damon, but on the other hand they got a great deal with Manny. Problem is which Manny shows up. You know he's going to take time off, but last year the White Sox lost him. Ramirez was awful for them and seemed to have no power at all. He's never been a huge fan of being a DH either, so I wonder how he will handle that for a whole season.

I think the Pen took a huge hit this offseason, but they still have a very good starting rotation and some very good pieces in the lineup. I'd have them in the 82-87 range for wins.

Ramirez was taking that anti aging stuff......and after the suspension seemed like he aged...lol

Worst case scenario is that Ramirez is unproductive and he gets dumped in May.

I see little risk, and the upside could be very positive if there is any juice left in the tank.

[Dirty Water]

I guess you could call it a Freudian slip in the press conference today hopefully it doesn't jinx them. Damon said he was probably not going to play in 162 games but he'll do his best yadda yadda. Then Manny chimes in saying hey you could play 100 games I'll play 62. LOL

[Avenger]

Boston - 95 Wins
Tampa - 91
New York - 89
Toronto - 81
Baltimore - 72

The Rays are gonna be fine, i personally think they'll be the best team in the AL East for another 5 years, they'll take a tiny step backwards this year but they should be back to winning the division in 2012

[craig01]

Boston - 95 Wins
Tampa - 91
New York - 89
Toronto - 81
Baltimore - 72

The Rays are gonna be fine, i personally think they'll be the best team in the AL East for another 5 years, they'll take a tiny step backwards this year but they should be back to winning the division in 2012

The Rays will need a lot of complete games from their starters at this point.....lol

JMO< but I think the Rays finish between 80-88 wins.....and the Red Sox win the division in a runaway.

[Avenger]

Boston - 95 Wins
Tampa - 91
New York - 89
Toronto - 81
Baltimore - 72

The Rays are gonna be fine, i personally think they'll be the best team in the AL East for another 5 years, they'll take a tiny step backwards this year but they should be back to winning the division in 2012

The Rays will need a lot of complete games from their starters at this point.....lol

JMO< but I think the Rays finish between 80-88 wins.....and the Red Sox win the division in a runaway.

people really don't understand how easy it is to find good relievers, especially to a smart guy like Friedman. Never mind the fact that the Rays will produce all stars with the picks they got for relievers

[craig01]

Good relievers sure.

But last year Benoit and Soriano were great relievers.

[trwi7]

And how did you get Benoit? On a minor league deal because he sucked previous to last year.

[Studemire1]

This isn't going to do a whole lot for them but it'll make things a bit more interesting in Tampa. Especially for those games against the Red Sox and Yankees.

[craig01]

This isn't going to do a whole lot for them but it'll make things a bit more interesting in Tampa. Especially for those games against the Red Sox and Yankees.

Worst case, might not.

Best case.....might help a lot.

[Dirty Water]

Biggest thing for the Rays is someone on that pitching staff... bullpen/starters what have you - needs to step up big time. Jake McGee could be that guy.