Pat Burrell to Rays - 2 years/$16 mil

[And That]

Link to MLBTR.

 

Very good deal for the Rays, assuming Burrell passes his physical.

[joepepsi]

Holy crap that is really CHEAP! Are the remaining free agents getting worried?

 

This could indicate a rash of under market signings by Players the Yankees Don't Want. It's only two years so he must be banking on the economy turning around and salaries going back up.

[logan82]

I think part of the low cost might be he is best played as a DH.

[endaround]

And the Phillies signing of Ibanez looks even worse

[monty57]

Well, that's a very good signing for the Rays, and hopefully one that can keep them ahead of the Yankees.

On a negative note, this will amost certainly destroy any trade value Cameron or Hart may have had this offseason. If a team can sign Abreau or Dunn for $7-9MM per year, there's little hope of getting any return from Hart or Cameron.

On a positive note, this shows the value of "2nd tier" players is definitely down, so maybe we'll be able to re-sign Sheets after all.

[endaround]

This doesn't affect Cameron. He's a top fight CFer not a all bat no field 1B/LFer. Hart it does affect but Hart's speed still is a different skill and teams that value that would still be interested. What it really does is kill any market for Fielder this year.

 

Also I doubt this will affect Dunn too much given his age, but Giambi and Abreu won't be looking at getting much more.

[nate82]

On a negative note, this will amost certainly destroy any trade value Cameron or Hart may have had this offseason. If a team can sign Abreau or Dunn for $7-9MM per year, there's little hope of getting any return from Hart or Cameron.

Except Cameron is a better option than any current CF FA. Abreu and Dunn are not CF's and are even worse than Hart defensively as a corner OF. For the money that Hart is owed and the amount of time left before he hits free agency Hart would be more valuable than Dunn or Abreu to a team looking to trade or sign someone like Abreu or Dunn.

 

This is a great signing by the Rays though. They needed a right handed bat with some power. I'm just leary on Burrell's decline in the second half last year. Burrell also is very bad defensively in the OF and he really is only a 1B/DH option.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I love watching Burrell's long, sweet swing for some reason. It has me in awe.

[logan82]

I doubt Burrell plays in the field except maybe in interleague games in NL stadiums against LHP. That's the only time I would play him in the field barring injury anyway.

[JoeHova]

Good deal for the Rays, not sure why Pat the Bat wouldn't have waited till Ramirez signs and seen where the market went from there. OTOH, I guess he felt the offers could dry up if he waited any longer. $8 million a year seems like a pretty fair price considering Burrell's defensive woes, but it's insane to think guys like Jose Guillen have gotten deals that dwarfed this one. Pat just had the bad luck to become a FA in a year where teams are scared of the economy and/or colluding. Hopefully the Brewers can snag a good deal or two as well.

[RobertR]

That's a great deal for the Rays. Fills one of their few holes and doesn't even cost them a draft pick. Or a prospect. They very well may be a better team in 2009 than they were in 2008. I'm looking forward to seeing what David Price can do.

 

Robert

[joepepsi]

That's a great deal for the Rays. Fills one of their few holes and doesn't even cost them a draft pick. Or a prospect. They very well may be a better team in 2009 than they were in 2008. I'm looking forward to seeing what David Price can do.

 

Robert

I agree. Frankly, I think it's debatable how much the Yankees have improved over 2008. There's not much difference between Mussina and CC's 2008 seasons; AJ and Pettitte's 2008 seasons were similar. Not sure if Teixeira/Swisher is a vast improvement over the 2008 version of Giambi/Abreu. They have 8 wins to make up compared to the Rays' 2008 record. Think they'll make it?

 

Meanwhile Tampa Bay is young enough, they can hope for improvement. Adding Burrell should add a win or two.

[endaround]

Not much difference between Sabathia and Mussina? Sabathia was fully 2 wins better last season.

[RobertR]

It wouldn't exactly be shocking if David Price was a full 2 wins better than Edwin Jackson. Of course, injuries could happen and young players could regress, but the Rays still look like solid favorites to me. They very well might be a team I'd put money on to at least win the division if I was in Vegas.

 

Robert

[Oldcity]

Very surprising that he was that cheap. Tampa is going to be really good again. I wouldn't have minded the Brewers giving him that contract at all, but it makes even more sense for an AL team.

[Ennder]

Burrell was worth roughly $12.5M last year and $7.8M in 2007. The bad defense really drains his value and he has a pretty significant injury risk. I don't think this is as big a discount as people are saying it is.

 

It is a nice deal for them but I'm not amazed that he didn't get a huge contract since Sabean didn't go after him and Bavasi lost his job.

[joepepsi]

Not much difference between Sabathia and Mussina? Sabathia was fully 2 wins better last season.

How do you figure that?

 

Sabathia was incredible going to Milwaukee and a new league. I doubt he will pitch to a 1.65 ERA back in the AL.

[mothershipconnection]

At that price, I'm surprised the Yankees didn't sign him to a minor league deal for a million more to stock up on "AAA depth".

[BrewCrewForever]

Awesome deal for the Rays. Burrell as their DH for two years at $8 mill per seems good to me. Even with all the Yankees are doing I still think the Rays can win that division again, and this only helps that opinion.

[TooLiveBrew]

Ditto, BCin'04. Burrell appears to be a great fit in Tampa. I love the work Friedman has done (& continues to do) as their GM.

[trwi7]

Burrell was worth roughly $12.5M last year and $7.8M in 2007. The bad defense really drains his value and he has a pretty significant injury risk. I don't think this is as big a discount as people are saying it is.

Since he's going to be a DH for the Rays, I'm not sure why you're counting his defensive value.

[Ennder]

Burrell was worth roughly $12.5M last year and $7.8M in 2007. The bad defense really drains his value and he has a pretty significant injury risk. I don't think this is as big a discount as people are saying it is.

Since he's going to be a DH for the Rays, I'm not sure why you're counting his defensive value.

He won't just play DH and his positional value goes down almost as much as his defense once you make him a DH. The positional adjustment used for him the last two years have been -7.5 and -7.3 and the positional penalty they use for DH is -17.5. The last two years he has been -19 and -10.8 runs as a fielder so that makes it -26.5 and -18.1 compared to -17.5. He'll also take a hit to his offensive value in that park and from moving to the AL instead of the NL which I didn't really take into account and probably offset the difference between being a DH and being a LF, not to mention any age decline we might see.

 

The Rays have a number of other players that would make sense to spend DH time as well, especially if there are any injuries. Aybar, Pena, Baldelli if he comes back, Crawford if his injuries act up, Gomes if he makes the team etc. I'm guessing Burrell sees at least 30 games in the OF next year.

[logan82]

Not much difference between Sabathia and Mussina? Sabathia was fully 2 wins better last season.

How much does playing in front of better defenses in Cleveland and Milwaukee affect that? I know the Yankees improved at 1B, but overall I have to think they are still a prety bad defensive team.

[trwi7]

I'm guessing Burrell sees at least 30 games in the OF next year.

I don't see it unless they're hit with injuries. They have Crawford, Upton, Joyce, Perez and Gross to use in the field before they have to go to Burrell.

[RockCoCougars]

Very cheap. Must be a little hometown discount in there somewhere.