Rays agree to terms with Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez

[trwi7]

Heyman link

 

In a seperate tweet he says Damon will make $5.25 million with $750K in incentives while Ramirez will make $2 million.

[jerichoholicninja]

The AL East. Wow, just wow. These guys aren't the players they were but that whole division is loaded.

[Funketown]

Zobrist-Upton-Damon outfield? That's quite a downgrade defensively from having Crawford, although I s'pose that goes without saying. I'm obviously assuming Manny will DH. That seems like a pretty good way to spend $2MM for the Rays.

[Schlitz001]

And it seems like just 2 years ago that Manny was turning down 1 year/$25 million contracts. Nice move by the Rays.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Solid move on the Ramirez signing. Not as hot on the Damon signing though, mainly because he will be playing the field. Granted, it will be left field, but still he isn't a good outfielder anymore. Either way, the Rays needed to do something to try to compete in the AL East.

[berniebrewer4life]

Seems like a desperate move to stay competitive in that division. Still, i like the talent they have, and assuming Manny rebounds he could be a solid signing(or at least decent trade bait come the deadline). Damon, meh, not too keen on. Honestly, my first thought was "how many DHs does that team need?"

[trwi7]

Zobrist-Upton-Damon outfield? That's quite a downgrade defensively from having Crawford, although I s'pose that goes without saying. I'm obviously assuming Manny will DH. That seems like a pretty good way to spend $2MM for the Rays.

Pretty sure it will be Damon/Upton/Joyce with Zobrist at 2nd and Rodriguez filling in up the middle of the infield.

 

 

[logan82]

Ramirez signed a pretty small contract but he had much of his last contract deferred.

[DHarris34Phan]

Tampa Bay might get their 2nd player to hit 3,000 hits.

[RyDogg66]

Ive got to applaud Tampa here. While they wont replace Crawford offensively or defensively, they should make up a lot of the value of Crawford and Pena and for less than Pena signed for combined.

[Invader3K]

Maybe Scott Boras gave the Rays a 2-for-1 discount.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Ramirez signed a pretty small contract but he had much of his last contract deferred.

I seem to remember that being the case with his Boston contract as well. The Dodger contract (2 years, $45MM) paid him $10MM in '09 and '10, with $8.3MM due annually for '11, '12, and '13. Basically, Manny is proving that he can live year to year on $10MM. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif I can't find the details from his monster contract he signed with the Red Sox, but I recall that some of that money was deferred way, way down the line as a sort of retirement insurance which I thought was actually pretty smart with the way that some of these guys squander their fortunes.

[crewcrazy]

Maybe Scott Boras gave the Rays a 2-for-1 discount.

That appears to be the case. Joe Lemire of Sports Illustrated calls it a "package deal."

 

Shrewd move by the Rays. I thought it was a little weird that so many people seemed to be writing the Rays off after they traded away Garza, but it's certainly possible they'll actually be better with Hellickson in the rotation, Damon replacing a part of Crawford's production in the OF, and Manny giving them a DH that can actually hit. They'll be in that division race again this year, and by not spending that much on these two signings, they still should have enough money to sign the 6 million draft picks they'll have in the first couple rounds of June's draft.

Point Beer Is Best

wrote:

---

I can't find the details from his monster

contract he signed with the Red Sox, but I recall that some of that

money was deferred way, way down the line as a sort of retirement

insurance which I thought was actually pretty smart with the way that

some of these guys squander their

fortunes.

According to Cot's Contracts: $31M deferred ($3M in 2001, $4M each in 2002-08), paid in 16 installments of $1.94M, 2011-26

[owbc]

Everyone assumed it was all over for the Rays, but they really didn't lose much and the Yankees didn't do much to upgrade. The Rays are probably still doomed to finish in 3rd, but at least there is hope that these guys can still produce.

[Invader3K]

Everyone assumed it was all over for the Rays, but they really didn't lose much and the Yankees didn't do much to upgrade. The Rays are probably still doomed to finish in 3rd, but at least there is hope that these guys can still produce.

I think the AL East belongs to the Red Sox this year, but I could see the Rays overtaking the Yankees and holding second place (and probably the Wild Card). The Yankees' starting pitching just does not look that competitive as is.