Don’t look now, but the Tampa Bay Rays just became a formidable opponent to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox again in the AL East. Two former Sox players, Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, who were key to the Sox’ World Series win in 2004, are headed south this winter. Damon and Ramirez were integral to beating the curse in Beantown and their positioning in the Rays’ lineup could aid the Tampa team in competing with the newly re-stocked Red Sox and the perennial favorite Yankees.
The Rays were definitive losers in this offseason. Rafael Soriano left for the Yanks, Carl Crawford and Dan Wheeler abandoned ship for the Sox, Matt Garza and Carlos Pena ran away to the Chicago Cubs, Joaquin Benoit now plays for the Detroit Tigers and Jason Bartlett departed for the San Diego Padres along with Chad Qualls. The results of this mass exodus from Tampa Bay are a severely depleted bullpen, an aching need for a productive left fielder and a painful missing link in the starting rotation.
Damon fills the productive left fielder role: last season he hit .271 with 8 home runs and 53 RBI’s. Those numbers are definitely down from his last season with the Yankees, but there are a number of contributing factors (including the new Yankee Stadium) that may have affected Damon’s .282, 24 HR and 82 RBI campaign in NYC in 2009. In his career of 16 seasons, Damon has compiled a .287 batting average, .355 on base percentage, and a .436 slugging percentage. Those numbers are comparable to the new Sox acquisition Crawford, who in 9 seasons boasts averages of .296, .337 and .444.
The option of Damon is certainly cheaper than Crawford. Damon’s one year deal with the Rays is listed at $5.25M, while Crawford signed a multi-year deal with Boston worth $20M each year. Obviously Crawford has a massive upside as a player given his youth and already proven productivity. However as a one year deal, Damon provides good value for TB.
If the numbers aren’t comparable enough in a one-on-one comparison to Crawford, Damon’s figures combined with Ramirez’s could provide the boost that the Rays need offensively in his absence. Manny is a shell of his former self, taking much more time off of late due to injuries and for a Performance Enhancing Drug related suspension. But in the short time he did play in 2010, Ramirez still chipped in .298, .409, .460 numbers with 9 HR and 42 RBI’s. Man-Ram is a lifetime .313 hitter and a one-time 40 HR, 100 RBI player who when healthy could be a real asset to the Rays offense. Of course Manny has his problems off of the field, but the gamble that Tampa has taken on him could (and I think will) pay off.
With Ramirez and Damon flying south this winter from their respective short-term rental periods in the AL Central, the Rays have gotten competitive again. One cannot reserve them simply to finishing behind the Yanks, Sox and perhaps even Toronto Blue Jays and/or Baltimore Orioles in 2011. These moves certainly didn’t shock the baseball universe with front-page type headlines, but if they pan out, Tampa could be the team from the American League upsetting the ranks yet again.