You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Rays Offseason In Review Chat
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Darragh McDonald
10:57
Yeah, I can see that.
Siri is going to turn 28 years old this season and still strikes out a ton.
At a certain point, the club will give up on expecting him to figure it out.
Mike
10:58
The Rays shifted a lot. Will banning of the shift help or hurt the Rays?
Darragh McDonald
10:58
I could see the argument both ways. They generally shift a lot but also tend to have strong defenders.
10:59
With the lack of shifts, rangy defenders will become more important because you can't just rely on positioning.
Sawyer
10:59
Why trade Feyrisen when he was sort of a promising arm? Couldn’t wait for him to get healthy? Too much risk?
Darragh McDonald
10:59
Health might have been a part of it but there was also a roster crunch.
There's no injured list in the offseason.
11:00
The Rays had Baz, Kittredge and Feyereisen all expected to miss most or all of the upcoming season.
If they kept all three, they would have been basically operating with a 37-man roster for the entire winter.
11:01
I talked about this in the Offseason in Review post, but they had to make a lot of tough choices.
19-player arbitration class, a bunch of injuries, guys who needed to be protected from the Rule 5. That led to a bunch of guys getting squeezed onto the trading block.
Not quite prospects anymore…
11:03
How has your long term outlook changed (if at all) for J Lowe or Brujan, from when they were top prospects with 0 major league experience to now?
Darragh McDonald
11:03
Brujan's MLB numbers so far are dismal but he also has a .181 BABIP. He has to be better than what he's shown so far.
11:05
With Lowe, the strikeouts are high but that's always kinda been the case with him.
I would think more MLB time would lead to better results. Get the Ks down a bit, a few more walks, once he adjusts to the bigs.
AL East Rankings
11:06
Do you think the AL will have the same season's end rankings as in 2022 (i.e. Yankees 1, Blue Jays 2, Rays 3, Orioles 4, Red Sox 5) or will there be a new pecking order in 2023?
Darragh McDonald
11:07
I wasn't super confident in the Yankees going into 2022 because of how many older or injury-prone guys were on the roster. They ended up hanging on thanks largely to Judge, but I still feel it's a bit of a house of cards.
They still look great at times but I could see them having a few unfortunate injuries make them vulnerable.
11:08
I think there's a chance they slip behind the Rays or the Jays. But the rotation is still great if everyone's healthy. And maybe the young infielders hit the ground running and give them a boost of energy.
September Surprise
11:08
Will Shane Baz be pitching out of the bullpen if the Rays make the 2023 postseason?
Darragh McDonald
11:09
I think it's a long shot. Glasnow had his TJS in August of 2021 and then just barely made it back as the 2022 season was winding down.
11:10
Baz had his surgery at the end of September.
It's possible, but he would have to cruise through his rehab with no setbacks, which isn't a guarantee.
Odd man out
11:12
Rays will often trade an "odd man out" performer, such as a good bat without a clear position. Harold Ramirez comes to mind as primarily a DH (with Yandy moving more full time to 1B) who put up good batting title numbers in 2022 but no power after the hand injury. He's fast on the bases but lacks a positional home. Would Harold Ramirez fetch a good return in trade? He's not blocking any particular Ray but allows the Rays to cycle more players through the DH spot (and therefore more positions through the infield/outfield).
Darragh McDonald
11:13
I'm not sure he has a ton of trade value. He's not great in the field anywhere and most teams prefer not to have a set DH. Even when they do, it's usually a huge power guy like Giancarlo Stanton or something.
11:14
Ramirez doesn't walk a ton or have lots of power. His best skill is not striking out.
It worked for him last year but it hasn't always.
Rays
11:14
Who could be a starting pitcher we can trade for at the deadline.
Darragh McDonald
11:15
Well, if you want to dream big, you should root for the Brewers to disappoint this year. They could perhaps trade one of Burnes or Woodruff if they're out of the race.
11:17
Some other theoretical targets would be Matthew Boyd, Michael Lorenzen, Rich Hill, Vince Velasquez, Marcus Stroman, Johnny Cueto, Lucas Giolito, Chris Sale, James Paxton, Martin Perez.
It depends on which clubs are buying or selling, of course.
Bryce
11:18
Do you think Luke Raley and J Lowe are the answers for the LH power the lineup lacks?
Darragh McDonald
11:19
I still like Lowe.
11:20
He strikes out a fair bit, but he takes his walks, has power and steals bases.
He only has 200 plate appearances at the big league level. He's been subpar but not disastrous in those.
Kyle Snyder
11:20
Who is the most interesting candidate to become the next ‘Jason Adam’ this year for the rays?
Darragh McDonald
11:22
Good question. If I could definitively answer that, they'd probably hire me.
Does Cleavinger count?
Connecting…