Transaction analysis: Pat Burrell to the Rays
This has a good chance of working out well.
The positives: It sounds like Burrell's personality will fit in well with Tampa Bay's tight group. One Phillies official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described Burrell as a "great teammate" who isn't afraid to call out another player when the situation merits it.
Also, since the Rays are going to have a target on their back this season, particularly when they visit the new Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, it will only help to have Burrell, who knows what it means to play intense, Northeast baseball.
Oh, and lest I forget, he crushes left-handers. .952 career OPS.
The negatives: Not too many. For one, there'll be an expected dropoff in his numbers, as he changes from the National League to the American League.
He produced an awful second half last year, although, since he's 32 years old, there's not much reason to think that he permanently fell off the cliff.
Burrell is bad with the media, but that shouldn't be much of a factor. Interestingly, though, the guy whom he's essentially replacing, Cliff Floyd, is outstanding with the media. An all-timer.
Burrell's signing, as well as Milton Bradley's with the Cubs, should set off a chain reaction for the remaining free agents in the "outfield/DH" pile. Jason Giambi seems poised to sign with the A's, as we figured all along. Adam Dunn still seems like a good fit with the Nationals.
Bobby Abreu? Beats me. I've got to dig around on that one.
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Comments (10)
Hello, Ken. I hope that you enjoyed the rest of your time away.
Here's a question: what will it take for the Mets to recognize that proven commodities for left-field are available at Century 21/Filene's prices?!? Sixteen million over two years for Burrell?!? (And unlike Dunn, Abreu, and Ibanez, he's a right-handed hitter!) In contrast, didn't Alou cost them over $8 million last year and everyone and their mother knew that, at best, he wouldn't play in more than 120 games!
Forgive me, but I remain flabbergasted that Omar appears pretty much satiated with the offense. If so, this is no way to win a division title.
By the way, David Pinto pointed out that the Burrell signing demonstrates that the Yankees were smart not to offer arbitration to Abreu. Boy, might he have been way overpaid for '09!
Incidentally, Ken, belated congrats on your Hall of Fame ballot. I have been uber-busy scouring the woods in search of prospective, Madoff-proof clients over the past several days. And, yes, apparently, a HOF voter was found who failed to vote for Rickey!
http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2008/12/10/sports/sports03.txt (H/T: VegasWatch.net)
Also, I noticed that the Mariners scooped up sabermetrics expert Tom Tango. It is amazing how fast that organization is turning things around!
Glad to see Burrell leave the NL...he kills the Mets.
George M - Tampa at the Mets June 19/20/21 - the Pat Burrell Victory Tour...
Phillies reliever J.C. Romero has been suspended for the first 50 games of the 2009 season for taking a supplement that he bought from a GMC store in Cherry Hill, N.J. last July 22. This will cost Romero $1.25 million. Don’t know what Romero was thinking.
Here’s the link to the story.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3812334
Burrell is a good signing for the Rays. The Mets wouldn’t have to worry about Burrell anymore now he’s out of the National League because Burrell has been a Mets-killer for his career. The Mets do play the Rays this year at Citi Field but only for 3 games. And since Burrell will be mostly the DH for the Rays, he most likely will be sitting on the bench when the Rays play the Mets in the National League park in June.
And Romero has a hell of a lawsuit vs. the supplement maker that will make him back the money lost. There have been numerous cases in the past few years where these supplement companies have lost due to their "mislabeling" of products.
A microscopic sample size, but Burrell v. CC:
5 AB
.200 .333 .400 .733
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=4214&teamId=10
Ken-Realizing that we still have a ways to go, how would you evaluate Scott Boras' performance thus far in the off season?
I think it's just too early, Steve. The Teixeira deal was successful, I thought, but let's wait and see what happens with Manny, Lowe and Perez.
Ken, what happened with Andy Pettitte? I just read he rejected the Yankees' offer. Is it over? Is Hughes the man again? I hope so. I would like to see the 5th spot saved for the younger generation.