Rays sign Man-Ram and Damon

[macphisto]

As are the Rays....pitching and defense.  The starting 5 is still one of the 5 best in the AL (depending upon how Shields rebounds....possibly the best in the AL), and while the defense will step back a little in LF and 1B, there should be improvements at SS (Brignac), 2B (S Rod) and RF (Joyce) with the youngsters getting a majority of the playing time this year.  Not to mention our backup OF (Fuld) is light years better defensively than Kapler was last year. 

Not sure if 1B will be a step back if coming home will help Kotchman put his offensive game back together.  He'll have to earn a spot, but he's got a great glove that is possibly better than Pena's was.  He's never brought a lot of power, but he's not a K machine and if things are working at the plate then he has a good OBP, gets plenty of doubles, and Ks at about a 10% rate, so if he gets 500 ABs then he has only 50 or so Ks to go with it.  He puts the ball in play.  Competition for Johnson and he'll be motivated playing for his hometown team.  Great minor league deal to sign.

[Ruger7mmmag]

Good thoughts Mac, but I wouldn't go so far as to say his glove is better than Pena's.  If anything, we should hope Kotchman can equal Pena's defensive production.  Offensively, they'll probably be a wash.  Pena would've hit more HRs than johnson and kotchman, but they'll be more consistent putting the ball in play.  The thing about Pena, that average/Ks were a KILLER.  Sure it was nice when he got hot for 5-8 games in a row, but it's better for a team to get 30-50 points better in average, less Ks etc over the course of a 162 game season if the make up is similar to what the Rays had.  Adding damon and manny, it's even more important to prolong innings, get an extra AB or two an inning to bring up the middle of this order.  One thing about Manny, if there are guys in scoring position, he knocks them in whether he's dreaming or not.  At DH, you limit the damage his attitude can do such as not chasing down balls fast, his weak arm etc.  Hitting, it's all about instinct/reaction.  Sometimes you can't help but hit when you have his talent and there won't be many times where his hustle to first (or lack of) will burn you.  Chances are if he's dogging it, it was going to be an out 95% of the time anyway.  He'll be more clutch than the next guy more often than we lose out on bonehead plays with him at the DH spot.  Plus, the threat of manny alone is going to pay HUGE for this lineup.  As a pitcher, you have to pitch the guy as if he's locked and loaded bc if you toss up a gravy fastball, even a disinterested manny can't pass up the natural feeling of smoking those mistakes...

With the Rays' pitching staff and core nucleus, I actually think they'll be right in the thick of it till the end next season as far as a wild card spot...what's sad, is third in the east is probably better than first in the other divisions...

[macphisto]

Good thoughts Mac, but I wouldn't go so far as to say his glove is better than Pena's.  If anything, we should hope Kotchman can equal Pena's defensive production.  Offensively, they'll probably be a wash.  Pena would've hit more HRs than johnson and kotchman, but they'll be more consistent putting the ball in play.  The thing about Pena, that average/Ks were a KILLER.  Sure it was nice when he got hot for 5-8 games in a row, but it's better for a team to get 30-50 points better in average, less Ks etc over the course of a 162 game season if the make up is similar to what the Rays had.  Adding damon and manny, it's even more important to prolong innings, get an extra AB or two an inning to bring up the middle of this order.  One thing about Manny, if there are guys in scoring position, he knocks them in whether he's dreaming or not.  At DH, you limit the damage his attitude can do such as not chasing down balls fast, his weak arm etc.  Hitting, it's all about instinct/reaction.  Sometimes you can't help but hit when you have his talent and there won't be many times where his hustle to first (or lack of) will burn you.  Chances are if he's dogging it, it was going to be an out 95% of the time anyway.  He'll be more clutch than the next guy more often than we lose out on bonehead plays with him at the DH spot.  Plus, the threat of manny alone is going to pay HUGE for this lineup.  As a pitcher, you have to pitch the guy as if he's locked and loaded bc if you toss up a gravy fastball, even a disinterested manny can't pass up the natural feeling of smoking those mistakes...

With the Rays' pitching staff and core nucleus, I actually think they'll be right in the thick of it till the end next season as far as a wild card spot...what's sad, is third in the east is probably better than first in the other divisions...

Thing about Kotchman is that when he was hitting prior to being traded to every team in MLB (or so it seemed), over a full season he projected to around 30-40 doubles.  I'd agree, he might not go beyond Pena with the glove, but he is a very good defensive 1B.  Johnson would not K as much as Pena, but he also wouldn't bring the power or the average.  If Kotchman can rediscover his swing, I think he gets the 1B job.  I think he can hit .260ish and his Ks are really low.  Though Pena has had a fantastic differential with his OBP, he didn't get the ball in play when he wasn't hitting.  And everything was way down for him last year on offense. 

I love the acquisition of Manny.  I'm really an Indians fan first and I know Manny can hit, even at his age.  The power is down into the 20 HR range, but he'll still hit doubles, he probably will sport an OBP around .400, and he will give Longoria the best protection he's had in his short career.

Will the more patient hitters being added rub off on some of these guys?  Upton could use better pitch selection and he just strikes me as a guy who would respond to Manny and Damon. 

Should be a great season.