7 Responses to Penny Pinching Will Hold Tampa Back

1. Christian
   March 25th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

   Hey Jay Sorgen, if you’re going to comment on penny pinching, why don’t you show the Rays’ total payroll for the past few years. The 2009 payroll is almost 3 times that of 2007. How is that pinching pennies? Put up some numbers.

2. Mike
   March 25th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

   Hey Sorgy, maybe you should read this…

   http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2009/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=4011780

   Now you can debate the issue with Jason Stark.

   Were you aware that Hammel and Niemann are both out of options?

3. Jay Sorgen
   March 25th, 2009 at 10:26 pm

   Mike and Christian,

   Thanks to you both for responding and reading the site. Now I will address both of your responses……….

   Christian, 2007 payroll was $24million, 2008 was $43million and this year it is in the neighborhood of $60million. Still not a big deal. Better commitment than what once existed in Tampa, but since the starting point was so low a few years ago, 300% of nothing is still not much of anything.

   Mike, the fact you are pointing out that Hammel (4-13, 6.41 ERA in 28 career starts) and Niemann (similar age and innings pitched as Price) are “out of options” is emphasizing my point. Price is better, PERIOD. The Yankees and Red Sox wouldn’t even consider “options” or “starting Price’s arbitration clock” in their decision to take their best five starters into the season.

   PS – the fact that Jason Stark went into great detail on this subject lends validity to the fact that it was a point worth exploring and discussing. Thanks again for joining the discussion.

4. Christian
   March 25th, 2009 at 11:19 pm

   Jay,

   So, the new Rays ownership has shown a commitment to increasing payroll. It’s not really fair to label them “penny pinching” because they aren’t matching the highest (by a wide margin) and possibly second largest payrolls in baseball.

   Also, if there is an argument about saving money, it wouldn’t be on the back end of Price’s contract (the one with the second largest signing bonus in the history of the MLB draft). It would be for this year. During the season, at some point, they’ll need a starting pitcher due to injury or whatever. If Hammel or Neimann aren’t around then they’ll have to spend money or trade other talent. Starting Price in Durham and hanging on to Hammel and Neimann allows them to go into the season with more starting pitchers.

5. Jay Sorgen
   March 26th, 2009 at 7:11 am

   Christian, here is an excerpt from Rotoworld.com which published the news of Price’s demotion last night. You continue to make some good points, but money is a big factor in their decision (and it shouldn’t be). Look at the Rotoworld except below, they put my perspective on this situation perfectly:

   Rays optioned LHP David Price, OF Justin Ruggiano, SS Reid Brignac, 2B Elliot Johnson and C John Jaso to Triple-A Durham.

   The Rays will keep saying it’s a baseball move, but Price is going down so that they can save money in three years. It seems like a ridiculous choice when the AL East seems likely to be so closely contended again. They can’t even make the case that he was outpitched this spring, what with Jason Hammel sporting a 4.95 ERA and Jeff Niemann at 7.71. Price, who was held back intially, allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings. This will serve to keep his innings count down, and Price may be a better pitcher in September as a result. However, if the Rays go 3-7 in the fifth starter’s starts before Price comes up in late May or June, it might mean the difference between a playoff spot and spending October at home. Mar. 25 – 6:24 pm et

6. Christian
   March 26th, 2009 at 10:40 am

   One final point:

   The same thing happened last year with Longoria and the same criticism about saving money popped up everywhere. The Rays called him up before his arbitration was delayed and then signed him to a six year deal. That proved all the criticism wrong. As a Rays fan, I’m about to explode in anticipation of Price assuming a starting role, but I think I’ll trust Mr. Friedman in how he handles a pitcher with only 120 professional innings. With the incredible turnaround Rays front office and management has achieved, I think we owe them a little faith.

7. Mike
   March 27th, 2009 at 9:55 am

   Jay,

   I definitely understand what you are saying, but should know that baseball has the most uneven playing field of all the major sports, and im not talking about the pitcher’s mound. To compare the Yankees and Red Sox to the Rays in these terms is simply unfair.

   Yes I understand that the empire and the nation wouldn’t want to send Price down under any cirmustance. But that’s a byproduct of several things. They don’t have prospects like Hammel and Niemann who are out of options, and who I am sure management would like to trade instead of losing them. I’m sure you know that the Rays front office has a very different philosophy on young players than the Yanks. They don’t want Price pitching more than 140-150 innings this year, but they’d rather him do that as a SP than from the pen (diff from the Joba project). And, most importantly, they don’t have the liberty to be reckless with their players and money, as they don’t play in huge markets like Boston and NYC and their payroll of $60 million is stretching their resources to the limit. And don’t even start with me about that revenue sharing bologna…

   In my opinion, this all boils down to management being anal about their young prospects, and the unavoidable reality that in order for the Rays to be consistently competitive in the long term, they must make decisions like that so their young players are safe, productive, and come at as low a price as possible.

   So yes, money was a factor in this move, but to argue that it is the only factor, or that the Rays should do something because the Yankees and Red Sox would do it just isn’t right.

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