Extending on a story previously posted by Jeff Booth, the Rays are close to a deal with Pat Burrell. Both Buster Olney and Ken Rosenthal broke the story. The deal is said to be worth $16 million over two years. In Rays terms, an expensive signing, but in MLB terms this move is quite a steal. Burrell is the right handed pop that we need in our lineup. Burrell does not provide great average, with only a .250 BA last year, but does provide the pop that the Rays have needed for years. He hit 33 homers,and our 2-6 hitters should be some of the most feared in the league, with Upton, Pena, Longoria, Burrell, and Crawford. A great move for the Rays. Burrell will likely become the Rays starting DH and hit anywhere from 3rd to 5th because Pena, Longo and Burrell are likely interchangeable. Burrell is certainly reliable and is not injury prone like the other guys we were looking at. He is certainly not the greatest fielder but can be used in left or right on an as needed basis. We have been waiting for this big move for years and it has finally come. No more sitting around and waiting to see what will happen. Burrell makes our already good lineup better and can help us contend with the Yankees and Red Sox. Here is a comparison of a typical lineup last year compared to what this years will likely look like:

2008 Lineup                                                                                       

1. Akinori Iwamura                                                                     

2. Crawford                                                                                            

3.Upton

4. Pena

5. Longoria

6. Floyd/ Aybar

7. Navarro

8. Gross/Perez/Zobrist

9. Bartlett

2009 Proposed Lineup:

1. Iwamura

2. Upton

3.Longoria*

4. Pena*

5. Burrell*

6. Crawford

7. Navarro

8. Joyce

9. Bartlett

*Interchangeable in any order

Pretty scary huh. None of our 3-5 hitters should hit 5th and CC definately should not be sixth. I like our chances no matter how much money the Stankees throw out. If Joe were smart he would put Upton leadoff and CC second and Aki 8th, but Joe won’t do that. Upton should leadoff because he is the young guy that provides speed and pop that most teams are going to now like in Curtis Granderson, Grady Sizemore and Jimmy Rollins. Thats JMHO. We will see what Joe does with the lineup but either way it is pretty scary. Should be FUN.