Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe weighs in that a lot of teams are inquiring about Carl Crawford.  But, in his opinion,

Crawford is a big clubhouse presence, a player everyone looks up to. There may come a time when Rays ownership bites the bullet and says this is one player they need to keep and works out a long-term commitment.

***

The Pittsburgh Pirates are hoping Akinori Iwamura emerges as a power-hitter for the Pirates, according to Dejan Kovacevic in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Management sounds optimistic that Iwamura, despite averaging a home run every 100 at-bats in North America, can rediscover his power stroke at PNC Park. He averaged 35 home runs a season, most of the pull variety, in his final three years in Japan.

NESN.com writer Evans Clinchy muses about whether Carl Crawford is “too good” for the Rays to bring back after 2010.  Considering this is coming from something anywhere near Boston, I’m going to write this off as sarcasm.  In this case, the writer seems like an outsider trying to write about something that he doesn’t know enough about. 

I know it’s in the details.  But, first, there’s this.

After going all the way to the World Series with Crawford leading the way in 2008, the Rays were more than happy to bring him back for option year number one.

I think most who follow the Rays know that Carl didn’t lead the way.  Carl had a bad season in 2008.  He was injured and he struggled more than in any other season.  He returned for the playoffs, but he endured his lowest batting average and stolen base total since his rookie season.

Then, there’s these two gems.

The Rays are no longer looking like World Series contenders.

and

With the Rays out of the playoff hunt for the time being, it makes sense to cut payroll…But on Nov. 9, the Rays threw Crawford a curveball, agreeing to pick up his option and denying the outfielder the chance to join Jason Bay and Matt Holliday on the free-agent market this winter.again.

Threw Crawford a curveball?  Huh?  Like I said, this guy seems like he’s trying to write about something he knows very little about.  He then reiterates his belief that the Rays are nowhere near contention by saying “they have no use for a $10 million outfielder when they have little hope of making a playoff run with him.”

Great!  Let’s hope everyone near to the Red Sox Nation is considering the Rays as a non-contender heading into 2010.  It’s not until the very end of the colum that this guy finally makes sense. 

“If the Rays can’t find a trade that nets them equal value, they should suck it up and fork over the big bucks to keep Crawford long-term. They have a franchise player in Crawford — and he’s way too good to let him walk next season, leaving them with nothing. One way or another, they’ve got to sit down and make a deal.”

Reportedly, the Chicago White Sox are kicking the tires on BJ Upton.  And with that, of course, comes speculation of what he might bring in return.

ChicagoNow.com’s SoxNet wonders whether the Rays would take closer Bobby Jenks and top catching prospect Tyler Flowers in a trade to get BJ.  Their belief is that the two players wouldn’t be enough to get the deal done.

The problem with Bobby Jenks is that he’s arbitration eligible for 2010 and a free agent after that.  He made $5.6 million last year, and would probably see an increase again in 2010.  It’s doubtful that the Rays would invest anything close to that type of money for perhaps just one year of service.

Tyler Flowers, on the other hand, looks like he could be a fit.  He hits for a ton of power, although his home run numbers fell off upon his call-up to Triple-A Charlotte for the last 31 games this season.  He slugged 13 for Double-A Birmingham in 77 games, but managed only two in 31 games for Charlotte.

Trading BJ Upton and his potential would be risky in any deal.  To me, it would take a top catching prospect among others to make it work.  Flowers might be that fit.  I just don’t see Jenks as a viable closing option.

Picture:  commons.wikipedia.org

Proballnw.com took hold of Bob Nightengale’s tweet that the Tigers, the Mariners and a mystery third team were in talks of a deal that would include Edwin Jackson and Brandon Morrow.  And, they inserted the Rays as that mystery third team.

I can see it.  The Rays and the Mariners were linked at trade deadline and Brandon Morrow makes some sense.  But, this blog and its commenters went a little overboard with their dreaming.  It’s a good read, and they are creative.  But, most everything they throw out there has Curtis Granderson coming to the Rays.  I just don’t see that happening, unless they were to turn him around in yet another deal. 

My favorite fantasy?  Check out one of the comments that has the Rays ending up with Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and David Aardsma while giving up a virtual laundry list of players including Pat Burrell, Jeff Niemann, Carlos Pena, Willy Aybar and Nick Barnese.  At this point, any trade involving Pat Burrell would be welcomed.  Well, just about any trade….

The Rays left pitcher Aneury Rodriguez off their 40-man roster. For an adventurous team, that could mean taking him in the upcoming Rule V draft. But, obviously, that comes with risk. The selecting team would need to keep him on their roster for the entire 2010 season. I guess that’s a risk the Rays are willing to take.

You might remember, Rodriguez was the young, right-handed pitcher the Rays acquired in exchange for Jason Hammel prior to the 2009 season. Hammel went on to post good numbers for the Colorado Rockies. Rodriguez had a streaky season with the Montgomery Biscuits.

But, in the end, I think Rodriguez showed enough to at least be optimistic about what he brings to the Rays. He finished the season with an unimpressive 9-11 record. But, he finished the season with a 5-2 stretch, posting a 2.72 ERA during that span with a BAA of .208. And, he won’t turn 22 until December 13, so he’s still very young.

On Thursday, the Rays made the moves they needed to make. They added Desmond Jennings and Jeremy Hellickson to the 40-man roster to keep them away from other teams. Also, they added Alexander Torres to the list of players that they want to build around.

But, Aneury Rodriguez fell on the outside. That may be ok. We’ll have to wait and see if another team is willing to take a chance on him. With a big-league roster spot at stake, I kinda doubt it. Somebody might kick the tires, but the Rays will probably have a chance to get him back.

This from the Chicago Tribune.  An article laments that big salaries have strapped the Chicago Cubs.  Paul Sullivan writes about Lou Piniella’s desire to add a left-handed bat to their lineup. 

That decision led to last winter’s disastrous signing of switch-hitter Milton Bradley, whose $30 million contract is now an albatross, forcing the Cubs either to eat the majority of the $21 million remaining, or else acquire another underperforming, overpaid player in a trade.

According to Bob Nightengale, “The Tampa Bay Rays have become the clear-cut favorite to acquire Milton Bradley from the Cubs”. 

I guess that makes Pat Burrell the “underperforming, overpaid” player the Cubs would get in return.  Let’s hope the trade is a little more appealing than that.

Evan Longoria just recieved two more awards to add to his trophy case, which is great for him and the Rays. The awards announcement left me asking one big question: Why did Carl Crawford not get any awards? Now, I am saying this before the MVPs are announced, but it is a bit of a long shot for CC to win. IMO, CC could’ve easily won the Silver Slugger or the Gold Glove. In fact, Crawford should probably have 2 or 3 Gold Gloves by now.

Let’s compare their stats for the Gold Glove. The American League winners were Adam Jones, Torii Hunter, and Ichiro Suzuki. Now I will put them up against CC:

Adam Jones and Torii Hunter were both hurt for part of the year. Granted, both had great defensive seasons, but it seems wrong for the award givers to give an award to somebody who did not play the whole season. CC put up close to all three of their stats, so I think Crawford should’ve gotten one.

On the Angels official website, beat writer Lyle Spencer was asked the question about whether the Angels would have interest in Carl Crawford.  His reponse:

He would be a fit anywhere, but especially in Anaheim, in the run-and-stun game. He might be a little too pricey for the Rays, which could put him on the market. But if that happens, I think the price tag might be out of the Angels’ range. I’m not sure they have what Tampa Bay would demand in return.

I think every beat writer in baseball is going to get the opportunity to answer that question over the off-season.  The Rays are in a prime position to see what they can get for CC.  It will be interesting to see what the next few months bring.

Word has leaked that Evan Longoria has replaced Tim Lincecum as the MLB 2K10 cover player.

Examples of the cover options being reviewed can be seen at pastpadre.com.

On one of the forums discussing these covers, one commenter suggested that the top pictures look like Evan Longoria as played by Ben Affleck.   I think I kind of agree.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks the Rays may just trade BJ Upton this off-season.  But, he qualifies it by saying this:

“A lot would depend on how the Rays feel about tying up Crawford and whether they felt they could get more in return for him than Upton.”

How the Rays feel about signing Carl long-term is one thing.  It’s hard to guess what the price tag of doing that might be.  As for the return for Carl or BJ, it would be pretty similar, wouldn’t it?  The only difference is whether a team would take a gamble on BJ’s potential and pay more.  We’ve pretty much seen what Carl can do.  I don’t think there’s any more potential to tap into.

***

That brings me to a report by Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.  They jump on the prospect of the Rays trading Carl Crawford.  But, they also agree that the Rays will need to get a lot back if they’re going to trade during the off-season.  Interestingly, the name they throw out as bait is the Yankees’ Robinson Cano.

Can you imagine?  The Rays and rival Yankees hooking up for a trade like that?  I don’t see it.  And, while I like Robinson Cano a lot, does he really make sense for the Rays?  Not really.  Seems like these two big city writers are simply throwing names at the wall.

***

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic goes over the list of teams that might be looking for a catcher.  The Diamondbacks are looking to deal Chris Snyder, who would be a decent offensive backstop.  But, he’s coming off back problems in 2009.  And, he’s owed $4.5 million for 2010 and $5.5 million for 2011. 

Unless the D-Backs would be interested in pitchers like Andy Sonnanstine or Mitch Talbot, I don’t think the Rays enter into these discussions.