2010 Tampa Bay Rays Thread

[Bayfisher]

What makes everyone think that the Rays can't afford to keep people like Crawford?  They most certainly have the money.  The payroll was paid for by the attendance and the rest of the league.  We are only left to believe they just don't want to pay out of pocket(profit) and are just paying off the debt.  

[kbl11]

They most certainly can afford him, but they are already selling the fanbase on the idea that they "have to" cut payroll by some 25-30% in order to stay above water. Its total BS, and most people will buy it, however with that said I do understand the reasoning behind letting CC walk if we are only going to spend 60 mil at most on player payroll. We will likely have a suitable replacement the minute CC leaves, at 1/20th the cost for the next several years. And with that money saved we can move those funds to a more pressing area of need. This is exactly how teams who dont spend money can consistently be playoff contenders, whether we like it or not in the short term



The Rays get 10s of millions of dollars from revenue sharing alone, which pretty much covers most of their expenses. Whatever though, people are foolish if they believe losing CC and Pena means we wont be a playoff contender as soon as next year, and possibly with no dropoff in overall talent

[Biggs3535]

What makes everyone think that the Rays can't afford to keep people like Crawford?  They most certainly have the money.  The payroll was paid for by the attendance and the rest of the league.  We are only left to believe they just don't want to pay out of pocket(profit) and are just paying off the debt.  

Put yourself in their shoes.  They put a lot of money into last year's team after going to World Series, expecting attendance to be much better than it actually was.  I don't blame them.  People in the St. Pete area don't support that team like they should.  The attendance last season after going to the World Series was embarrassing.  Crawford is there now, and the people aren't coming out like they should.  Why should they pay him $80-$100 million for those people to continue to stay away from the park?

Add to that they have a very high prospect ready as CC's replacement, and I can understand the owner's position.

[Biggs3535]

Shoppach hit his second dinger of the Spring in the Win today.

[olafberserker]

We should have traded BJ for him a couple of years ago.  Seriously, it would have saved us a bunch of headaches.

[TOP SECRET]

4 in a row... McGee coming back well after TJ surgery... Beniot also looking solid....

Might really have one helluva BP this year. A lot of options.

[Doug09]

We should have traded BJ for him a couple of years ago.  Seriously, it would have saved us a bunch of headaches.

BJ's defense in CF is irreplaceable. We would have NOT made it to the Series without BJ.

[TOP SECRET]

We should have traded BJ for him a couple of years ago.  Seriously, it would have saved us a bunch of headaches.

BJ's defense in CF is irreplaceable. We would have NOT made it to the Series without BJ.

It is an old joke, from a couple years back... He's not actually serious.

[Detrimental]

Go to the games this year people. We need more fans at the games.

[olafberserker]

We should have traded BJ for him a couple of years ago. Seriously, it would have saved us a bunch of headaches.

BJ's defense in CF is irreplaceable. We would have NOT made it to the Series without BJ.

Shouldn't you have said "We would NOT have made it ....."?   Ã‚   Lighten up Francis and everyone is replaceable. If life hasn't taught you that yet, it will.  

[olafberserker]

We should have traded BJ for him a couple of years ago. Seriously, it would have saved us a bunch of headaches.

BJ's defense in CF is irreplaceable. We would have NOT made it to the Series without BJ.

It is an old joke, from a couple years back... He's not actually serious.

what he said .... although it would have seriously saved us some headaches .... 

[Doug09]

As a poster on DRB (we love BJ there), I sometimes see what the "fans" at the heater (don't ask) have to say. And it's pretty close to what you've said. So it's really hard to tell who's joking and who isn't.

[FortMyersDave]

What makes everyone think that the Rays can't afford to keep people like Crawford?  They most certainly have the money.  The payroll was paid for by the attendance and the rest of the league.  We are only left to believe they just don't want to pay out of pocket(profit) and are just paying off the debt.  

Sternberg has stated that the Rays will not spend $70 million in 2011 unless attendancve improves.  Personally I think a lot of people can not afford to go to games with unemployment so high here on the SunCoast. But the Rays have put together some packages that are very inexpensive and are allowing fans to bring their own food in, free parking if 4 people are in the ride, etc.  The Rays are trying their best to put together a quality product while in contrast the Bucs are really not trying to be competitive and have not been trying since Malcolm Glazer had the stroke leaving the kid trust in charge as well as the Man United mess they are in.  They simply are unwilling/unable to put together a quality team while the Rays ownership is at least trying the besst.  Hopefully attendance at the Trop will go up as the economy improves.

[olafberserker]

As a poster on DRB (we love BJ there), I sometimes see what the "fans" at the heater (don't ask) have to say. And it's pretty close to what you've said. So it's really hard to tell who's joking and who isn't.

Ah DRB ... probably better for ya to stay on that board

[kbl11]

We should have traded BJ for him a couple of years ago.  Seriously, it would have saved us a bunch of headaches.

BJ's defense in CF is irreplaceable. We would have NOT made it to the Series without BJ.

It is an old joke, from a couple years back... He's not actually serious.

when BJ was a 2b it wouldve made some sense, as a CF...not so much