MAILBAG: Should the Rays Be Buyers or Sellers at the Deadline? | Locked On Rays

MAILBAG: Should the Rays Be Buyers or Sellers at the Deadline? | Locked On Rays

so I see a some of the parts bench bat reliever arm here established part-time platoon veteran there that’s kind of the gist that I’m getting from this ball Club as much as I would love to have a middle- of thee order powerbot like Nelson Cruz I don’t know if the Rays would pull that trigger unless they’re like really in the driver’s seat to where they can say we can quote unquote go all in as best we can you are locked on raay your daily Tampa Bay Rays podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello my name is Kevin Weiss I’m ulissi somano and we are the host of the lockon race podcast part of the lockon podcast Network thank you for making us your very first listen every single day be sure to check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel at lockon raay you can also find us on X and Instagram at lockon raay and email less any time lockon raay gmail.com today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code lockon m o l c k e d o n MLB for $20 off for first purchase terms apply all right ulyses mailbag episode is what we have for the listeners out there we have a trio of wonderful questions that we will get to covering a myriad of topics so this first one a big question on raise fans Minds buy or sell uh comes from Brian in Parish he says hi lock raise team I’m a huge fan of your show my 10-year-old and I love listening to your insights and commentary on the raise it’s a staple in our household we’ll have to forward this email to the bosses I guess uh I’ve been thinking about the upcoming trade deadline and wanted to get your thoughts at what point should we consider being sellers personally I feel like we might already be there unfortunately if we do decide to be sellers what moves would you recommend for me I’d love to see us get some young pitching talent in return by trading away players like effin Randy below Siri and Jason Adam what are your thoughts on this looking forward to hearing your take well Brian uh thank you so much yes for writing to us for listening to what we put out for watching uh your son too shout out don’t know his name but he’s awesome um so Kevin do I like Excel you love Excel you should do a Microsoft Excel sponsorship advertorial live raid something to that effect get Bill Gates on here and let’s run this thing I would I would love to do a deal with Bill Gates Bill if you’re listening bro DM me we can get something going well Ste and Bill might run in the same Circle so you might have that opportunity because it was weeks ago that you had dinner at an unnamed Steakhouse in St Petersburg with the owner of the ray so um I’m just saying there’s your in yeah and he likes the show obviously he’s on he just made it on the YouTube uh cover uh Brian I love Excel and I made a little table I would made a table because I needed to put out my thoughts buy or sell I don’t think it’s a binary situation I don’t think it’s like either one or the other I think if I had to leave I would go Soft Cell Soft Cell okay by that I mean no core players are going to be involved in mega deals there’s no going to be like oh Mega there’s nothing of that so I made a little table Kevin and for you guys that are on you that are not on YouTube head on over to YouTube hit that like button subscribe if you haven’t help us out a lot against the algorithm because the algorithm is is is very finicky yes it is yeah it’s quirky yeah it’s a quirky one so guess what I’m putting up on the YouTubes right now a little Excel shet I made people that will not be traded people that will be traded and the reasons why so let’s start on the left side will not be traded Brenan Lao he will not be traded why there is no other left tended that that has that much power there’s just none so you can get rid of him you have an option for next year it just really doesn’t make a lot of sense to trade him randier Rosara and yandi Diaz they’re in the same bucket regression to the meme they have shown enough in the Major League um in their Major League careers to for you to think that this is going to continue for the whole season I mean r Rosen is not a 500 Ops guy he’s just not and Yanni DS is not a 240 hitter either so you’re hoping for a regression so you’re gonna you’re going to keep the big the big boys in your lineup you’re going to trust them isak PES the biggest boy guess what but you do not deal him he’s a core piece Jose Siri looked kind of funky in the beginning of the Season Johnny deuca comes out hot guess what the competition is wide open still nobody has taken his place he can still Mash he can still track him down I don’t think anybody has made a big splash for him to be just considered to be DF or traded let’s start with all those names what do you think uh first off I think that you did a wonderful job on uh the XL graphic here um I agree with you on the will not be traded front um pretty much across the board I would wonder if they would cut bait with Siri but now that Duca is struggling mightily they might have no choice but to hold on to Siri at this juncture but unless you’re able to really really sell um Randy and yandi picking it back up in their numbers because part of it too is um not everybody’s like the Rays where they don’t really they’re Uber confident in their abilities even if they get blowback from the media and fan base where I feel like some opposing teams out there that they don’t want to take that hit so if you trade a trade for a rander Ros Arena that I don’t know at the time of the trade deadline is hitting 210 that’s a and for their ownership groups too that’s a that’s a tough sell for particular organizations out there um so so I’m with you on that front um I think you just wait to see how the season plays out and make a maneuver beyond that uh to to your point before you go on to the possibly could be well going to your sheet are you saying all these guys on the right hand side will be traded or there possibilities of being tra so you know what if I have to grade myself on my warding here I would knock down a few points my player review my Excel review I would knock a few points because it shouldn’t be will be traded it should be wed something like I could see them being traded yeah I could see these guy be these guys being traded and um those names are Zack ethin Pete Fairbanks Jason Adam Ahmed Rosario and Aaron cavale um for different reasons Zack effin he’s a durable starter those are very very important pieces for teams that want to go to the playoffs that are looking to get back into the hunt and they’re kind of close Zack effin would be a fantastic get for any team any team that gets Zack ethin for the last two months of a season would be very very happy and guess what there’s money attached to this man he already has a deal for next year so you already have a fixed you know allocation for these resources 18 mil for next year you know what he’s going to cost which is huge for teams to know what exactly a player is going to cost so that is very valuable Pete Fairbanks and Jason Adam they’re both High leverage arms you if you already have a close guess what you slide these guys in the eighth seventh inning and now you’ve made your Bullpen even better you know just shut down kind of stuff and Pete Fairbanks has something that Jason Adam does not have which again it’s what Zack effin did Money attached he has money attached to him he’s making 3.6 this season he’s going to be making 3.6 the next year there’s a buyout for a million so it’s very obtainable and if there’s accolades attached to his name yeah there’s some escalators but it’s nothing that any other team that is not named the Rays or the Oakland Athletics or the Miami Marlins they wouldn’t even sneeze at right and the last two guys Amed Rosario you just said it in uh on on Wednesday’s show he has been incredibly solid as a utility player and hitting over 300 almost an 800 Ops you can shift him around the defense is solid enough that you don’t have to uh be too worried about it it’s not Gold Glove caliber by by any means maybe a little below average in the outfit of course um but solid that the bad plays and Aaron Cale I think it would just be a thing about cutting ties because it’s just really not working out right now and he again if a team just needs extra arm maybe for the bullpen a bulk guy or a fifth fourth starter in the rotation I think Aaron savali would definitely be that guy and he still has team control attached to him so that would be also a benefit for any team that gets him I guess you could add on my line of thinking to possibly could be on the trading block Harold Ramirez at some point it’s gonna have to happen just like with the Gman Choy question prize picks is America’s number one fantasy sports app with more than five million members it is the most fun exciting way to get in on the action while you watch your favorite sports and players you just pick more or less on two or more player stats that’s for a shot to win up to 100 times your cash it is the perfect time to try out something new as basketball is winding down so make sure to try out Esports this month because for every Wednesday and Saturday in June if your lineup doesn’t win you’ll get your entry fee back you can choose from games like Counter Strike 2 Call of Duty personal fav of mine League of Legends and more so download the prize pick app today and use code lockdown MLB L CK d o n MLB for a first deposit match up to $100 uh the other thing too is uh Phil maton uh trade deadline season if he has a couple decent outings maybe build around that but $7 million for a middle relever is a lot for the race it’s not a lot for other organizations out there and it just seems seems like each and every year teams are just trying to hoard as many Bullpen arms as they can we just need one more arm two more arms let’s go out and and take a flyer on somebody even if he’s struggling and you know for whatever reason not saying you get really anything for him but you’d essentially be taking the salary off the books um yeah I think I think the Rays with the spot that they’re in we consistently talked about this being a second half team and assuming the turnarounds of the household names and you get some of the starting pitchers back and maybe a call up here too with Kim andero later on in the season that they’re hoping to have some second half momentum not saying they’re going to be full out buyers because it it it usually doesn’t work that way with the Rays it’s making minor moves that are under the radar that you hope work so I go back to 2022 and the Rays were in a similar spot as they are now I mean they were slightly above 500 I think it’s just about getting into the wild card and seeing what can happen from there um we saw what the Texas Rangers did with a wild card spot we saw what the Washington Nationals did with a wild card spot um so just getting into the dance we Eric neander talks about it of hey we just want as many bites of the apple as possible to hopefully make a run but yeah in 2022 the Rays added among others Christian bethan Court David Peralta Jose Siri and Garrett Clevenger so I see a some of the parts bench bat reliever arm here established part-time platoon veteran there that’s kind of the gist that I’m getting from this ball Club as much as I would love to have a middle ofth order powerb like Nelson Cruz I don’t know if the Rays would pull that trigger unless they’re like really in the driver’s seat to where they can say we can quote unquote go all in as best we can what would hurt just what would hurt you if the Mets say yeah JD Martinez is available what would hurt for you that you were like ah oh as far as giving up players yes um pull up your list there real quick yeah JD Martinez what’s his I’d have to look up what his contract is as well I think it was just um um a one year but I’m looking for it I finalized a 12 million one-year contract um so yeah he I would I would give up uh Sali and something else maybe and hold up look at this he only gets paid out of the $12 million he gets paid $2 million this year okay and then 7.5 million in deferred money payable in 1.5 million installments each January 15th from 2034 to 2038 this is picking the bucket in the future so the Ray are so this is not about money yeah this is about like how what would you be willing to do and if they come calling and they go like jie Martinez all right we want this what would hurt you what would hurt me um I mean oh by the way before you answer uh JD Martinez is currently batting 278 with a 331 on base a 476 slug um five home runs in 34 games he has an 807 Ops which is a 136 bleeping Ops plus that’s really tough to say because he has been so good and so consistent over the years and that is the type of piece that you would need um I don’t know I really wouldn’t want to have to give up Pete Fairbanks as of yet I mean if you’re going out and getting getting JD Martinez you’re not trading you’re you’re keeping the the core group around it’s not like you’re adding JD Martinez and Diaz or Randy Rosena or Brandon La so if we’re being realistic um I don’t know is uh you know what leave it in the comments yeah I I mean what do you think I I’m this season has been so like up and down I’m ready to get rid of everybody almost [Laughter] I want to see I I think Pete Fairbanks would hurt a little bit I think Pete Fairbanks would hurt I think and I want people to think about what would hurt rather than like oh yeah let’s give them Taylor walls and Aaron savali and for D Martinez like no let’s this is not and they’ll be the show where you can just like bypass automatic traits like no no no no make it hurt make it hurt but you get JD martinz a guy with a 136 Ops plus I would probably if you’re really trying to do something in here I would I would go I would do you think Jason Adam and Aaron savali would be enough Jason Adam and Aaron svali I don’t think it’s enough o um I think you’re looking more at like Zack effin straight up or Pete Fairbanks straight up okay I would do that I would probably do that which one both I would do effn Andor it would hurt but I would do it eelyn Andor Fairbanks we’ve seen this we need something I would do definitely because we have death in in in in starter starter rotation yeah yeah and you just never know I mean maybe is he G to be able to hold up going forward he’s he hasn’t shown outside of last year with the Rays there’s been some ups and downs with him as far as the health and injury risk for sure um all right getting to this next question that we have thank you Brian made us think I was waffling I was waffling on uh the answer there because I it was just tough for me I don’t know that’s good I that’s good I mean it needs to be tough it needs to be tough in the comments I need to see tough decisions people okay I need to see tough comments that made it hard for you to type but you’re making the right move and that’s why I was kind of vacillating and waffling but now that you kind of put it in my brain of effin straight up Fairbanks straight up for JD Martinez mind you we can’t be so overly protective players on the Rays two months of JD Martinez too so like think about it like a Nelson Cruz type trade you gave up Joe Ryan yeah a a solid Major League starter now back then he was just in the minor leagues so you gotta make it hurt like that and I mean Successful or it can’t be but you’re not gonna win games in the playoffs if you don’t score JD Martinez can perform in the playoffs and you got to start putting some runs up in the board you can’t just get shut out one nothing in the wild card so something has to give at some point you make you have to score you have to score in the playoffs in October runs matter they do for sure browse through the game time app and you have so many options you’ve got theater you’ve got comedy you got baseball games you’ve got it all and you know what that is the great thing about game time you can find whatever you’re looking for it’s on the app and you also have priority last minute deals where you can save up to 60% of buying last minute for sports concerts whatever you want it’s there in the app you can save some money so today take the guest work out of buying MLB tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on MLB for your first purchase you get $20 off it’s pretty great terms apply again create an account and redeem code l o c k e d o n MLB for $20 off download game time to today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed um so what do we have next uh question from Craig curtzman uh besides the Blake Snell trade which was the worst in Ray’s history uh I guess he’s saying could not bring back Travis darno what would be the other worst move in the last seven years well Craig uh thank you for writing to us and listening to the Pod um I think we both agree on the biggest Miss yeah uh and I know it it cost a total of let me look it up I have it right here $75 million in four years so 15 million for one year 20 million for three years but uh his name is uh Charlie Morton yes char Morton I think could have been the decisive key piece for that 2021 um yeah 100 win team that just didn’t have experience starters in the playoffs you saw Shane BOS struggle you saw Drew rasmusson struggle you saw Shane mcclanan Luis patinho struggle um and Charlie Morton we saw what he could do in 2019 in 2020 uh just a solid guy and when you look at his numbers Kev from what he’s done with the Braves uh I mean if you’re on YouTube you can you can watch along with us um 185 and two3 innings 172 Innings 163 and a third and already has 62 Innings pitched that’s around latel type that’s around like uh pepio uh for the Rays and look at at that ra plus 130 that’s 30 oh my God 94 121 104 like he has been an above average pitcher in um in summation of these four years uh so this one I think Hurts the Most uh for people that have um hey what’s been the worst trade yeah but again this isn’t a trade this just wasn’t a signing yeah didn’t sign him so I know I’m I I changed the question a little bit but I just Charlie has been bugging we could just say worse moves and I think um not making the move to pick up that option for 2021 guaranteeing him $15 million was a big Miss and I understand the Dynamics behind it um 2020 was the co year I’m sure finances were a little bit tighter but they also went out that year and gave correct me if I’m wrong Chris Archer $65 million Michael Waka $3 million Rich Hill $2 and half million so that’s a lot of money to hasbin or guys that wouldn’t be able to put up the caliber of performance that Charlie Morton can and continues to do um with the Braves he’s wanton a ring now so uh it’s like uh it’s like he’s found the Fountain of Youth the last four years it’s it’s really remarkable that level of consistency where we can’t have 25y olds go through a SE season without having Tommy John so whatever Charlie Morton is doing is uh is amazing and plus the the postseason pedigree um not just with the Braves now but he was the what was it game seven ALCS hero for the race in 2020 um and just having that stable presence that guy you can lean upon and give him the ball and say he’s got it he’s going to keep us in the ball game or win us the ball game and also the Aesthetics of what he provided in the clubhouse not every player is the type of player where your fellow teammates will print and wear shirts that say what was it Charlie freaking Morton something to that effect like he was beloved beloved in the clubhouse by the organization and by the fan base and I figure if you’re look we remember and know what the Rays were trying to do hey let’s sign three or four arms that can give us you know 60 70 80 Innings and and try to you know mix and match out work yeah you know whatever we’d give Charlie Morton but sometimes the answer is right in front of you and I think that’s what it could have been for the Rays and again it’s if it didn’t work out it’s a one-year 15 million you just you don’t pick them up that next year after that I mean you’re paying Phil maton $7 million this year you’re paying Manny Margo $7 million at one point You’ paid uh you you gave a lot of money to Yoshi satsuko plus plus his posting fee and he didn’t do anything yeah so I mean for like for a guy like Charlie Morton I feel like you’d want a reward in that sense yeah no it’s uh it’s one that’s always stuck out because of how how good he was with the race in and off the field and and how good he continued to be and continues to be right now exactly and and I just feel like that 2021 team man that could have been a very special team but the one thing that it needed was starters experienced starters I mean Shane BOS had three major league Stars before he went and did that that’s a lot to ask Drew rasmusen had just been converted to kind of a starter at the end of the season and here’s the ball kid I mean it’s just it’s just a lot of pressure to young guys to to yeah you can do that one time you can do it two times and then sham M clanahan entering in the fourth inning of of a decisive game game four like it was just if you had starters if you had actual veteran leadership you wouldn’t have gone through that so it has always stuck to me but I know we changed it a little bit it wasn’t a trade it was just a move but I just um yeah I think we could talk about that and I know we had another one but perhaps we save it for next time yes we could uh save it for next time uh I am cool with that uh I was just thinking in brainstorming it would have been pretty neat to have Charlie Morton and Nelson Cruz playing together in the playoffs seeing what kind of damage they could do in a good way so in an alternate universe that happened and and we were all very happy yeah yeah um you have any uh honorable mention uh disaster moves for the Rays or trades the Cronin Warth is always going to come up you know the hunter rro is always going to come up that’s a couple Padres ones um yeah those are the ones that stick to we mentioned sitso uh you could make an argument for Travis stno not paying him the Braves paid him and I know I think he’s been injured at points here and there but if you look at the Rays history with finding stability at the catcher position it is horrid and when they have a catcher have an opportunity for somebody they let them go for one reason or another Steven vote Robinson chinos John J yeah John Joo uh then if we really want to go back in time and saying hey in 2008 could have drafted Buster posie so Famer Hall of Famer Buster posie future Hall of Famer yeah Hall of Famer um and now uh yeah it I would have liked to see darno and Morton together in a raay uniform in 2021 yeah and and right now we have a catcher problem between well Ben rvet is seems to be doing okay but we have a backup catcher problem that’s for sure but still like it’s it’s it’s not like rvet is I mean he’s kind of come down to earth a little bit and so again regression to the meme might might might be coming soon the production from from the back stop right now it’s I mean I know Evan kski our our buddy made a few points last last week but enough is enough man I mean you can’t you you you you can spin it and do mental gymnastics as much as you can uh and and I know we’re gonna have him on Friday’s episode so we might just bug him about it again right yeah again I know uh not to go too on a tangent here with catchers and I understand catchers are not fate of foot but in that uh Tuesday game against the Marlins the Tim Anderson Way deep in the hole Way Long throw and he still nabbed Alex Jackson by multiple steps like I don’t are you really that slow bud or were you not were you pulling a Jonathan oranda there let me know it was a a plethora of Step yeah like that is I think every other raised player would be able to like that out including Aranda including R vet pick the slowest dudes on the team heck Jose Molina might have had a shot of getting there so hey don’t go that far yeah but anyway all right uh hope you all have a wonderful day stay safe and we will talk to you tomorrow but first we have to remind you something uh locked on has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and now it’s also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app locked on sports today is here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with our local experts talk to you Friday [Music] hold up [Music]

MAILBAG EPISODE!

The Tampa Bay Rays have been mostly an average team during the 2024 season. But, reinforcements should help this team bump it on the second half. Should this team be a buyer or should they sell during the trade deadline?What are some of the worst moves/trades the Rays front office has done in the last seven years?

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