garza/delmon

perhaps tampa bay really is a second-class baseball town.


i was willing to give the d-rays a chance for awhile. i really was. but i'm starting to think they're a pathetic organization, and i think i have almost every right to think so.

if there was one guy the rays should have cut the cord with, it was elijah dukes. they did, i guess. because delmon, bj, and carl were the future. all the drays needed to do was get evan longoria to the bigs and they were golden for 10 years at the plate, because evan longoria is the serial hotness, delmon young is a vlad guerrero clone, carl crawford is amazing and bj upton had a sneaky amazing year. and that's reality.


now, the d-rays will try to throw delmon under the bus, even though by all rights, delmon had earned his way to the bigs in 2005. don't believe me? consider this: young destroyed single a in 2004. he slaughtered aa in 2005. he would learn nothing in aaa. he knew it and tampa knew it, and yet tampa tried to keep him from gaining service time by not calling up the AA PLAYER OF THE YEAR.

then tampa didn't give him a chance in spring training. they got away with it, because delmon threw the bat and then he became the quintessential scapegoat. he's a bad kid playing for a bad franchise: tampa got to make him their b**** for a year and a half because of it. it's true that delmon didn't run out a ground ball; that he's acerbic, and that he's probably the second coming of albert belle.

let me hit you with some more truth. albert belle would be the best hitter (apologies, i guess, to wade boggs) to ever grace a d-rays uniform. and like it or not, you win with the best players.

and delmon was second in rookie of the year voting last year at age 21. he probably should have been first, but oh well.

so let's be clear on one thing before i trash the rays some more: matt garza is good enough for the rays to save face. he is a premium guy: he could be a 20-game winner. he has the stuff, and the twins didn't treat him so well either. and that's nice for tampa, 'cause they're all about saving face.

discard all the other guys from the trade. you can't build a team around bartlett, and the twins suckered the rays out of brendan harris, a guy who had kind of a good year last year. morlan is sneaky good, but the rays got around $.70 on the dollar for delmon. the only reason they were able to get $.70 is because garza hated the twins organization.

now, allow me to trash the rays some more: the tampa bay devil rays are the only team on the planet that could manage to trade a #1 pick, a premium guy, for $.70 on the $1 because they were intent to ruin his market value. not even the royals, pirates, or reds could do that.

that type of logic is inconceivable... miguel cabrera is remarkably lazy, yet the marlins got a king's ransom for him: with miller and maybin, they assured themselves of at least getting two shots at hanley ramirez. delmon young isn't equal to miguel cabrera, but he's not so far away. but that's the difference between the marlins and the d-rays; the marlins know to let young talent develop, and the d-rays trade it. exit stage left, bobby abreu.


and they almost did the same thing with bj upton! fortunately upton was a phoenix, another #1 pick who could rise from the ashes. but it sure wasn't easy...

the devil rays have no ability to support their young players in the minors, and it shows. is it tampa's fault that josh hamilton became who he was? no, but tampa sure cut the cord quickly with that guy.

and the rays will suffer. they will suffer, because crawford/upton/pena won't last forever. the lineup could have been like a young cleveland indians team, but the rays gave up on the next albert belle. enjoy your new charles nagy. and enjoy your 70 wins.