The Tampa Bay Rays have had a history of spending economically and efficiently on players who can contribute in the present. While not having the privilege of offering long term contracts, the Rays have had to run a system based on maximizing the contributions of low-cost, part-time players. The organization has looked for platoon-type players with strong splits, allowing the franchise to avoid paying big time salaries.
The Rays have had better luck signing cheap underrated free agents rather than taking chances with the higher level players. In recent years, the Rays have received surprising production from lower level free agents such as Casey Kotchman, Joel Peralta, Fernando Rodney, Gabe Kapler, Joaquin Benoit, and Jeff Keppinger.
The two years prior signing with the Rays, Rodney’s ERA was above four and he had under 15 saves. In 2012, Rodney rewarded the Rays with a dominant ERA of 0.60 and 48 saves. Jeff Keppinger provided the Rays with clutch hitting and versatility, experiencing a 70 point increase in batting average from the year before. Joaquin Benoit saw his ERA drop from 5.00 to 1.34 when he left Texas to sign with Tampa.
Is the Rays organization just lucky, or is there a method to its madness?
When the franchise has attempted to sign higher-rated players and supplying larger contracts, there has been a disappointing pattern. Most notably was the recent signing of Carlos Pena in 2012, which was one of the worst free agents signing all year. The Rays gave a one-year contract worth $7.25 million deal to Pena, and the team was rewarded a .197 average and 61 RBIs.
If one were to look up all the Rays free agent signings of $5 + million in the last few years, he would discover names like Pat Burrell, Johnny Damon, Luke Scott, Troy Percival, Carlos Pena, and Rafael Soriano. Johnny Damon’s play was average, but the only player who had any real success was the hard throwing righty Rafael Soriano. Soriano’s 2010 numbers of a 3-2 record and 1. 73 ERA helped the Rays regain some credibility after spending $16 million on Pat Burrell.
Many fans can’t recall Burrell’s number due to suppressing the memory, but as a refresher: in 2009, Pat “the bat” hit just .221 with 14 homers, knocking in 61.
The Rays front office does almost everything right, from scouting to drafting, but can’t seem to find success signing higher level free agents. The sample size is small, but the numbers don’t lie. The Rays experience most of their success signing cheap, bargain-type free agents.
The Rays shouldn’t stop looking for high end free agents, but the organization may want go back to the drawing board where those kind of players are concerned.
