Tampa Bay Devil Rays Trade Possibilities

With the trade deadline looming on the horizon - I will try to take a look at what chips some of the teams who are out of playoff contention may put in play. Yesterday I did the Baltimore Orioles and today I will take a look what players from the Devil Rays may hit the market.

Rocco Baldelli - he is on the 60-day DL but should be coming off soon. Rocco is just 26-years old but would be a risk because of his injury history for any team trading for him. Baldelli's contract calls for him to be paid just $2.25 million next year so it may be worth it for Tampa Bay to wait and see if Baldelli comes back strong enough to up his trade value either for the off-season or next year's trade deadline. It is worth noting that with Ichiro staying put in Seattle - there will be a number of teams bidding for top centerfielders like Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand. Either the teams that lose those players or who lose out in the bidding may look toward Baldelli as an attractive option.

Elijah Dukes - he is on the inactive list but I think everyone realizes that this guy needs to get the hell away from Tampa if he is to avoid self-destructing. The White Sox have been rumored to be interested in him. Personally - I wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole.

Ty Wiggington - he can play either 2nd or 3rd and has a relatively modest $2.7 million contract this year and will probably get about $4 million in arbitration next year. Wiggington has some pop in his bat (13 HR so far this year and 24 last season) and could be a fit for teams looking for some added offense (though with just a .318 OBP and only a .759 OPS - Wiggington doesn't fit my idea of offensive help).

Carlos Pena - having a huge year (20 HR and an OPS of 1.004) but is a free agent at the end of the year. The Devil Rays may want to sell Pena while his stock is so high. The Yankees have been rumored to be interested but you have to think that the Yankees at this point (with them out of the playoff picture and all) would be better off waiting till the offseason when signing a guy like Pena won't cost them a top prospect or two. Atlanta would seem like another logical destination but here again - you would think that a better solution for them than trading away some top prospects would be simply to try Jarrod Saltalamacchia at 1st. Detroit may be the best fit but that probably won't happen because they've been there and done that.

All-in-all I don't think Tampa Bay has much to offer this trade-deadline season. When you add in the fact that their front office always asks for the moon when negotiating - I just don't see any major deals coming via Tampa Bay. Sure there may be a relief pitcher that changes address but nothing major that will effect the playoff races.

Top 5 - Biggest Fantasy Baseball Disappointments - Hitters

Today I'll take a look at who I see as the 5 biggest disappointments, as far as hitters are concerned, in fantasy baseball so far this season.

1. Lance Berkman - I thought he'd be an NL MVP candidate instead he has a .764 OPS. He was the first pick for many fantasy teams. He's the baseball equivalent to Daunte Culpepper right now.

2. Vernon Wells - just 5 HR and a lousy .691 OPS - did the new contract make him complacent?

3. Garrett Atkins - last year he hit .329 with 29 HR - this year he's hitting .234 with 4 HR

4. Rocco Baldelli - this was supposed to be a big comeback year - not the year of suck

5. Robinson Cano - still time for him to bounce back but he was supposed to be competing for a batting title not hitting .274

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Rocco Baldelli is capable of playing at All-Star caliber levels but the Devil Rays have him leading off this season despite the fact he's hitting just .211 with an OBP of only .271. You just can't have that level of production out of your leadoff guy and expect to be successful. The Devil Rays really should consider swapping Baldelli (1st) and BJ Upton (5th) in the batting order.... Alfonso Soriano very quietly has a 20-game hitting streak going... Today is Barry Zito's 29th birthday. Not sure if he'll be able to enjoy it though after giving up 6 runs in last night's loss to the Rockies... Brad Penny had a pretty good week going 2-0 with 18 K's in two starts - giving up just one run in 13 plus innings. Penny has a MLB best ERA of 1.39... I don't think the Braves are missing Marcus Giles very much. Kelly (Ha ha - you have a girl's name) Johnson has been very solid starting at 2nd for Atlanta. Johnson has 3 more HR, 4 more RBI and 10 more runs scored than Giles does so far this year... The fact that Josh Beckett is going for his MLB leading 8th win today softens the realization that Hanley Ramirez is hitting .338 for the Marlins. Ramirez is now hitting an even .300 for his career... Alex Rodriguez went 0-4 last night. The Yankees should cut that guy... There are six teams with a starting catcher hitting better than .300 (Posada, Mauer, Martin, Martinez, Bengie Molina, and Estrada). These guys can all hit - so its no surprise that they are all hitting better than .300. What is surprising to me is the cliff Jason Kendall's batting average has fallen off. Kendall is a career .299 hitter but this year he's hitting a measly .183. If you have Kendall on a fantasy team - drop him. Drop him now... The Mets have been killing lefties this season - hitting .345 as a team against them...