Expansion Revision: 1998 Devil Rays and beyond

[captaincarl]

This season, regardless of the outcome of the ALCS, has been great for the Rays. You did a great job with the club and building it the way you have. What are your thoughts heading into the offseason?

Also, I'm taking a survey, recalc feature on or off when you progress to from year to year?

[Moriarty9]

Originally Posted by captaincarl

This season, regardless of the outcome of the ALCS, has been great for the Rays. You did a great job with the club and building it the way you have. What are your thoughts heading into the offseason?

The big thing will be what I can do as far as retaining some of my potential free agents. I have just four: Aaron Sele, Paul Quantrill, Scott Servais, and Jose Hernandez.

Sele performed well enough that I'd like to keep him, but I won't have the $8+ million he wants. Quantrill is a guy that was vital to getting to the ALCS and is a huge part of the club, but I won't have the $6+ million he wants either. Servais had 30 big league at bats, and whether I have him going forward is not a big deal at all. Hernandez hit 14 homers in 499 ABs with a .240 average, can play third, short and centerfield, but he is expendable I think. He's looking for $550,000 a year for 2 years, and I'm not sure yet whether I want to do that.

I had a couple of other potetial free agents but took care of them already, minor deals really.

We'll see how much money (it won't be much) I'll have to spend in the off-season, and we'll try to make some good decisions (obviously). I don't see any big names coming to Tampa Bay though. I also wasn't expecting the team to do as well as it did this year, so I wasn't exactly gearing up for an ALCS or World Series run.

Originally Posted by captaincarl

Also, I'm taking a survey, recalc feature on or off when you progress to from year to year?

Recalc is on.

[Moriarty9]

Indians win the pennant
Devil Rays season finally comes to end
October 18, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tomorrow afternoon, the lockers in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays clubhouse will be cleared out a couple weeks later than when most expected.

The Cleveland Indians brought an end to a surprising season for the second-year Devil Rays, winning the American League pennant by defeating Tampa Bay 8-2 at Tropicana Field in Game 5 of the ALCS.

The Devil Rays turned to ace Pedro Martinez to come up with yet another big game, but even he was unable to right the ship. Martinez did strike out 10 Cleveland batters in six innings, but also gave up three home runs en route to a final line of five runs, four earned, on 11 hits and two walks.

"Pedro still pitched well, but he made a couple mistakes that they took advantage of," said Tampa Bay skipper Christian O'Neal. "If one of those curveballs dropped another eighth-of-an-inch, maybe they're routine fly balls instead of home runs."

Cleveland starter Bartolo Colon, who struggled his first time out against the Devil Rays, pitched well. The hefty Indians hurler gave up one run on two hits and five walks, striking out two in six innings. Relievers Steve Kline and Billy Koch teamed up for three innings of relief in which Tampa Bay picked up one more run.

"Hats off to Cleveland," O'Neal said. "They're a very good team and I'm sure they're going to give the Braves a run for their money in the World Series."

[Moriarty9]

World Series recaps
Braves take Game 1
October 20, 1999

ATLANTA — The Braves topped the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series with an 8-3 victory at home.
John Smoltz threw seven shutout innings, holding Cleveland batters to four hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Chipper Jones went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI while Fred McGriff went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI.



Indians even World Series
October 21, 1999

ATLANTA — The Cleveland Indians won Game 2 of the World Series, evening up the best of seven series.
Cleveland's Ismael Valdez threw six shutout innings, holding Atlanta batters to three hits and one walk, striking out two. Fred McGriff hit a solo home run for the Braves in the loss.



Tribe shutout Braves
October 23, 1999

CLEVELAND — The Indians now have a 2-1 lead in the World Series after Bartolo Colon and Billy Koch teamed up for a 3-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves.
Colon let up three hits and three walks, striking out four over 8 1/3 innings before handing the ball to Koch. Jim Thome went 2-for-4 with two home runs, knocking in all three of Cleveland's runs.



Indians hold off late rally
October 24, 1999

CLEVELAND — The Indians are one win away from claiming the World Series championship after a 7-6 win over the visiting Atlanta Braves.
Matt Williams went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored for Cleveland while teammate Desi Relaford went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Atlanta's Chipper Jones had three hits, including a home run.



Indians win World Series
October 25, 1999

CLEVELAND — The Indians are World Series champions after defeating the Atlanta Braves 7-4 at Jacobs Field tonight.
Matt Williams went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI while Garret Anderson hit a two-run home run.

[Moriarty9]

Devil Rays decide on options
Henderson back, Frye and Jones may not be
October 27, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays began their off-season work today by deciding on three team options for the 2000 season.

The team picked up veteran outfielder Rickey Henderson's $520,000 option for next season. Henderson's deal can reach $570,000 based on playing time incentives. He hit .295 with five home runs, 34 RBI, 59 runs, and 27 stolen bases in 295 at bats.

Tampa Bay declined options on reliever Todd Jones and secondbaseman Jeff Frye. The 33-year-old Frye earned $3.75 million this year and would've been owed $5 million for the 2000 season if the team picked up his option. He hit .241 with one home run, 27 RBI and 52 runs in 440 at bats. Jones, 31, would have been owed $750,000 for the upcoming season. He went 3-2 with four saves and a 6.00 ERA in 39 innings over 36 relief appearances.

[Moriarty9]

Managerial turnover is plentiful
Teams dump managers, general managers


The off-season is not only a time of player movement, but also changes in the front office and the manager's office.

Six managers were fired along with three general managers thus far. The Florida Marlins and Houston Astros each ousted both their manager and general manager.

Florida fired general manager Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland after the Marlins finished fourth in the National League East at 82-80, 15 games behind the eventual NL champion Atlanta Braves. The move was surprising as Leyland had led the Marlins to consecutive division championships in his first two seasons with the club. He has a 217-215 record with Florida, giving him a career record of 1,068-1,078 as a big league manager with five division championships in 14 seasons. Leyland should easily get another job if he is still interested in managing.

After an 80-82 season that put them in a tie with the Milwaukee Brewers for fourth place in the NL Central, the Houston Astros canned GM Gerry Hunsicker and manager Larry Dierker. The move was perhaps even more surprising than Florida's turnover as the Astros won the World Series last year, and Dierker's club had won the division in each of the first two seasons he was at the helm. Dierker's time as Houston manager ends with a 265-221 record.

The Los Angeles Dodgers finished second in the NL West, third in the Wild Card race, but it wasn't enough to save rookie manager Kyle Greer from being let go. Greer's Dodgers went 83-79 in his first season as a big league manager. There were grumblings of problems between Greer and GM Chuck LaMar toward the end of the season.

In Baltimore, Bryan Simpson took the helm for the final 108 games of the season as the interim manager of the Orioles. The team's 53-55 record during that time was an improvement on their 15-39 start, but it wasn't enough of a turnaround for Simpson to retain the job.

After five seasons in Kansas City, the Royals have parted ways with manager Bob Boone. The Royals were 70-92 this year, finishing last in the American League Central. Kansas City went 362-429 during Boone's tenure, winning the division in 1998.

In San Diego, interim Padres manager Bruce Kimm was let go as GM Ed Wade re-evaluates the club that finished with a 63-99 record, tied for the worst in baseball with the San Francisco Giants.

In St. Louis, GM Walt Jocketty was fired. The team went 81-81 this year. Manager Jimy Williams has three years left on his contract with the team.

[Moriarty9]

Devil Rays prepare for 2000 season
General Manager addresses offseason plans
November 1, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays surprised everyone across baseball this summer, and now the team finds itself in an unusual position for a third-year team: gearing up to return to the playoffs.

"Hopefully we're not flying too high, too fast, but we have some good young talent and some veterans, and it was a really great mix for us this year," said Tampa Bay General Manager Shaun Moriarty. "Now we have to build on that. We have to keep the key guys with the club, we have to see what we can bring in to help us out either in the lineup, off the bench, or in the rotation or bullpen."

The Devil Rays have already brought back outfielder Rickey Henderson by picking up their team option for the 2000 season. The team declined options on Jeff Frye and Todd Jones. Frye has indicated he will test the market as a free agent while Jones has expressed a desire to stay with Tampa Bay.

The big questions for Moriarty and the Tampa Bay front office will be how to deal with free agents-to be Paul Quantrill and Aaron Sele.

"Those two guys were important for us this year and we'd love to bring them both back, but we don't have that kind of money unless they compromised a bit on their initial demands," Moriarty said. "We've made a couple of preliminary offers and have been told they want more money. We don't have a lot of wiggle room in what we offered, so we'll see what we can do."

Other potential free agents are infielder Jose Hernandez and catcher Scott Servais.

"Fortunately, we're not faced with a number of guys that are going to be filing for free agency, but we still need to find ways to bring in the talent we want within our budget," the GM said. "It will be a challenge."

The team will also have to make decisions on a number of arbitration-eligible players. Some players may be non-tendered, some may go to arbitration, and some may sign contracts to avoid arbitration. Arbitration-eligible players include pitchers Danny Graves, Kevin Millwood, and Chad Ogea, infielder Wilton Guerrero, and outfielder Andruw Jones.

The big name players that may be free agents this year include catchers Mike Lieberthal and Ivan Rodriguez, firstbaseman Rafael Palmeiro, outfielders Moises Alou, Albert Belle, Shawn Green, Rusty Greer, pitchers Paul Assenmacher, Tom Gordon, Trevor Hoffman, and John Smoltz.

[Moriarty9]

Gold Glove winners announced
Tampa Bay's Johnson top defensive backstop
November 6, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were pleased to see catcher Charles Johnson was recognized as the best defensive catcher in the American League this year as he won the Gold Glove award.

It is the third time Johnson has taken home the award. He won the Gold Glove as the Florida Marlins catcher in 1995 and 1996.

[Moriarty9]

Durazo wins Rookie of the Year
Devil Rays slugger was key to Tampa bay success
November 7, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Erubiel Durazo hit 30 home runs and 100 RBI in his rookie season and today was honored with the first of what could be a number of awards as he was named the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year.

"It's a great honor," Durazo said. "There were a lot of guys out there deserving and I'm really humbled by this."

Durazo hit .287 with 30 home runs, 100 RBI, and 98 runs scored in 143 games. He served primarily as the designated hitter for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but did make 30 starts at first base.

"The kid deserves it, he really does,'" said Devil Rays manager Christian O'Neal. "

[Moriarty9]

Martinez tabbed as league's best
Devil Rays ace wins Cy Young award
November 8, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pedro Martinez had an impressive 19-3 record with the second-year Tampa Bay Devil Rays this season, earning him his first Cy Young award.

Martinez went 19-3 with a 3.04 ERA and 266 strikeouts in 34 starts for Tampa Bay, throwing three complete games and one shutout. He had 24 quality starts — a 70.6 percentage — with a 1.07 WHIP.

"The guy was dominant, that much anyone could see," said Devil Rays manager Christian O'Neal. "We look forward to him taking home a few more of these awards while in a Tampa Bay uniform."

For winning the Cy Young, Martinez will earn a $1 million bonus on the $14.87 million he was paid for the season. He is signed through the 2003 season and will earn $13.97 million next season with the potential for another $1 million bonus if he wins the Cy Young award again.

[Moriarty9]

Quantrill to stay in Tampa Bay
Devil Rays closer signs two-year extension
November 9, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — This week has been a good one for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays public relations department due to league-wide awards to three players, and now a new contract for Paul Quantrill.

After a couple weeks of negotiations, and with all indications being that the Devil Rays closer would be a free agent this winter, Quantrill came to terms with Tampa Bay on a new contract.

Quantrill will earn a base salary of $6,275,000 next season with a mutual option for the 2001 season, worth $6.6 million. He will earn a $25,000 bonus for reaching at least 80 innings pitched in a season.

Although he started the year as a setup man to Todd Jones, Quantrill soon took over the closer's role and never looked back. The Canadian-born reliever, who turned 31 last week, went 3-5 with 30 saves and a 1.86 ERA in 57 games this season.

"I'm happy that we were able to work something out," Quantrill said in a teleconference with local media. "I'm hoping we can take things at least one step further next year and go to the World Series."

[Moriarty9]

Hernandez will be back in 2000
Devil Rays re-sign infielder, hold option for 2001
November 14, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will bring back infielder Jose Hernandez for at least one more season, possibly two, under terms of a contract agreed to today.

Hernandez will take a paycut to stay with the team, though he could earn a slight increase based upon incentives. The 30-year-old thirdbaseman and shortstop wil earn $350,000 in 2000, with the possibility of up to $100,000 more based on the number of plate appearances he has. The team holds an option for the same amount of money and incentive stipulation in 2001. He earned $440,000 this season.

Hernandez hit .240 with 14 home runs and 58 RBI in 143 games this season. In 1998, he hit .278 with 22 homers and 66 RBI in 123 games. Hernandez is a career .244 hitter with 79 home runs and 278 RBI in 748 games with the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Anaheim Angels and Devil Rays.

[Moriarty9]

Five Devil Rays get new deals
Arbitration brings pay raises for players
November 16, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A handful of Tampa Bay Devil Rays players now know what they will earn in 2000 after arbitration hearings were held.

Starting pitcher Kevin Millwood was the big winner, awarded more than $2.5 million through arbitration. Millwood went 9-12 with a 4.22 ERA in 28 starts this season.

Andruw Jones, who came to Tampa Bay in the same trade as Millwood, will be paid more than $1.65 million after hitting .232 with nine home runs, 61 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 120 games.

Wilton Guerrero has quietly been a solid contributor to the team the last two seasons and will be rewarded with a 2000 contract worth nearly $1.3 million. He hit .306 with two homers and 44 RBI in 98 games this year. He is a career .326 hitter in 196 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay.

The Devil Rays attempted to avoid arbitration with reliever Danny Graves, but an agreement could not be reached. Instead, the two sides will settle for an arbitration agreement in which Graves will be paid $862,500 in 2000. He went 1-2 with two saves and a 3.62 ERA in 38 games before suffering a torn labrum on September 8. He is not expected to be available for the start of the season.

Starting pitcher Chad Ogea has also earned a new contract through arbitration. After going 8-15 with a 5.28 ERA in 31 games, Ogea will be paid more than $590,000 in 2000.

[Moriarty9]

Reliever Ryan signs with Rays
Tampa Bay inks former Boston hurler to deal
November 30, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed relief pitcher Ken Ryan to a minor league contract today, adding the 31-year-old to their AAA squad.

Ryan went 2-1 with an 8.20 ERA in 15 appearances with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants last season. He owns a career record of 20-19 with 35 saves and a 3.78 ERA in 290 appearances. Ryan is best known for his time with the Boston Red Sox. From 1992-1995, he was an effective reliever for the Red Sox, going 2-3 with 13 saves and a 2.44 ERA in 42 games for Boston in 1994.

[Moriarty9]

Tampa Bay adds Helling
Devil Rays lose two to Rule V Draft
December 1, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays picked up a pitcher and lost two minor leaguers in the annual Rule V Draft today.

Rick Helling will be a member of Tampa Bay's pitching rotation this season. Helling, 28, went 11-11 with a 5.88 ERA in 34 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals last season but was made available through the Rule V Draft. He owns a 25-27 career record with a 5.72 ERA in 87 games, 82 of which were starts.

Gone from the organization is recently-signed reliever Ken Ryan and outfielder Chuck Carr. Ryan, 31, just signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay but will now be added to the active roster of the Cincinnati Reds. Carr, 32, is a switch-hitting speedster who has 1,939 big league at bats with the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Florida Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers. He hit .259 with 34 doubles, seven triples, nine home runs, 48 RBI, 93 runs, and 36 stolen bases in 127 games in AAA this season. Carr will work as an extre outfielder for the San Diego Padres.


Chuck Carr, Ken Ryan

[Moriarty9]

Devil Rays ink Knorr to minors
Veteran backstop will compete for roster spot
December 2, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have signed 31-year-old catcher Randy Knorr to a minor league contract for the 2000 season.

Knorr had just 23 at bats with the Colorado Rockies this past season, but has appeared in 192 big league games with the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Rockies since 1991. A career .227 hitter, Knorr's greatest amount of playing time came with Toronto in 1995 when he hit .212 with three home runs and 16 RBI in 45 games.

He will be assigned to the minor leagues but will battle for the chance to serve as the backup catcher for Charles Johnson.

[Moriarty9]

Naehring enters infield mix
Long-time Red Sox signs with Devil Rays
December 3, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Veteran infielder Tim Naehring will be changing uniforms this spring after signing a one-year contract with the Tampa bay Devil Rays.

Naehring, 32, will be paid more than $460,000 in 2000 with a small potential pay boost based on playing time incentives. A thirdbaseman, Naehring hit .268 with nine home runs and 59 RBI in 150 games for Boston this year. In his 10-year-career, spent entirely with the Red Sox, Naehring is a .279 hitter with 79 homers and 422 RBI in 925 games.

"Tim Naehring is a good clubhouse guy, he's a good community guy, and he's not a bad ballplayer either," said Devil Rays General Manager Shaun Moriarty. "He's here on a low risk, high reward contract, at least in our point of view."

The current infield is composed of utility infielder Dave Berg, thirdbaseman and shortstop Jose Hernandez, utility infielder Lou Merloni, middle infielder Wilton Guerrero, firstbasemen Paul Konerko and Erubiel Durazo, and now Naehring. The veteran is expected to be the starting thirdbaseman unless another transaction knocks him out of that role.

[Moriarty9]

Rays add another arm to system
Veteran lefty Lloyd signs minor league deal
December 8, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays continue to add veteran depth to their AAA affiliate as they signed left-handed reliever Grame Lloyd to a minor league deal this afternoon.

Lloyd, 32, made 22 appearances out of the Kansas City Royals bullpen last season, going 2-0 with a 7.90 ERA and 1.83 WHIP. In 30 games with Kansas City's AAA affiliate, Lloyd went 4-1 with 3 saves and a 3.40 ERA in 30 games.

The Australian-born reliever owns a 16-28 career record with 10 saves and a 4.71 ERA in 332 games with several teams.

[Moriarty9]

Erickson joins Devil Rays
Expected to serve in middle of rotation
December 9, 1999

ORLANDO — Among the players the Tampa Bay Devil Rays showed interest in as the trade deadline approached this summer was Scott Erickson. A deal with the Oakland Athletics was not reached, but the Devil Rays finally have Erickson on the roster.

Erickson signed a one-year deal worth more than $460,000 today as the annual winter meetings kicked off in Orlando.

Erickson, who turns 32 in February, went 9-4 with a 4.16 ERA in 19 starts with the Athletics after going 9-4 with a 2.52 ERA in 16 AAA starts. The right-hander owns a career record of 112-109 with a 4.52 ERA in 293 games, 290 of which were starts. He has previously pitched for the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and Athletics. Erickson is a two-time All Star.

[Moriarty9]

Winter meetings have busy open
Hot stove heats up in annual off-season event
December 9, 1999

ORLANDO — A handful of signings and trades took place as the annual winter meetings opened up at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando.

Left-handed reliever Mike Magnante, 34, signed a two-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds worth $4.34 million annually. Magnante was acquired by the Reds from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for infielder Chris Stynes on June 28. He went 6-2 with three saves and a 2.99 ERA in 72 games with Cinncinati and Atlanta, going 5-1 with three saves and a 2.40 ERA in 43 games.

Dave Mlicki and the Seattle Mariners agreed to terms on a two-year pact worth $4.1 million. He went 12-11 with a 4.53 ERA in 32 starts for Seattle this season. He owns a 59-50 record over his big league career, primarily as a starter.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a trade today, sending outfielder Alex Ochoa to Toronto for shortstop Tomas Perez. Ochoa hit .292 with 14 home runs and 75 RBI in 148 games with Arizona and is owed $450,000 for the 2000 season. He is arbitration-eligible for 2001. Perez hit .265 with seven home runs and 23 RBI in 87 games with the Blue Jays. He appeared in 54 games at the AAA level, hitting .261 with 11 homers and 49 RBI.

The Blue Jays also acquired reliever Dean Crow from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Midre Cummings. Crow, 27, went 7-4 with two saves and a 3.82 ERA in 81 games for Colorado. Cummings was apparently the odd-man-out with Ochoa coming to Toronto. The left-handed hitting corner outfielder hit .251 with two home runs and 19 RBI in 223 at bats over 100 games with Toronto. Cummings is owed $740,000 in 2000, the final year of his current contract.

In the Lone Star State, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers made a deal. Eric Moody will join the Astros bullpen while infielder Pat Kelly will fight for a job with the Rangers. Moody went 2-3 with one save and a 4.74 ERA in 60 relief appearances with Texas. Kelly, 32, hit .252 with three home runs and 18 RBI in 123 at bats over 84 games with Houston. He spent much of the season in the Astros' minor league system, playing at both the AA and AAA levels.

The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants made a swap as well. Infielder Pat Meares will head to Queens while reliever Ryan Karp and minor league outfielder George Lombard head west. Meares hit .270 with five homers and 32 RBI in 96 games with the Giants last year; also appearing in 42 games with their AAA affiliate. Karp went 3-1 with three saves and a 3.97 ERA in 67 games for the Mets while Lombard spent the season in AA and AAA. He hit a total of 22 home runs and 85 RBI in 109 games in the New York minor leagues this year. The Giants also receive more than $540,000 in cash as part of the deal.

The Kansas City Royals and Florida Marlins agreed to a deal that sends future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. to the Royals, along with cash, in exchange for infielder Shane Halter. Ripken, 39, hit .280 with five home runs and 34 RBI in just 243 at bats with Florida last season. He worked primarily as a third baseman, but made 29 appearances and three starts at shortstop, as well as a small amount of time at first and second.