I made a comment in the forums that I wanted the Rays to beat the Red Sox because “they’ve taken the Oakland/Minnesota model and are having more success this year than either of those organizations have had doing it.”
Good old Chuckles replied: “To be fair…Minnesota and Oakland haven’t had the high round draft picks the Rays have had in recent years. Tampa has how many top 3 picks on this team? And how many more ready for jobs next year? ”
My biggest gripe about the Rays is the misconception that this team was built through draft picks. While they have had some good picks in the last few years, this team has relied just as much on trades and free agent signings.
Look at the playoff roster and see how the players were acquired:
Pitchers
Grant Balfour – Traded from Brewers for Seth McCLung
Chad Bradford – Traded from Orioles for a player to be named later
Matt Garza – Traded from Twins with Jason Bartlett and a prospect for Delmon Young and Brandon Harris.
J.P. Howell – Traded from Royals for Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez
Edwin Jackson – Traded from Dodgers with Chuck Tiffany for Danys Baez and Lance Carter
Scott Kazmir – Traded from Mets with Jose Diaz for Bartolome Fortunato and Victor Zambrano
Trever Miller – Free Agent 2008
David Price – Drafted 1st Rd (1st overall) 2007
James Shields – Drafted 16th Rd 2000
Andy Sonnanstine – Drafted 13th Rd 2004
Dan Wheeler – Traded from the Astros for Ty Wigginton
Catchers
Michel Hernandez – Free Agent 2008
Dioner Navarro – Traded from Dodgers with Jae Seo and Justin Ruggiano for Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickson
Infielders
Willy Aybar – Traded from Braves with Chase Fontaine for Jeff Ridgway
Jason Bartlett – Traded from Twins with Matt Garza and a prospect for Delmon Young and Brandon Harris
Akinori Iwamura – Free Agent 2006
Evan Longoria – Drafted 1st Rd (3rd overall) 2006
Carlos Pena – Free Agent 2007
Ben Zobrist – Traded from Astros with Mitch Talbot for Aubrey Huff
Outfielders
Rocco Baldelli – Drafted 1st Rd (6th overall) 2000
Carl Crawford – Drafted 2nd Rd 1999
Gabe Gross – Traded from Brewers for Josh Butler
Fernando Perez – Drafted 4th Rd 2004
B.J. Upton – Drafted 1st Rd (2nd overall) 2002
Designated Hitters
Cliff Floyd – Free Agent 2008
Others Used in the Season
Drafted: Jonny Gomes (18th Rd 2001), Shawn Riggans (24th Rd 2000), Reid Brignac (2nd Rd 2004), John Jaso(12th Rd 2003), Jason Hammel (10th Rd 2002), Jeff Niemann (1st Rd 2004).
Free Agents: Eric Hinske, Mike DeFelice, Elliot Johnson, Andy Cannizaro, Troy Percival, Gary Glover, Al Reyes, Scott Dohmann, Kurt Birkins, Juan Salas.
Traded: Justin Ruggiano, Mitch Talbot, Jae Kuk Ryu.
Waivers: Nathan Haynes, Dan Johnson.
Of the above mentioned on the playoff roster, only 8 of the 25 guys (32%) were draft picks; only 4 of those were first rounders. 12 of the remaining 17 guys (48%) were acquired through trade.
When you take into account everyone used this season, 14 of 46 players were drafted (30%, and 5 were 1st rounders); 15 were traded for (33%); the final 17 were free agents or waiver claims(37%). They were probably one of the most well rounded teams in source of talent.
The biggest asset they have moving forward is their roster construction. They have a majority of young, cost controlled players mixed with a group of veterans. As the young guys gain experience, more of the current vets will leave to be replaced with more younger players (if they continue to scout talent as well as they do).
Just for the record, their first rounders from 2005 (Wade Townsend), 2004 (Jeff Niemann), and 2001 (Dewon Brazelton) were little to no help for the team. 2003 1st overall pick Delmon Young had no impact on the team directly; he was the key piece in landing Garza and Bartlett.
