IcyPatriot

How sweet ... manny and johnny together again as Rays in Florida.

Sports digest: Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez agree to one-year deals with Tampa Bay Rays - San Jose Mercury News

... and the litle piggie once again cries wee wee wee all the way home.

jcdavey

ala wade boggs

JoeSixPat

Smart move if you ask me

Although I think Damon's $5 mil is on the high side, he and/or Manny might have something left in the tank, and at the very least should serve as a draw for attendance and interest

Even with Manny's history, its a low risk high reward scenario

Boston Boxer

haha, those two have ripped off another team. They are both done and i dont know why they are still employed.

Real World

Those two are certainly on the decline, but done I don't know. I think they are excellent signings for the Rays. Worst case they really show their age, and don't produce at the level hoped. If so, you release, trade, or walk away from them at the end of the year. However, for $7-8 million they could get a middle of the order bat in Manny, and a solid top of the order guy in Damon. Think about the absurd money teams have tossed out there this year. The money invested here, on these players, is a good risk if you ask me. Manny could easily give them what Pena did, if not more. Damon clearly won't replace Crawford, but he'll be better than whatever they have now. I really like these moves for the Rays.

Another thing to consider is that either player could end up being compensatory free agents at seasons end, which could net Tampa draft picks, or they could be players teams trade for at the deadline. They're each on 1 year deals for short money. If Tampa isn't contending, and these guys are having decent seasons, Tampa could get something for them.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

jmt57

Seems to me they would have been better off keeping some of their bullpen intact with the money spent on Damon. They could have kept Benoit and made him their closer for the same money they are paying Damon per year - and locked Benoit up for three years.

Now they're going short term rentals; that's what got them into so much trouble for their first ten years. I know they need a bat or two to protect Longoria but this seems rather odd to me; you would think they would have learned their lesson and used the limited amount of budget they have on signing younger players.