[Update] It is now official. This is the Rays’ opening day roster.
[Earlier] The Rays appear to have set their opening day roster for the 2014 season.
Mark Lowe, Jayson Nix, and Wilson Betemit have all been told they will not make the team. That means Brandon Guyer will be the fourth player on the bench and both Josh Lueke and Brandon Gomes will be in the bullpen to start the season.
Maybe.
Joe Maddon told the media that Gomes and Lueke are not guaranteed spots and that “there’s something else in play,” suggesting a trade could be in the works.
Assuming no more moves are made, this is the opening day roster.
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19 Comments
Do you think they are trying to get Erik Bedard to come back as a relief pitcher?
I would sure give some serious thought to putting Gomes in Durham to start, Bedard in the pen, and hope someone offers something of value in trade. Even if its miniscule, something is better than nothing. We can survive 2 weeks w/o Gomes in the 'pen.
Do we really have to deal with another year of Sean Rodriguez?
I agree, but from an objective standpoint he showed enough defensive versatility last season (in addition to his obvious and inexplicable rapport with JoMa) to stick around. Who knows, maybe he could be a nice little trade piece for an injury riddled team... I'd take a bag of peanuts, a Kayem hot dog and a few low-level prospects for him.
Yes, we have Sean for another year. Maddon thinks Sean is an all purpose guy....we know better. Sean and Eliott Johnson with their combined 32 erros helped keep the team from the post season!
Sean Rod has produced 7.9 WAR in 457 games over the past 4 seasons. That is not bad for a bench player.
Sean Rod has produced 7.9 WAR in 457 games over the past 4 seasons. That is not bad for a bench player.
some have unrealistically high expectations for the last 2 guys off the bench it seems
Shame I actually welcomed Nix to the team. I thought he would have been a very useful player.
lol Lueke will impload like he does every time he's up here. He'll be sent through waivers in a few weeks or he'll catch a mysterious injury. He's going to be terrible though. Bank on it
The kid has pitched a grand total of 57 innings in the Bigs, only 25 with the Rays. It's a bit early to say he will "implode like he does every time he comes up here...". I realize his ERA skyrocketed from Durham to Tampa last season, but did anyone on the planet expect him to maintain a sub-1 era in the majors? He wasn't good, but he could've been a whole lot worse.
He did manage to record 25 K's in 21 innings which is encouraging.
He's been in the majors 3 straight years. He's never been good. He's never even shown flashes. Everytime the Rays call him up they put him in easy situations and he can't even handle that.
He was up four different times last year and he was horrible in every try. He was up 2 times the year before. Terrible. He was up 2 different times the year before. Terrible.
Look I hope he succeeds like every other player we have, but he simply hasn't shown anything past a fast fastball and a splitter occasionally. He's 29 though. It's time to step up or get out
Shit happens when your command disappears
I think this is set as the roster and I for one am ecstatic.
if the day the season ended 2013 you showed this potential roster anyone here, they would have responded -too good to be true. only a dream.
you would have thought the Rays would have had to overpay or overcommit longterm to swing this but they didnt.
I'm excited to see if Guyer can begin to fill his potential.
if this team is blessed with health they can compete for the division title
I am looking forward to seeing how Guyer does too.
No left-handed bat off the bench when facing a right-handed starter seems like it could limit Maddon's choices.
I've been getting slowly amped for the season, just a bit at a time... don't get too excited too early... but when you look at this... man, I love this team this year. This is gonna be fun,
this has a chance to be the most stable line-up in the history of joe madden!!!