Carl Crawford
Rumors

A number of Rays rumors to look at in Joe Smith's article from the St. Petersburg Times.

• The Rays would like to sign star outfielder Carl Crawford to a long term extension.  Crawford will likely make about $11.5M in 2010 with escalators and could command quite a bit on the open market.  There's word in the article that the Mets and Braves have expressed interest in acquiring Crawford if the Rays look to move him, however it is likely that almost every team in baseball would be interested.
• BJ Upton is rumored to be available and the Rangers and White Sox have already inquired.
• Smith feels like the Rays will be interested in signing Kevin Gregg or JJ Putz this off season.
• Gregg Zaun is currently a free agent, but the team might look to bring him back and try the Zaun/Dioner Navarro platoon that worked in 2009.

Carl Crawford will command a lot in a trade if the Rays are unable to extend him

So far we've seen comparisons of the 1994 and 1995 drafts and the 1996 draft and the 1997 draft. Today, let's take a look at the 1998 draft vs. the 1999 draft.

1998 Draft

No 1 Pick: Pat Burrell hit 251 HRs over eleven healthy season for the Phillies. Very respectable.

Best Pick, 1st Round: CC Sabathia, #20 Cleveland Indians

Value Pick, Any Round: Matt Holliday, seventh round, #210 overall Colorado Rockies.

Notable Pick: Mark Teixeira was a ninth round pick by the Red Sox in 1998, but went to college and instead was selected #5 overall in 2001.

Best Team: In addition to Burrell, the Phillies drafted Jason Michaels and Ryan Madson. The As got Mark Mulder, Gerald Laird and Eric Byrnes. Houston snagged Brad Lidge and Morgan Ensberg while the Reds drafted BJ Ryan, Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns. Based on production alone, I think the As win.

Worst Pick, First Round: Ryan Mills, #6 Minnesota Twins. Mills was the only player in the Top 10 of this draft to fail to make the major leagues.

1999 Draft

No 1 Pick: Josh Hamilton has turned things around in Texas, but was a disaster for the club that actually drafted him, Tampa Bay.

Best Pick, 1st Round: Brian Roberts, #50 Orioles. Interesting that the best pick of the first round occurred with the 50th pick.

Value Pick, Any Round: Albert Pujols, 13th round, #402 overall, St. Louis Cardinals. This is arguably the best draft pick of all time considering the Hall of Fame numbers Pujols has put up so far. Jason Churchill puts it best: "Is there any chance that the 401 players ahead of him carry as much value into any given day of games -- combined?"

Notable Pick(s): Carl Crawford, second round, #52 overall, Tampa Bay

Best Team: The Rays had a phenomenal draft...by the simple standard of major league players: Hamilton, Crawford, Mike Fontenot and Seth McClung, though Hamilton and Fontenot didn't make the majors with the Rays. The Rangers also had an impressive draft with Aaron Harang, Hank Blalock, Kevin Mench and Noah Lowry, but, similarly, many of these players are no longer with the club.

Worst Pick, First Round: Josh Girdley, #6 Montreal Expos. Girdley never got beyond AA ball.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman gives us his thoughts on how the options for some high priced big names will play out.

• The Mets have to pick up the option on Carlos Delgado ($16M vesting, $12M club)
• Jason Giambi gets bought out by the Yankeees for $5M ($21M option)
• White Sox general manager Kenny Williams lets Ken Griffey Jr. go for $4M ($16M option)
• Picking up Vladimir Guerrero for $15M is an easy call
• While $14M for Garrett Anderson is too much ($3M buyout)
• Is it even worth discussing whether the Yankees will buy out Carl Pavano for $1.95M ($13M option)
• Edgar Renteria didn't hate Boston, he hates the American League. Tigers easily buy him out for $3M ($12M option)
• Injury concerns are strong, but for $12M the Braves bring John Smoltz back.
• Mike Cameron has his 25-game drug suspension behing him and for $10M for 2009, the Brewers will have him back ($750K buyout)
• At $9M per year, the Angeles would surely keep John Lackey around indefinitely, if they could ($500K buyout)
• Much like Smolty, injuries are a concern with Brad Penny, but the Dodgers keep the pitcher for $9.25M ($2M buyout)
• Carl Crawford, despite his injury, is an easy call at $8.25M for 2009. Especially with a $2.5M buyout.

While Jonny Gomes being sent to Triple-A Durham to make room for infielder Ben Zobrist might not be big news, Joe Smith reports that Jason Bartlett and Carl Crawford could miss games through Thursday.  Gomes was pegged to be sent down to the minors once oft-injured Rocco Baldelli was ready to rejoin the 25-man roster, but the move came earlier than expected when Willy Aybar pulled his hamstring.