1st Annual Rays Trade Pool

Our friends over at Rays Index have decided to have a contest including fellow Rays' blogs as well as the opinions of their followers, you know what, I'll let Prof explain it in his own words:

"Welcome to the 1st Annual Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool where we determine who is the best at predicting which members of the Rays organization will be traded this season (this contest is based loosely on the "Dead Pool").

We have invited all members of the Tampa Bay Rays Blogosphere as well as a couple of outside bloggers.

The Rules:

• Each blogger submitted a list of 5 players they believe have the greatest chance to be traded this season. All players in the organization are eligible.
  
• The bloggers ranked those 5 players, giving the highest rank (#1) to the player they think is most likely to be traded.
  
• If one of the players they chose is traded prior to the end of the season, that blogger will receive points based on where the blogger ranked the player. If Aki Iwamura is traded and a blogger has Aki ranked first, they will receive 5 points. If they have Aki ranked second, they will receive 4 points and so on.
  
• The blogger with the most points at the end of the season wins…"
  

Thankfully, Prof included us in the contest, and of course I was more than willing to put-in my 2 cents. Below you'll find my list followed by a brief summary as to why they were my choices. After you've read through them make sure you head over to Rays Index to see all the "pros" lists and chime in with picks of your own.

My List:

1. Chad Bradford
   
2. Gabe Kapler
   
3. Gabe Gross
   
4. Chad Orvella
   
5. Carl Crawford
   

Why:

Bradford: Chad Bradford can be a valuable asset for a team that is gearing-up for a stretch run. His post-season numbers are excellent (this is where a good writer would site those numbers, but I never said I was good). The way I see it he's gone after this season regardless, so they might as well acquire a few prospects in return.

Kapler: Kapler was brought-in in order to help reinforce the RF platoon, but he is expendable thanks to the hitting prowess of Zobrist as well as the impending call-up of Matt Joyce.

Gross: Gross is a nice player to have, but the log-jam in RF isn't going to hold forever. With the Joyce promotion on the horizon and Fernando Perez working toward being healthy coupled with Zobrist showing that he's a viable option as well the opportunities for Gross in St Pete are running low.

Orvella: Orvella has shown that he's not a bust, but the memory remains. The beauty of this move would be that most teams either never actually saw how shaky he was in the Bigs or they've forgotten, so they'll be more apt to lean on his minor league numbers when offering compensation. I think the Rays could get a real good fielding prospect in return with maybe a low-A pitcher thrown in for good measure.

Crawford: CC is a fan favorite and rightfully so, and any Devil Rays/Rays fan should shed a tear and spill a beer when he goes because of the sacrifices this kid made early in his career in order to help a dismal and despicable organization. When anyone with talent was begging to get out of town Crawford agreed to be the face of the organization. That being said, the marriage is coming to an end. CC doesn't like playing on field turf, his legs are rarely healthy, and he's due to make what would be about 1/6th of the Rays target payroll next season. That's too rich for the Rays, especially with other talented players waiting in the wings. The sun is setting on the career of the player that, up until this point, should be considered the best Tampa Bay player in the franchise's short history.

 

Now, run over to Rays Index and add your 2 cents.