The Rays have stated on various occasions that they're operating over budget and can not afford to maintain their current payroll. The Kazmir trade was a step in the right direction (sorry Angels, I warned ya), but the Rays still need to find ways to save cheddar.
While mulling over exactly how I thought I would save money if I were Andrew Friedman and the Rays' braintrust I stopped over at my second favorite Rays blog, Rays Index, to see what Prof's been up to, when ironically enough, he had his projected roster and payroll projections for next season posted. That really got me thinking.
Much has been made over CC's being due 10 million, and whether the Rays can afford to keep him at roughly 1/6th of their overall payroll, but the much less ballyhooed point is the fact that Pena is due 10.1 million, so some quick math; add the integers, carry the 1, check the remainder... and you'll find that CC and El Gato combine to eat-up about 1/3 of the team's overall payroll projections (you could add in Burrell, but I don't foresee any way to get rid of his payroll. Just for the record, he's eating up another 30% or so of the payroll at 9 million- which means roughly 63% of the team's payroll is headed to those 3... hmmmm, one of those 3 just isn't earning his paycheck, who could that be?).
All of that to ask this hypothetical question; so you're sitting in your high-back, leather chair at your executive desk at the Trop when the powers-that-be march in and tell you that you've got to part ways with either Crawford and his 10 million or Pena and his 10.1 million?
Crawford and his legacy or Pena and his resiliency?
CC's speed or Pena's power?
Who do you send packing?
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