No deals, no problem

The Rays didn't make any trades by Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline, but executive VP Andrew Friedman said that was not a bad thing.

"We had a few conversations today that yielded more discussions but I wouldn't charecterize anything as having gotten close,'' Friedman said. "But just as we maintained the last couple days, if something would have presented itself yesterday or today that we felt like made sense then we were going to be aggressive to do so and if not we were extremely content with the moves we have made, and feel like we have made the team better for 2007 and 2008.''

Relievers Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler are considered the prime targets, but the Rays were seeking a lot back since both pitchers are under their control for next season. They apparently talked about a few other players as well.

Comments

[Dana]

When does this organization stop trading away our good players, just to get more prospects? Hopefully this is the beginning, or else you won't have a lot of us back in the Trop.

[Joe]

Wow they have totally revamped the franchise. You can say goodbye to the ten straight losing seasons and the greedy cheap owners...

[Bob R.]

The Rays have never traded away their good players, not even under the Naimoli regime, because they have never had really good players.

But it is time that people realize that there is an intelligent administration in place with a clear sense of how to build a winner. And it is one that tells the truth, to the extent that is possible. Focusing solely on talent for the moment, they said we will first deepen the talent base in the organization. Check! That is why they traded Huff, Lugo and company. Then they said we will no longer trade for prospects. Rather we will seek major league players to fill the gaps we have identified. Check again! That is what they have just done. Next, we will loosen the purse strings to acquire the players we need to complement the talent on hand so as to field a winner. That is the next step this off-season.

In this case, cynicism is unrealistic and belied by the facts. Of course, there are no guarantees that the players we acquire will perform well. Ultimately everything has an element of risk. But it is crystal clear that the risks the Rays are taking are carefully evaluated and are part of a clearly thought out plan to build a contender.

[J]

No trades...no problem. How about addition by subtraction? Cut Fossum and Norton.

[Steve]

I agree with Bob, you can really see something finally coming together that looks structured and planned out. Theyve addressed the biggest weaknesses as best they can for now.
The core of the team really doesnt need much adding to, as crazy as that sounds to some with the current record. The facts are this team is very young and are still improving. There are still holes in the middle of the rotation and in the bullpen but the franchise is in a much better shape right now than maybe its ever been.