Reyes designated to make room for Bradford

Saturday's arrival of RHP Chad Bradford led to the departure of veteran RHP Al Reyes , who was designated for assignment after Friday's game.

Reyes, 38, has been inconsistent after two stints on the disabled list for shoulder issues. In eight games since being activated after the All-Star break, Reyes was 1-0 with a 5.14 ERA in seven innings.

"I wasn't surprised,'' Reyes said. "(Thursday) my agent called me to tell me about it so I was waiting today for them to call me into the office.''

Reyes said before Friday's game that his shoulder "feels fine," so a return to the DL wasn't as likely as him being dropped. The Rays have 10 days to trade, release or pass him through waivers.

"It's not easy,'' manager Joe Maddon said. "We had to choose someone and we chose him. … He did a lot for us last year. We're going to miss him.''

Reyes, making $2.3-million, is 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA overall and has pitched just 222/3 innings, allowing 21 hits and 10 walks.

He said the shoulder problems and the lack of consistent work led to his inconsistent performances. "I wasn't getting the ball the way I like to,'' he said. "I'm not the kind of pitcher to go out every four or five days. I'm better when I'm pitching more consistent.''

Reyes saved 26 games for the Rays last season.

Bradford was acquired in a waiver-claim trade with Baltimore on Thursday.

Comments

[Kenny Chesney]

Edwin Jackson can do what JP Howell is fdoing this year. Edwin can come in adn let it rip at 97 MPH. Percival will be retired and Grant Balfour will be the closer.

[JL]

Reyes should have gone on the DL. The loss of 5+ MPH on his fastball is either due to the lingering effects of injury, or declining skills. It would have made more sense to sort that out in Spring Training next year. This would have worked out for
this year since the September roster expansion is imminent, and Reyes showed last year what he was, and may ultimately still be capable of.

[Andy]

While the 6 man rotation would work in theory, no way it happens in MLB anytime soon...Not that its not a good idea though. I just doubt we would do something so unconventional at this point in the season

[PE]

Darkmane - if the only stat we looked at was BB/K ration then EJ would be a good choice. The problem with that is that he continues to improve and is still very young. If we looked at quality starts or pitches per inning, Kaz would be on his way out. Neither are going anywhere. If Price comes up when rosters expand and all of our starters get an extra day's rest as suggested (6 man rotation) - then we will be in fine shape (no "dead" arms in postseason).

Edgar - we would need a very good RF to part with a proven starter. And someone who the Rays believe will be better than Baldelli or Ruggiano. We're going to see Rocco soon, to find out if he's healthy and we will see Ruggiano in Sep as well.

[Andy]

Mikey,

2 things.

1. When teams DFA someone they have to eat the rest of that players salary, minus what the new team pays them, which is ALWAYS going to be league minimum.
2. With that said, Reyes is a mediocre pitcher, and there are teams out there that could use a mediocre pitcher or two. He's not absolutely horrible..just not good enough to pitch on what has become one of the best bullpens in the majors.

[MikeyA]

Reyes needed to exit, no one will pluck him up for his salary and mediocre results, speaking of which, has Glover found a new home after rejecting his minor league assignment? Hammel still is a valuable member of the pen and someone would surely pluck him if he was DFA'ed so the club has some decisions to make going forward with the Bullpen.

Price will be up with this team at some point, it's just a matter of when and in what role??? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but a player must be on the roster by August 31 to be included on the postseason roster (unless someone gets injured to clear up a spot) so I'd prefer to see him in the pen as 1-3 inning reliever every other day (depending on pitches) to give wheels, balfour, and howell a rest or He could just replace Miller since he hasn't been right for awhile. Percy is still scary, but he knows how to close the door.
Expect to see Thayer, Salas, Davis, Niemann and Dohmann come September once Durham has finished as well.

[Darkmane]

Statistically the right decision is moving Edwin Jackson out of the rotation. Guys with K/BB ratios that poor usually explode.

[phillip]

price will come up when rosters expand and will be a joba chamberlain-like late inning reliever for the end of the season...

[rayray]

alsassino bye bino!!!!

[Edgar]

Great move. Al Reyes sucked anyways. I love the Chad Bradford move. Bradford is one of the most underrated relievers in baseball. He just gets the job done. Trade Edwin Jackson or Sonnanstine for a righthanded RF during the offseason. the 09 rotation looks like this Kazmir,Shields,Garza,Price, and Jackson/Sonannstine.

[mm]

You're totally right RFN. I want to see Price as much as anyone else but there really isn't a spot for him right now. Jackson is NOT a closer. Everyone sees that 97 mph fastball and automatically think he belongs in the bullpen. Do you all realize that he was in the bullpen and he sucked? He is a starter. Sonnanstine might be bullpen material but he is damn fine right now as a starter too. How about just letting this thing play out like RFN said until September.

[RFN]

And whose spot in the rotation will Price take? Edwin Jackson, only 24, showing steady improvement, who has won his last 3 starts? Sonnanstine, who leads the team in wins and usually goes deep in games? Garza, who is one game removed from a complete game shut-out and has the most consistent stuff over the past two months? Shields, who leads the team in quality starts, yet has suffered the most from weak run support (should have another 3 wins). Or, our "ace" Kazmir who hasn't gotten out of the fifth in his past 2 starts and has the ugly distinction of "most pitches thrown per inning" in the AL?

Statistically, helping the team win this year, its an easy choice, but we know that's not going to happen.

Unless we need him in the next 2 wks, I would prefer Price come up when rosters expand and have the Rays go to a six man rotation, getting arm rest as we head to post-season. If we decide we need Price, who gets pulled out of the rotation (barring no injury) should be interesting.

[Bucsfan]

I like the move too. Now if we can move Jackson to a closer and bring up Price, all will be set...

[Kericr]

I will predict right now that Kyle's post above will be the most baseball-intelligent post that anybody else who posts in this blog thread will come up with.

[Razzlegator]

Sorry.

[Bill]

More than one 'Bill' post on here.

[Kyle]

Check this out- Great cause, great weekend
http://weekend4ryleigh.blogspot.com/
3 nights at the Tradewinds, Kenny Chesney tickets, dinner, Golf at SPCC, Rays suite for 16, Brunch at the Vinoy, and much more.

[Razzlegator]

Is this where I call you an idiot Bill? Or should I just say I think your opinion is lacking and leave the name calling to less mature individuals?
What do we need with Reyes? He hasn't been effective all year, and, as you pointed out, his velocity is down from his usual low mph anyway. The front office must feel Bradford is going to do the job, otherwise they wouldn't have gone out and got him.

[Bill]

Why couldn't they come up with a 'phantom' injury? His MPH is way down so it would have been easy to say he was hurt.

[Dave]

This is a good move. I'm sure another team will claim him if they think he's healthy enough.