Devil Rays being babies

[Assani Fisher]

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the devil rays blocking this trade will not affect that at all.


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[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Why do you say that? Are not the Devil Rays in the same division as the Red Sox? I understand that they're all but out of the playoff race, but are you saying that means they shouldn't try their best to win games anymore? So if its ok for the Yankees to do this to try to win games then why is it any different here?

[kyleb]

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they are pissing off two other teams who may harbor a grudge for a long time and refuse to make future transactions which would benefit tampa.

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Why the hell would either team deal significant players to the Devil Rays, who plays in the same division as them?

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this is not a business move. it is calculated revenge for the sake of revenge.

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That's not true. You can't let a front office illegally talk to your guy's agent who happens to be on the trading block, giving him advice or god knows what in terms of contract negotiations. This is standing up for yourself and not letting a front office like Boston's push you around.

[junglewarfare]

The Drays are trying to make the Red Sox rue the day they illegally contacted one of their players (and have other teams take notice). I'm sure they would prefer this not to happen in the future, and this is a way of preventing it. Plus, the Red Sox and Drays are both in the same division and anything that makes a Red Sox team stronger will generally be bad for Tampa Bay, although that's stretched very thin. Whether it's a lamer move depends on the exact contact the Red Sox made and the way that is done in MLB, I have no idea.

[crockpot]

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Drafting Evan Longoria. Trading Hendrickson and a sack of rice for prospects from the Dodgers. Trading Lugo for prospects from the Dodgers. Fielding a cheap, good, young team on the field.

The new TB front office is very, very smart.

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i agree, and said so in the original post, though not in so many words.

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Why do you say that? Are not the Devil Rays in the same division as the Red Sox? I understand that they're all but out of the playoff race, but are you saying that means they shouldn't try their best to win games anymore? So if its ok for the Yankees to do this to try to win games then why is it any different here?

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if the devil rays say "we think that it will hurt our team's chances of winning this year to allow this trade to go through," they're stupid, but fine, they did it to help their baseball team. they have already stated that this is not their motive. i would have a different view on the red sox-yankees issue if brian cashman claimed a guy the red sox wanted and said in all honesty that it was purely for spite and would not help the yankees in any way.

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Why the hell would either team deal significant players to the Devil Rays, who plays in the same division as them?

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it seems obvious to me that the red sox were contemplating a significant trade with the devil rays or this issue would never have come up.

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That's not true. You can't let a front office illegally talk to your guy's agent who happens to be on the trading block, giving him advice or god knows what in terms of contract negotiations. This is standing up for yourself and not letting a front office like Boston's push you around.

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fine. talk to the commissioner's office and have them punish boston. if it's illegal to do this, there must be some penalty associated with it, or MLB can invent one. yes, the devil rays probably wouldn't gain anything directly from complaining to the higher-ups, but what do they gain here other than personal satisfaction?

for those who are not clear, let me state that i am not in any way condoning whatever illegal negotiations the red sox conducted, nor do i think they should go unpunished. i simply think the devil rays chose a very shortsighted and childish way to deal with it.

[crockpot]

let me summarize my position here so it is clear what people are disputing.

i believe that:

- this is not a good business move for the devil rays
- this is not the best way they could have handled this situation
- it is an unprofessional move

i am not saying that it is unjustified, that the red sox deserve to get away with whatever they did, or that the red sox conducted themselves professionally.

[THAY3R]

Go Devil Rays [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[J.R.]

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let me summarize my position here so it is clear what people are disputing.

i believe that:

- this is not a good business move for the devil rays
- this is not the best way they could have handled this situation
- it is an unprofessional move

i am not saying that it is unjustified, that the red sox deserve to get away with whatever they did, or that the red sox conducted themselves professionally.

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And Tampa disagrees, knowing that tampering is hard to prove and even if proven MLB won't act toughly as its a de minimis violation but one that is philosophically significant to the Rays given the Sox position in the AL east pecking order. They asserted themselves against the schoolyard bully, and I'm sure there is still some pissiness about other stuff like the touchy perceived signing push for 2006 draft picks Anderson and LaPorta* who fall into that grey area pseudo "slotting" prohibition.

They made a point but didn't really change anything or piss anybody off. The O's just wanted to dump Javy and Stern is really a throw-in bonus who isn't significant for the Os to add this year, so the "pissing off" is being blown out of proportion as it just gets done as a ptbnl and the O's are no worse off. The media reports about the Os wanting an evaluation period on the traded player to set their postseason roster are more posturing - again, the Os just wanted to dump Javy.

*ironically, many argue the saved Javy money should go to the Os signing Nebraska sophmore Tony Watson, who like Anderson and Laporta dropped (Watson picked in 17th round) because of the I'll go back to school/go to college so I'll only sign big buzz but who are talented and are demanding 1st or 2nd round money even though they are picked late.

[crockpot]

good points, and good post. i still find it hard not to focus on this, though:

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didn't really change anything

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i guess i just don't see the point in generating bad will against a potential trading partner for nothing in return.

[junglewarfare]

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good points, and good post. i still find it hard not to focus on this, though:

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didn't really change anything

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i guess i just don't see the point in generating bad will against a potential trading partner for nothing in return

They probably think they are going to prevent illegal contact (which they were "incensed" about) from happening again in the future.

[ThaSaltCracka]

I hate the Red Sox, so in that vein, this is a good move by Tampa. Last place what??!?!? Still causing problems. Actually this is quite funny.