Originally posted by ESPNHouston will pay $1.4 million of the $3 million that remains on the final year of Huff's contract. Tampa Bay will pay the rest, Purpura said. The Devil Rays get right-hander Mitch Talbot and infielder Ben Zobrist from the Astros' system. Both players will report to Double-A Montgomery.
Our long national nightmare is over.
Seriously, it seems like there's been rumors of the Rays trading Huff since '03, with the management at the time never actually making the deal (wanting too much or whatever.) It doesn't sound like either minor leaguer is a big deal (Transaction Oracle), but it's nice that this management is actually flipping the extra parts Tampa doesn't need for prospects instead of asking for the moon and doing nothing.
The NL WC and Central are very winnable, so trading guys who may or may not ever help for a slight upgrade actually makes sense. They'll still need more, but you gotta start some place.
Huff should help but they have to figure out what's going on with Lidge. They got lucky and went to the WS even though Lidge was shaky. It probably won't happen again.
Lidge wasn't as shaky last year as he is this (actually, up until Pujols' bomb in the LCS, I thought he was among the top closers in the NL).
Aubrey Huff is, quite possibly, the greatest Tampa Bay Devil Ray ever. I'm glad that he gets to play for a contender, but at the same time I feel sorry for the half dozen D-Ray fans.
I thought Carl Crawford passed Huff as best Devil Ray ever about a year ago. If the top tier prospects they have can somehow figure out how not to get in trouble, the Devil Rays will actually have an overabundance of talented everyday players. Problem is that outside of Kazmir, the best pitching they have is pretty much back of the rotation starters and arsonists in the bullpen.
Originally posted by redsoxnationI thought Carl Crawford passed Huff as best Devil Ray ever about a year ago. If the top tier prospects they have can somehow figure out how not to get in trouble, the Devil Rays will actually have an overabundance of talented everyday players. Problem is that outside of Kazmir, the best pitching they have is pretty much back of the rotation starters and arsonists in the bullpen.
I thought the same thing, so I started a post comparing Huff's and Crawford's numbers, only to be *shocked* to see Huff dominate him in everything but the obvious stolen bases and Crawford with a *very* slight edge in batting average (.289 to .288). Granted Huff had two more seasons in St. Petersburg than Crawford thus far, but Crawford doesn't look to be a threat to match Huff in homers, RBI, slugging, walks, OBP or total bases. I think the two were also pretty close in runs, with a slight edge to Huff. Anyway, the point is, even if Crawford is better, Huff has really been underappreciated, mainly cause he plays for the Devil Rays.