Rays Agree To Deal With James Loney - Gary Armida's Blog

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Rays Agree To Deal With James Loney Stuck

Posted on December 3, 2012 at 08:34 AM.

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(Nashville, Tennessee)- In search of a first baseman, the Tampa Bay Rays appear to have landed their target. In a typical Rays� move, they are buying low as they have reportedly come to an agreement with James Loney on a one year, $2 million deal. The deal was first reported by Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports and will become official once Loney takes a physical.

Loney hasn�t quite had the career that many foresaw as he hit 15 home runs along with 18 doubles and 4 triples in 344 at bats as a 22 year old in 2007. Those 15 home runs are still a career high despite playing in at least 144 games in each season since. In seven seasons, the left handed first baseman has hit .282/.339/.419 with an average of 25 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs, and 66 RBI.

It was clear that the Dodgers were running out of patience with him as he never developed in a dominant doubles hitter and had bottomed out in 2012, hitting just .254/.302/.344 before being included in the blockbuster trade with the Red Sox.

The Rays now have a left handed hitting first baseman in Loney to replace Carlos Pena, who hit a disappointing .197/.330/.354 with 17 doubles, 2 triples, and 19 home runs. Replacing Pena with Loney won�t help with on base percentage or add any power. But, it will help with cutting down on strikeouts, a category that the Rays ranked second in the AL.

Loney has a career walk percentage of 7.8 and a strikeout rate of 12%. Carlos Pena has a better walk percentage (14%), but his strikeout rate is 26.8%.

The Rays will likely choose to use Loney as part of a platoon as he is a career .294/.351/.441 hitter against right handed pitchers and just a .248/.302/.355 hitter against southpaws. Last season, the Rays hit just .240/.316/.398 against right handers. In fairness, they did have a similar line against left handers. But, if Loney is used correctly, he could help an offense that scored just 697 runs, which was just 11th in the American League.

Obviously, the Rays are all about pitching and defense as they allowed just 577 runs all season. Loney fits that model as he is one of the best defensive first basemen in the league. While defensive metrics are still a bit raw when it comes to evaluating first basemen, but Loney posted a UZR of 9.1 and a DRS of 6. In each of his seven years, he has been one of the leading first basemen in those categories.

The Rays are a smart organization and typically buy low on offensive players who can become an asset within a certain role. James Loney fits that model. He can hit right handed pitching and he plays an excellent first base. As long as they don�t expand his role--which they shouldn�t have to--his addition will help a club that won 90 games despite having one of the least productive offenses in the sport.

It�s the first of what is likely many moves for the Rays, whose offseason may be one of the most interesting in the sport as they have a couple of big name pitchers who could be traded as well as a deep Minor League system.