The Tampa Bay Rays have signed 27-year old lefty swinging 1B Casey Kotchman to a minor league deal. Kotchman played in 125 games for the Mariners last season and he was 90 of 414 (.217 avg, .616 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 9 homers and 51 RBIs. He has now played in 645 games in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 540 of 2,088 (.259 avg, .717 OPS) with 232 runs scored, 49 homers, 284 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Kotchman is a outstanding defensive player and he will get a shot to compete with Dan Johnson for the starting gig at 1B in 2011. This is a nice low risk/decent reward signing for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays have claimed 26-year old righty reliever Rob Delaney off waivers from the Twins. Delaney made his major league debut last season for the Twins working in 1 game in which he pitched 1 inning allowing 2 hits, 1 walk and 1 earned run. He also pitched in 61 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season in which he was 7-9 with 4 saves, a 4.72 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Delaney has now pitched in 242 games (0 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 22-19 with 66 saves, a 2.96 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has spent two years in AAA as he is having trouble making the leap in competition. With the current state of the Rays’ bullpen, it’s probably smart to bring in a guy like Delaney and give him a shot to make the team this spring.

John Jaso (lefty swinger) is likely going to platoon with either Kelly Shoppach or Robinson Chirinos behind the plate in 2011. The 27-year old Jaso burst onto the scene in Tampa last season. He played in 109 games for the Rays last year and he was 89 of 339 (.263 avg, .750 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 5 homers, 44 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Jaso also showed an outstanding eye at the plate as he walked 59 times while only whiffing 39 times. That led to him actually leading off for the Rays a lot last season. He is also a outstanding baserunner as he always seems to advance whenever the ball hits the dirt. Jaso has to hit to be an asset because he isn’t much of a defender. He had 5 errors and 7 passed balls in 96 games behind the plate for the Rays last season. Jaso only threw out 9 of 53 (17.0%) of baserunners trying to steal against him but Rays’ pitchers had a 3.87 ERA with him behind the plate.

30-year old righty swinging Kelly Shoppach is going to have a hard time beating out Robinson Chirinos for the backup catcher job this spring. Shoppach played in 63 games for the Rays last season and he was 31 of 158 (.196 avg, .650 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 5 homers and 17 RBIs. Shoppach does have good power but he always seems to be swinging for the fences as he whiffed a stunning 71 times last season! Shoppach had 2 errors in 56 games behind the plate for the Rays last season and he also had 2 passed balls. He threw out 6 of 35 (17.1%) runners trying to steal against him and Rays’ pitchers had a 4.35 ERA with him behind the plate. Shoppach will have to bring his A-Game to spring training if he’s going to win a job with the Rays in 2011. He also could get traded during the spring.

26-year old rookie righty swinging catcher Robinson Chirinos is a converted catcher so he will also likely have issues on D if he makes the Rays out of spring training. He played in 85 games in the minors last season and he made 8 errors and had 5 passes balls so he has some issues that need worked out on D. But, he can flat out hit which makes him appealing to the Rays. Chirinos played in 92 games in AA+AAA-ball last season for the Cubs and he was 104 of 319 (.326 avg, .999 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 18 homers, 74 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Like Jaso, Chirinos has a good eye at the plate as he walked 44 times in the minors last season while only whiffing 43 times. The Rays are going to give Chirinos every opportunity to take Kelly Shoppach’s job this spring as he was part of the return for Matt Garza.

PREDICTED GRADE FOR THE RAYS CATCHERS IN 2011: C

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed 37-year old lefty swinging outfielder Johnny Damon to a 1-year, $5.25 million dollar deal with another possible $750,000 bucks in incentives which are tied to Rays’ attendance in 2011. Damon played in 145 games for the Tigers last season and he was 146 of 539 (.271 avg, .756 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 8 homers, 51 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has now played in 2,276 games in his first 16 years in the majors and he is 2,571 of 8,947 (.287 avg, .791 OPS) with 1,564 runs scored, 215 homers, 1,047 RBIs and 385 stolen bases. Damon will be replacing Carl Crawford in left field for the Rays and I think he will do a solid job offensively, but the Rays will miss C.C.’s defense unless B.J. Upton steps up.

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed 38-year old righty swinging OF/DH Manny Ramirez to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal. Ramirez played in 90 games for the White Sox & Dodgers last season in which he was 79 of 265 (.298 avg, .870 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 9 homers, 42 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 2,297 games in his first 18 years in the majors and he is 2,573 of 8,227 (.313 avg, .998 OPS) with 1,544 runs scored, 555 homers, 1,830 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. Ramirez is a 12-time All-Star with 9 Silver Slugger Awards in his career. I look for him to be plenty motivated to excel as the Rays’ full time DH. I love this signing for the Rays as $2 million bucks for a hitter like ManRam is a good gamble.