The San Diego Padres really need to jumpstart their team and what better way than to add B.J. Upton to the roster.  Upton’s name will be thrown around this winter as the Rays are tiring of his frequent laziness.  This could be one stop shopping for the Rays if they could get closer Heath Bell and lefty swinging outfielder Will Venable for B.J. Upton and either Shawn Riggans or John Jaso.  This would make the Rays an incredible team as they only really lack a reliable closer and Heath Bell is certainly that.  Venable is a solid young player but his upside is nowhere near Upton’s.  This would be a calculated risk for the Rays as Upton could turn into the superstar that many have projected him to be.  This would be a win now move for the Rays and they should go for it.

The Cubs want to trade 31-year old switch hitting OF/DH Milton Bradley in the worst way and they want to trade him to the Rays with money for 33-year old righty swinging DH/OF Pat Burrell. Bradley is pure team poison which if you remember is why the Rays traded Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young. Well those two guys look like altar boys when standed next to Milton Bradley who is one of the most overrated players in all of baseball. Bradley played in 124 games for the Cubs last season and he was 101 for 393 (.257 avg, .775 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 12 homers and 40 RBIs. Those are not good numbers. Bradley has only played more than 126 games in a major league season one time in 10 years! True, Pat Burrell stunk last season but a return to the outfield could rejuvenate his bat. He played in 122 games for the Rays last season and he was 91 for 412 (.221 avg, .682 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 14 homers and 64 RBIs. Both players have played 10 years in the major leagues so here is a lot at their career numbers. Bradley first: He has played in 941 games in which he is 904 for 3,260 (.277 avg, .821 OPS) with 501 runs scored, 115 homers and 439 RBIs. Burrell has played in 1,428 games in his major league career and he is 1,257 for 4,947 (.254 avg, .838 OPS) with 700 runs scored, 265 homers and 891 RBIs. Burrell is the more dependable player so if the Cubs really want to move Bradley I would make them kick in another player like 27-year old right reliever Angel Guzman who has the kind of arm you can use late in ball games. He pitched in 55 games for the Cubs out of the pen last season and he was 3-3 with 1 save, a 2.95 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He only allowed 41 hits in 61 innings last season for the Cubbies. The Rays should hold the Cubs’ feet to the flame if they really want to get rid of Bradley.

No one doubts the ability of 25-year old righty swinging CF B.J. Upton. But, he’s often lazy both in the field and running the bases. He also has really played awful this season appearing in 128 games in which he is 119 for 507 (.235 avg, .671 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 10 homers, 43 RBIs and 37 stolen bases. Upton will be elgible for arbitration and the Rays have to figure out if he’s worth the money he will be making or not. Because of his age the Rays could net a nice haul of prospects for Upton so they will have a tough decision to make on him. Upton has now played in 497 games in his five years with the Rays and he is 490 for 1,846 (.265 avg, .760 OPS) with 282 runs scored, 48 homers, 214 RBIs and 118 stolen bases.

The Rays need a little tweaking to stay with the Yankees and Red Sox in the American League East. They will look into making a trade for either a RF or a 2B with the idea of moving Zobrist full time to RF. Either way they don’t seem to like the platoon of Gabe Kapler and Gabe Gross. Whispers were being made that the Rays were very interested in Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates which would be a great addition to the team. Felipe Lopez (Arizona) and Ty Wigginton (Orioles) appear to be the top 2B options outside of Sanchez and they wouldn’t cost near as much in prospects or cash. RF options include Mark Teahan (K.C.), Jeremy Hermida (FLA) and Josh Willingham (Washington) but none of those guys have huge upsides and they are all below average right fielders. The catching situation could also use some improving as Dioner Navarro is proving his 2008 season was a fluke. Michel Hernandez has done a good job backing up Navarro this season but the Rays could do better. With that in mind the Rays will maybe make calls to the Blue Jays (Rod Barajas), the Indians (Kelly Shoppach), the Mariners (Jeff Clement) and the Royals (Miguel Olivo and John Buck). I favor calling the Mariners who are a perfect fit with the Rays as they could use Reid Brignac to start at SS. Clement would definately push Navarro for the starting job as he is playing well in AAA ball right now. The bullpen could also use some help at the end of games. Jose Valverde (Houston), Heath Bell (Padres) and Matt Capps (Pirates) are all established closers. Bell would probably cost the most of this bunch. The Pirates or Astros probably wouldn’t want much more than a couple of decent prospects. The Padres also have righty Cla Meredith who could give the Rays some solid innings at the back end of games. The wild card would be calling the Tigers about Joel Zumaya with the idea of making him their closer. It will be interesting to see what the Rays do because they don’t want to add much payroll.

To make room for David Price in the starting rotation in 2009 the Rays will likely move either Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson before spring training for a big bat. The Rays would want either a DH or a RF for Sonnanstine or Jackson. The Rays should make a play for 1B Ryan Garko of the Indians with the idea of making him a full time DH. The Indians might have a interest in Sonnanstine who is a local boy from Ohio. I’m not so sure the Indians would do this straight up but if the Rays threw in Juan Salas this trade would probably be made. Garko would give the Rays a inexpensive righty slugger while the Indians would get a solid starting pitcher in Sonnanstine so this would be a win/win trade.