BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: MLB: Rays keep Gomes, send Cantu down

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Saturday, March 31, 2007

MLB: Rays keep Gomes, send Cantu down

This is no joke to Cantu…

“What can I say, I’m not a Minor League player,” Cantu said. “I think a change of scenery would be best.”

Cantu elaborated by saying he asked the Rays to trade him.

“And it’s just for the best,” Cantu said. “I don’t have anything to prove down there. I guess I have to go.”

Rays manager Joe Maddon explained the decision.

“We just chose Jon’s bat right now,” Maddon said. “Jorge, we just felt like there was a lack of a position. Jon, we feel we can put him in the outfield now because he is functional. Jorge, we weren’t going to play him at second base. We didn’t see first base as a viable option right now. And we had other things we wanted to do with the DH role. On all three counts, it kind of knocked him out of there.”

Repoz Posted: March 31, 2007 at 03:17 PM | 24 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
Related News: General, Tampa Bay

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

Page 1 of 1 pages

1. Teheran's Uranium Enriched Missiles Posted: March 31, 2007 at 03:42 PM (#2321321)

So they are losing Cantu so as to guarantee Norton and Wiggington spots? nice going

2. Jim Wisinski

Posted: March 31, 2007 at 04:08 PM (#2321326)

It's not as if Cantu is any great prize himself. He has power and nothing else, including any semblance of defensive ability. It's stupid that it came down to Gomes or Cantu but Cantu going down is no great loss.

3. Cowboy Popup Posted: March 31, 2007 at 04:42 PM (#2321339)

I like this move, Cantu is not really good because he's so terrible in the field and at not making outs, and it probably takes some pressure of Upton, who obviously feels a whole bunch of pressure right now. If he has a good start to the season in AAA, trade him to the Mets.

4. RMc's grumbling has gone far enough Posted: March 31, 2007 at 05:22 PM (#2321346)

He has power and nothing else, including any semblance of defensive ability.

Gee, it's too bad the Rays don't play in a league where a player is allowed to bat without having to take the field. Oh, wait...

5. Jim Wisinski

Posted: March 31, 2007 at 05:29 PM (#2321350)

Gee, it's too bad the Rays don't play in a league where a player is allowed to bat without having to take the field. Oh, wait

Gee, that .311 OBP would sure look freaking great from the DH spot. Hence the "nothing else besides power" part of what I said.

6. 2ndedition Posted: March 31, 2007 at 05:53 PM (#2321358)

I always thought the Devil Rays had great potential. But it just seems as if they can never convert it to kinetic - mostly because mostly they're clueless in the trade market and unwilling to trade any of their excess "potential" in the outfield for the actual players they need. Demanding to receive full dollar value on that "potential" they wind up loosing Huff and sending Cantu to the minors. If they had traded either of them at the top of their games they could have had the starting pitching they desperately need (and incidently still had an outfield with plenty of "potential"). The problem with the Rays is the front office.

7. willcarrollsux Posted: March 31, 2007 at 06:01 PM (#2321360)

This means that Tim McCarver will no longer be doing this:

Jorge Cantu... (his standard pregnant pause to telegraph what he believes to be either a side-splitting joke or a sublime insight) ... CAN DO!

Which is a good thing.

8. The Curly W Theory Posted: March 31, 2007 at 06:31 PM (#2321371)

Gee, it's too bad the Rays don't play in a league where a player is allowed to bat without having to take the field. Oh, wait...

The answer is so simple as to hardly be believable...trade Cantu to the Tampa Bay Black Sox.

9. rlc Posted: March 31, 2007 at 07:00 PM (#2321374)

- Jorge can't hit!

- Jorge Cantu!

- Jorge can't field!

...crickets...

10. xdog Posted: March 31, 2007 at 08:33 PM (#2321393)

Space, if you hadn't posted the Black Sox link, I never would have read that "BASEBALL HAS EVOVLED!!!".

11. Crispix Attacks Posted: March 31, 2007 at 08:53 PM (#2321397)

It does seem odd that Cantu is being sent down. He does one thing very well. What does Ty Wigginton do well? Scoop up grounders that are hit right to him? Set new records for "lowest risk, lowest reward"?

12. Argu!!!! SATAN!!!! (Sessile Fielder) Posted: March 31, 2007 at 09:05 PM (#2321401)

Actually, it seems to me that Ty Wigginton does the same thing as Jorge Cantu: hit for reasonable power while posting poor OBPs, but he also passably fields several positions.

13. Famous Original Joe C Posted: March 31, 2007 at 09:05 PM (#2321402)

What does Ty Wigginton do well?

Um, play 5 positions and hit .330/.470? That's more valuable than Jorge Cantu.

14. Greg Schuler Posted: March 31, 2007 at 10:15 PM (#2321416)

Demanding to receive full dollar value on that "potential" they wind up loosing Huff

Umm, the Rays traded Huff to Houston for Mitch Talbot and Ben Zobrist last season. I guess you are inferring that the Rays could have traded him sooner and gotten more, but that was a different regime.

15. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: March 31, 2007 at 10:48 PM (#2321432)

1) Tampa got good value for Huff.
2) Cantu is a horrible defender, he seems to be one of those guys who doesn't improve on defense when moved to a less-challenging position, and he doesn't hit enough to be a good DH. He might improve enough to DH in the future (only 25 this year), but then again, he might not (#1 sim score comp: Fernando Tatis).

16. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: March 31, 2007 at 10:48 PM (#2321433)

Elijah Dukes will be the first "Elijah" in the big leagues since Elijah "Pumpsie" Green. Let that sink in.

17. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: March 31, 2007 at 10:51 PM (#2321438)

Also, Cantu has a really weird list of sim scores, including a 924 for both Jim Thome and Gil McDougald.

18. buddy Posted: April 01, 2007 at 12:32 AM (#2321472)

brendan harris over cantu is a strange enough decision. but salas and ryu and shawn camp over chad orvella?

19. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: April 01, 2007 at 03:12 PM (#2321622)

Can anyone else remember a 23 year old having an 100 RBI season and being sent to the minors two years later?

20. MSI Posted: April 01, 2007 at 03:38 PM (#2321628)

Cantu is now complaining that he won't go to AAA and demands a trade.

But is Cantu really that good? His power was good for one season, and his minor league numbers were flat and then he just exploded for one good season, and continued it in the majors. Then there was last year. Yes his bat wasn't that bad, but apparently his fielding was. I wonder if he'd be better suited for an outfield spot. WHy don't the Marlins trade for him and use him in the OF?

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Jorge-Cantu.shtml

21. The District Attorney Posted: April 01, 2007 at 03:48 PM (#2321633)

Well, McDougald wasn't Thome, but he was pretty damn good.

Cantu probably belongs at 1B (assuming his hitting improves with less defensive responsibility...), but I can see why the D-Rays aren't interested in it when they have Guzman, Bankston, Dukes, Gomes, etc., and I can also see why few other teams would be interested in taking a guy coming off a 78 OPS+ and making him their 1B. I dunno how long it will take for the stars to align in such a way that he gets into a position where he can succeed. I do think Upton is better off at 2B, and that his development should have priority over Cantu's.

22. Jim Wisinski

Posted: April 01, 2007 at 03:57 PM (#2321637)

I wonder if he'd be better suited for an outfield spot. WHy don't the Marlins trade for him and use him in the OF?

He's pretty damn slow, I don't know if he could be even an average defender out there. That's another problem with his offense besides the low OBP, he's a negative on the basepaths and grounds into a lot of DPs.

23. Argu!!!! SATAN!!!! (Sessile Fielder) Posted: April 01, 2007 at 03:59 PM (#2321640)

Can anyone else remember a 23 year old having an 100 RBI season and being sent to the minors two years later?

Not sure what this guy's story is, but if he did get sent to the minors, it certainly wasn't for poor performance.

24. The District Attorney Posted: April 01, 2007 at 04:02 PM (#2321642)

Not sure what this guy's story is, but if he did get sent to the minors, it certainly wasn't for poor performance.

His boomstick intimidated the other players.

Page 1 of 1 pages

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Saturday, March 31, 2007

MLB: Rays keep Gomes, send Cantu down

Reader Comments and Retorts

Support BBTF

Bookmarks

Hot Topics