The Tampa Bay Rays have some decisions to make before Opening Day and one of them revolves around first baseman James Loney, who has been the subject of trade rumors dating back to last season. If they're still looking to move him, the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox should consider a deal.
Loney's three seasons in Tampa have been solid, but the Rays went outside the organization this offseason to acquire Logan Morrison and Steve Pearce, both of whom play first base and possess more power at the plate. They're also much cheaper than the $8-million salary ($9.67 million if you include his $1.67-million signing bonus) owed to Loney in 2016.
The 31-year-old is batting .291/.337/.393 in 417 games with the Rays, but he has just 138 runs scored, 26 homers and 176 RBI over that span. Tampa sought more run production over the past few months and got it, which now makes Loney's departure even more likely.
"His $8 million contract, which the Rays tried to dump all offseason, coupled with his lack of power does not work this season for the Rays, who made the effort to upgrade the offense," writes Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times.
It's unknown if anyone is interested, but the Yankees and White Sox could be potential suitors.
Yankees
New York was hit with some bad news when it was announced first baseman Greg Bird would miss all of 2016 after undergoing shoulder surgery. As a result, Dustin Ackley, who has played 22 career MLB games at first base, is listed as the team's backup behind Mark Teixeira.
Teixeira, by the way, is hitting .128 with a .381 OPS in 39 at-bats this spring and the veteran has played in just 372 games (out of the possible 648) over the past four seasons due to various injuries. He put up good numbers in 2015, but injuries again limited him to only 111 games, which is when Bird came in handy.
With Bird out of the picture and a lot of uncertainty surrounding Teixeira, general manager Brian Cashman should at least consider a trade for Loney, as he could still get solid playing time as a backup. The 10-year veteran could fill in for Tex in the event of an injury, provide days off for the aging veteran and also take over at designated hitter to give Alex Rodriguez some rest.
Yes, he's costly at $8 million, but money is never a problem for the Yankees and they spent $0 in free agency this offseason. Depth will be key for the Yankees heading into 2016 and Loney would be great insurance for the oft-injured and unreliable Teixeira.
White Sox
Chicago is dealing with the recent and abrupt retirement of Adam LaRoche, who made headlines for his controversial decision to hang up his cleats. We won't get into that, but he was expected to be the team's designated hitter and now there's a void regardless of how manager Robin Ventura decides to write in his lineup.
LaRoche's retirement saved the club $13 million, so it'd still be saving $5 million if they were to go after Loney. His presence could also give Jose Abreu some days off in the field, which is what LaRoche helped do last year (Abreu logged 115 games at first and 39 at DH).
"Can the Rays get someone to take Loney? With Adam LaRoche retiring, the White Sox have LaRoche's $13-million salary to play with and Loney makes $9.67 million," writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
"It would seem like a decent fit, but the White Sox are carefully going through their options; Loney, Allen Craig, Ryan Howard (with relief from Philadelphia), and Carlos Quentin all make sense."
However, Loney's contact rate would significantly help the White Sox after the club batted just .250 as a team in 2015. Loney has also struck out just 191 times over the past three seasons and that would be an upgrade over LaRoche's horrid 2015 season where he was rung up 133 times in 429 at-bats.
