Losses: SS Edgar Renteria, IF Juan Uribe, UT Eugenio Velez, OF Jose Guillen Additions: SS Miguel Tejada Players Resigned: OF Pat Burrell, 1B/OF Aubrey Huff, P Guillermo Mota Projected Lineup, Rotation, and Closer C Buster Posey 1B Brandon Belt 2B Freddy Sanchez SS Miguel Tejada 3B Pablo Sandoval LF Aubrey Huff CF Andres Torres RF […]

When the Tampa Bay Rays signed LF/DH Pat Burrell to a 2-year $16 million contract this past off-season, I thought that the defending AL champs had gotten a steal – especially in comparison to the 3-year $31.5 million deal that his replacement in Philadelphia, Raul Ibanez, would garner from Burrell’s old team. And while I […]

Last year was a year of big firsts for the Tampa Bay Rays. New uniforms. New name. And a new habit: winning. Also, fighting. From their Spring training clashes with the Yankees to their June brawl with the Red Sox, the AL East’s big kahunas were put on notice early: no longer would the Tampa […]

To celebrate the upcoming inauguration, each day we’ll post a different Obamicon, featuring one of our favorite baseball personalities. Today, we present Pat Burrell (take one drink). The Phillies drafted Burrell with the first pick in the 1998 MLB draft and from day one his play (on and off the field) was such that fans […]

Today Philly Daily News columnist Bill Conlin tells us to rest easy — Raul Ibanez is going to be way better than Pat Burrell ever was. And the 2009 Phillies lineup, which is chock full of lefthanded hitters, will be much improved. From Philly.com: Manuel will have some flexibility. You could see a lineup against […]

Today the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies signed Raul Ibanez to a three-year, $30MM contract. This means Pat “The Bat” Burrell won’t be back. Is Ibanez really better than Burrell? Let’s look at the numbers. Last year Ibanez hit 23 home runs. Burrell hit 33. Over the last three seasons Ibanez has 77 home runs and […]