Ramirez and Damon to the Rays, Wells to the Angels.

Yesterday late afternoon some big signings and trades went down as the Tampa Bay Rays singed both free agents Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon and the Angels made an impact trade with the Blue Jays.

So after the Tampa Bay Rays lost a good part of their team in the offseason they signed two free agent players, but are they impact players? The Rays signed free agent DH Manny Ramirez who played half a season with the Dodgers and the White Sox for a one year deal worth $2 million dollars and they signed free agent outfielder Johnny Damon who played one year with the Tigers for a one year deal worth $5.25 million dollars.

Do I think it will replace the lost of Carl Crawford or Carlos Pena, I don't think so only because both of these players are in the late 30's and are not the same players they were when they played together. Both Ramirez and Damon played on the 2004 Boston Red Sox team that won its first World Series title since 1918 and then Damon was shipped off to the Yankees, and Ramirez eventually found himself in Dodger blue.

Since then Damon won himself another World Series title back in 2009 with the Yankees, and Ramirez was in the NLCS with the Dodgers in 2008 and 2009 but lost to the Phillies back to back years. As of right now Damon will play the outfield and Ramirez will DH for the Rays, but who knows what kind of impact they will bring to the Rays this season.


Manny Ramirez 2010 - AVG .292, 9 HR, 42 RBIs
Johnny Damon 2010 - AVG .271, 8 HR, 51 RBIs


Right after that deal got done about 10 minutes later the Angels made a big time impact move with a trade that involved the Blue Jays. The Angels would trade catcher Mike Nopoli and outfielder Juan Rivera for All-Star outfielder Vernon Wells.

Now this trade was a surprise because there was big rumor that the Phillies were interested in getting Jaun Rivera but I guess that's why they call it a rumor. I think this is a great move for the Angels after not closing a deal with Carl Crawford who signed with the Red Sox in the offseason. Wells is a great power hitter and a great impact player.

Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera aren't bad players in return. Napoli last year lead the Angels in home runs with 26 and Rivera who is an older player and may have lost some of his touch by none the less he still hits for average every year. I think this move is great for both teams, but I think it will help out the Angles more now that Wells is teamed up with Gold Glover Torii Hunter and right fielder Bobby Abreu.

Wells will be owed $86 million dollars in the next four seasons, $23 million next season and $21 million in each of the following seasons. So the Angels finally made their big move this offseason.


Vernon Well 2010 - AVG .273, 31 HR, 88 RBIs
Mike Napoli 2010 - AVG .238, 26 HR, 68 RBIs
Juan Rivera 2010 - AVG .252, 15 HR, 52 RBIs