A left-handed slugging first baseman in his thirties has just signed a five-year extension for $25M per season.  Obviously I'm not talking about Carlos Pena, but the signing of Ryan Howard is sure to have a significant impact toward that end.

Whereas two years ago when the market seemed to set a fairly reasonable value for sluggers with high K rates, this extension appears to do the opposite.  Granted Howard is a former MVP and has a better slash line the last couple years than Pena.  But, a $25M per year deal has to be at least twice what the Rays would be willing to pay to keep Pena around, and I don't think Howard is twice as good.

I thought going into this off-season the Rays would have a legit shot at retaining the slugger for a few more years at a slightly elevated price, but with this move it almost seems to set the bar too high at the outset.

Thoughts?

According to Topkin in the Heater update for today's game, Matt Joyce has been instructed after his visit with Dr. Andrews not to hit or throw for 3 to 4 weeks, but there's no surgery required.

Here is the direct quote...

*OF Matt Joyce (elbow strain) said there was some good news and bad news to come out of his visit with noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Alabama. He was encouraged that there was no tears, and no surgery required. But the fact he has to rest for 3-4 weeks (no hitting or throwing) is still a bit frustrating considering how much he wants to get on the field.

I guess this means there's still hope we see Joyce up with the big club later this summer, but it's still unfortunate to see this happen to a guy who was set up to take the RF job out of training camp.

In Buster Olney's latest Blog entry (ESPN Insider), he lists 10 players who pushed themselves into contention for regular jobs with their spring performances.  Below are the write-ups on two Rays players that made the list...

Sean Rodriguez, Rays: The second baseman, acquired in the Scott Kazmir trade with the Angels, walked into spring training and elbowed his way into a starting job with one of the best teams in baseball by hitting .460. Some rival evaluators do not think this is a fluke. "He is a good player," one American League East executive said this week.

 and...

Matt Garza, Rays: He worked on his command in the spring, Joe Smith writes, and appears to be poised to take his performance to the next level -- which Tampa Bay needs. The Red Sox have Jon Lester and Josh Beckett to anchor their rotation, and the Yankees have CC Sabathia; Garza has the ability to be that kind of pitcher.

Buster also has a blip further down in his "Dings and Dents" section that details a scenario if JP Howell's injury lingers...

Spoke with some scouts who think that if J.P. Howell does not bounce back from his shoulder problem and the Rays are in need of a reliever late in the season as they push for a playoff spot, they will have an internal solution. "It wouldn't surprise me if they moved David Price into the bullpen later in the year and called up [Jeremy] Hellickson," one evaluator said. "Price could give them a lot of what Howell gave them out of the bullpen, and Hellickson has a chance to be pretty good."

What do you think about the probability of that scenario?  Like or dislike?