There has been much speculation about what the Rays will do with Edwin Jackson. Let's assume for the moment that the Rays do not trade Andy Sonnanstine and both Sonny and David Price are in the rotation at the end of Spring Training. The Rays would then have two options. Trade Jackson or more him to the bullpen.

If Jackson is moved to the bullpen, one factor that has been ignored so far is cost. Jackson is arbitration-eligible for the first time. Taking a look at starting pitchers that were arbitration-eligible for the first time last season, Jackson will make $2.5-3 million in 2009 if he goes to arbitration or signs a one-year contract. Jackson is coming off a season in which he was 14-11 with a 101 ERA+. Last year, Dave Bush was coming off a season in which he went 12-10 with a 88 ERA+. Bush signed a one-year deal for $2.55 million. Joe Blanton, signed a one-year deal for $3.7 million after going 14-10 with a 106 ERA+. However, Blanton had a stronger resume prior to arbitration-eligibility than Jackson. Daniel Cabrera, signed a one-year deal for $2.875 million after going 9-18 with an 83 ERA+.

On the contrary, relief pitchers in their first year of arbitration-eligibility signed one-year deals for $0.8-1.2 million in most cases. Aaron Heilman, who was coming off a strong 2007 season (140 ERA+, 1.070 WHIP), and pitches in a role comparable to what Jackson would be for the Rays, signed a one-year deal for $1.2 million.

Therefore, if Jackson is moved to the bullpen, the Rays will pay have to pay him 2-3 times the salary of a comparable fourth-year relief pitcher, without even knowing if Jackson will be effective out of the bullpen.

So the question that needs to be asked is: Are the Rays willing to pay $2.5-3 million for Jackson to be a middle reliever, with the hopes that he could someday become an effective closer, or would they prefer a player in that slot that makes $0.5-1 million with little or no upside, but may be more effective than Jackson in 2009?

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DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Posts over the next few days will be limited. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels.
• An interesting take on how the Rays' 10 years of sucktitude, followed by sudden success mirrored a similar run by the Democratic Party. [The League of Nations]
• Here is a roundup of some of the top talent available in the Rule 5 draft, a list that includes two Rays. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• David Chalk just keeps churning out the "Your Sportsmen Ain't S#!t" posts. [Bugs and Cranks]
• The Examiner takes a look at catching prospect Matt Spring. [The Examiner]

Joe Resnick talked to Joe Maddon at the GM meetings about his upcoming honeymoon and about the Rays offseason plans. Joe Resnick didn't do his homework.

A couple of the idiotic things written by Resnick:

1. "The Rays’ top priorities are to settle their bullpen, find a regular right fielder and add a starting pitcher."...A starting pitcher? The Rays have at least 8 guys in the organization that could be a major league starting pitcher in 2009. We are not saying the Rays won't add one from outside the organization, but it is not one of their top priorities.
   
2. "Maddon is hopeful of keeping his young core of talent together, but he knows it will be difficult holding onto Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton in a few years when they become eligible for free agency." Evan Longoria? Will somebody please inform Mr. Resnick that Longoria is signed through 2016.
   

Tomorrow, look for the column in which Resnick tells us how John McCain can win the election.

Just when we were starting to hope that a trip to the World Series would end this type of nonsense, Joe Resnick goes and totally redeems our lack of faith in baseball writers.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• In case you missed it yesterday, we updated our 25-man and 40-man roster projections for 2009. Those can be found in the sidebar.
• Outs Per Swing takes a look at the Rays "wants and needs" for the offseason. Part 2 focuses on the pitching staff...We are warming to the idea of seeing if Jeff Niemann can be a future closer. [Outs Per Swing]
• Peter Abraham ran into Joe Maddon at the GM meetings in California. Maddon stated that the team will address right field and the bullpen but "aren't planning much beyond that." Maddon reiterated that David Price will be a starting pitcher and that nobody knows how much Rocco Baldelli can be expected to contribute "down the road". Abraham also noted that Maddon still has his Rayhawk but is planning on trimming it prior to his wedding on Saturday. [The LoHud Yankees Blog]
• Did MLB make a rule that says the Mets are only allowed to go after one pitcher this winter? Just because Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez are the Mets priorities doesn't mean they can't also have their eyes on other pitchers. [Drays Bay]
• Metsmerized likes the idea of trading Aaron Heilman "and another player" to the Rays for Edwin Jackson. They even wonder if the "other player" could be somebody to help the Rays land Matt Holliday. [Metsmerized]
• Dan O'Dowd (Rockies GM) now says that the Rockies don't necessarily have to receive pitching in return for Matt Holliday. Troy Renck of the Denver Post brings up the Rays and suggests Edwin Jackson and Carl Crawford. This is intriguing in that Crawford will make $8.25 million in '09 and $18.25 million over the next 2 seasons, and Jackson is arbitration-eligible and will command $1.5-2 million. Adding Holliday's $13.5 million does not seem like such a stretch if those two players are taken off the payroll, and the Rays can hold on to all of their top pitching prospects. [Denver Post]
• Purple Row wonders if the Rockies should be interested in Carl Crawford as part of a package to send Matt Holliday to the Rays. [Purple Row]
• Several teams have apparently approached Andrew Friedman at the GM meetings about BJ Upton...This is wishful thinking on their part. Upton isn't even arbitration-eligible until after the '09 season. Maybe the Rays start to consider a move then, but not now while the Rays have one of the top talents in the game playing for about $500K. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  
• David Price will perform the coin-toss prior to this weekend's Vanderbilt-Florida game. [Nashville City Paper]
  
• As a result of the election, free agents may be in a hurry to sign prior to January 1, or else have their signing bonuses taxed at a higher rate. [Big League Stew]
  
• We laugh because it is funny, we laugh because it is true (at least for a few of the Red Sox fans that were trolling this site during the ALCS). [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
• Examiner.com takes a look at the Rays roster and potential off-season changes...They lost us when discussing arbitration-eligible players. For some reason they list Grant Balfour as a "maybe" while predicting which arbitration-eligible players will return to the Rays next season. [Examiner]
  

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Ken Davidoff of Newsday is reporting that the Rays have some interest in the Mets' Aaron Heilman...Heilman scares us because we think there is still a part of Heilman that wants to be a starting pitcher even though the Mets have kept in the bullpen the last 4 seasons. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• Mets Fever wonders if the Mets could swing a deal with the Rays in which Aaron Heilman and Edwin Jackson are the main pieces. If the price is too high, they wouldn't mind Heilman for Jonny Gomes, noting that "Heilman absolutely has to be moved, [they] don't think he can succeed [with the Mets] and needs a change of scenery." [Mets Fever]
• A tale of two fans that roadtripped from Bloomington, Indiana to St. Pete for game 2 of the World Series. [Sixty Feet, Six Inches]
  
• Creative Loafing takes a look at the impact of the Rays World Series run on the chances of gaining support for a new stadium. They feel that the increased support for the Rays may actually hurt their chances. [Creative Loafing]