Pat Burrell Signs With Tampa Bay Rays: FANTASY IMPACT

Left fielder Pat Burrell has agreed to a 2 year $16 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday ending his 9 year relationship with the Philadelphia Phillies. Burrell has never been known for his defense, so it makes sense to expect the Rays to move him to the DH spot in the line up.

FANTASY IMPACT

There are a few good positives that like about this signing for Burrell and his signing with Tampa. For one, he is going to team where his fantasy value won't take a hit. He should still be good for 30HR, 90-100RBI, a .255AVG and 75R. If your league counts this sort of thing, his OBP and SLG should also remain similar to what he has done in the past. Figure the Tamp line up to look something like this

Akinora Iwamura
Carl Crawford
B.J. Upton
Carlos Pena
Evan Longoria
Pat Burrell
Matt Joyce
Dioner Navarro
Jason Bartlett

This is just a preliminary make up and it could change during Spring Training, but top to bottom there might not be a deeper line up in all of baseball. I like the fact that Pena and Longoria will be hitting in front of him and second year man Matt Joyce will be hitting behind him. I like Joyce's sleeper power potential going into this season as well and catcher Dioner Navarro showed himself to be a formidable out at the plate, hitting .294AVG with 7HR and 54RBI. Not great numbers, but respectable for a catcher.

The aforementioned move the the DH spot in the line up should only help Burrell's value. His defensive range has become a legitimate concern for the Phillies over the last few seasons, so the signing won't hurt the Rays' strong defense. At the age of 32 the move to the DH spot should also help Pat the Bat stay healthy and keep him from waring down as the season progresses as we saw last season with the Phillies.

While Burrell has never separated himself as an elite outfielder he does have legit power and is good for a solid 30HR and 90RBI. I think that being out of the scrutiny of the Philadelphia media and fan base will also help his psyche and focus throughout the year. He will probably be a but undervalued going into your draft this season, as he normally is, so don't be afraid to take him and might actually be worth it to target him as someone you take a risk on and draft a round or two earlier than you expect to.