Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay Rays

The defending American League East champion Tampa Bay Rays signaled Friday that they are not conceding the division to the Yankees and Red Sox[team stats], agreeing to contracts with a pair of big-name former All-Stars.
The Rays signed former Yankee Johnny Damon and have agreed to terms withManny Ramirez [stats], Damon’s teammate on the 2004 World Series champion Red Sox.
Both players are represented by agent Scott Boras, who conceived of the idea of Damon and Ramirez as a package deal for Tampa Bay.
The Rays, who are cutting payroll because of poor fan support, have lost outfielder Carl Crawford, first baseman Carlos Pena and closer Rafael Soriano to free agency. They also traded starter Matt Garza to the Cubs.
Damon and Ramirez should compete for at-bats in leftfield and at designated hitter.
Damon, 37, hit .271 with eight home runs and 51 RBIs in 145 games with the Tigers in 2010. He flirted with a return to the Bronx, but those talks ended when the Yankees agreed to terms with Andruw Jones on Thursday. Damon, who lives in the Orlando area, is 429 hits away from 3,000.
Ramirez, 38, hit a combined .298-9-42 for the Dodgers and White Sox last season. The 12-time All-Star appeared in only 90 games and was on the disabled list three times.
Damon signed his contract Friday. It was reported by SI.com to be for one year and $5.25 million plus $750,000 in attendance bonuses. SI.com reported Ramirez’s deal as $2 million for one year.
Damon and Ramirez could help the Rays boost attendance, but it’s unclear if the club can make a long-term go of it at Tropicana Field. The Rays hope for a new stadium in Tampa.
It has been a busy week for Boras. After attending Wednesday’s news conference at Yankee Stadium to introduce Soriano, he hammered out a one-year, $2-million contract for Jones to become the Yankees’ fourth outfielder.
In another transaction involving an AL East team, the Blue Jays shipped outfielder Vernon Wells and the $86 million remaining on his contract to the Angels for catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera.
Mets sign two. The Mets signed lefthander Tim Byrdak and righthander Blaine Boyer to minor-league contracts and invited both to spring training.
Byrdak, 37, was 2-2 with a 3.49 ERA for the Astros in 2010. He held lefthanded batters to a .213 average and will compete with Taylor Tankersley and possibly Oliver Perez for a bullpen spot. Boyer, 29, was 3-2 with a 4.26 ERA for Arizona last year, holding righthanded hitters to a .198 average.
The Mets also announced that Tim Teufel will manage Triple-A Buffalo. Wally Backman, a finalist for the Mets’ job, is expected to be named manager of Double-A Binghamton shortly.