While I don't disagree with your points about the potential cost of keeping Price down on the farm, his main competitors for the five spot, Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann, are both out of options. Admittedly, neither has the ceiling of Price, but the move allows the Rays to maintain as many organizational assets as possible while they work through a roster bottleneck; given that both names reportedly surfaced in trade discussions with the Padres and Pirates, it seems likely that a deal will help clear the logjam and turn this into a short-term situation and a tempest in a teapot.

Also, Joe Maddon indicated that he'd prefer Price throws 175 innings this year. Whether that's his wish or the organization's actual target is unclear, though given the current administration's reputation I would presume he's on the same page as the higher-ups: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/25/rays-option-david-price-four-others-durham/sports-rays/

Would the nationals really start Strasburg in the rotation??????that is crazy

They're not going to get six years for $20 million. The six-year figure is tied to the $50 million figure. If it's $15-20 million, that will be spread out among the signing bonus and first our seasons. He'll still get his arbitration years, well inflated by his prior salaries by that point.

Is anyone else concerned about Snider's minor league strikeout numbers? An impact hitter usually doesn't swing-and-miss so much in the minors.

I think you are missing something, Kevin. I don't think Price is a major league ready starting pitcher yet. He should become one, and may even become a star, but with a mediocre off-speed pitch and erratic control of his fastball (you did not mention the 6 walks this spring), he is not there yet.

Therefore, it is not a given that replacing his starts with Niemann's or even Hammel's is a step down. Further, basing an evaluation on the results of 8.1 spring training innings (and I will withdraw my BB comment to make my statement consistent) is hardly legitimate.

I think we need to credit the Rays' staff with judging Price on what they saw beyond those results and give them the benefit of the doubt regarding his readiness to contribute now as a starter.

Some internet commentators have raised questions about Strasburg's delivery, like Kyle Boddy here: http://www.drivelinemechanics.com/2008/11/18/665018/quick-note-stephen-strasbu

Another commentator, Trip Somers, made the following comment in this article: http://www.texasleaguers.com/home/2009/3/28/scouting-stephen-strasburg-san-diego-state-university-in-40.html
"Strasburg has some of the common flaws of traditional pitching mechanics and carries with him the associated risks. These risks will almost certainly not affect his draft status because it could be 10 years before anything goes wrong."

I suppose I'm asking, if possible, for specific comments about the concerns they each raise and/or general thoughts about the applicability of Trip's quote.

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Actually,under that logic (and your similar argument re: David Price), the Rays screwed up last year by keeping Longoria down on the farm for a month, since they did indeed have a "chance to win." (Of course, in hindsight it worked out fine, but that doesn't change the argument, does it?)

Screwed up the formatting above, sorry. Kevin wrote:

"This is an Evan Longoria-type situation, where the clock is being managed by a team with no chance to win this year."

Actually, under that logic (and your similar argument re: David Price), the Rays screwed up last year by keeping Longoria down on the farm for a month, since they did indeed have a "chance to win." (Of course, in hindsight it worked out fine, but that doesn't change the argument, does it?)

Kevin, what do you think about the Reds holding a Futures Game this week? I don't know if you've seen the roster, but just about every top 30 Reds prospect is playing in the game.

The futures game sounds sweet.
on another note:I am sick of this whole Arb and free agent service time stuff ruining baseball. Just let the best player play when he is ready to play. Especially with these small market teams. Did Lirano really need to spend that much time down in AAA while Livan ruined the Twins chance at the post season? Stuff like that sucks.
Wieters is ready. Price is ready. McCutchen is ready...let'em play.

KG-

Wanna throw out a line of Schafer? If he starts walking a bit more, are we talking Mike Cameron here (both offensively and defensively)?

Strasburg, while he may not be Sidd Finch, is indeed the real deal. Congratulations Mr. Boras.

Jay and Kevin... no kidding, that little debate with the readers is THE reason you should have had comments here 5 years ago, and is the reason I'll renew my membership again. A civil, nearly level headed discussion, and both of you are NOT wrong about what you're saying.

Seriously, that's why I read thsi site first thing every day.

Kevin, former Blue Jays' asst GM Bart Given makes the case in his new blog that the Jays should start Snider in AAA to gain the extra year of FA. When you talk about this as one of the reasons the Rays are doing this with Price, does it not make even more sense for the Jays given the state of the franchise? Or is this a case of JP putting all his cards on the table trying to save his job?

I reiterate that whether I am in a small minority or not (and it is possible that the Rays management team is in that same minority but with far more information) many are overestimating the supposed gap between the current Price and either Niemann or Hammel.

There seems to be an assumption that Price would win more games or pitch better than either in that first month. Last year, in his 5 starts to begin the season, Hammel pitched to a 4.32 in the first 4 before a really poor 5th outing. Otherwise, he gave the Rays 6 or 7 full innings every start, something I doubt Price could do (and that also impacts wins and losses), and a chance to win every time. Over the 25 innings, he allowed 23 hits, 8 BBs and 15 Ks, not great but not clearly better than what we might expect from the current David Price.

Incidentally, keeping Longoria down last year is not analogous for various reasons, but it should be noted that in the 7 games Aybar started at 3B before his injury, he did very well, not necessarily worse than Longoria might have done. While Longoria started his major league career very hot, in his initial time in Durham he got off to a very slow start. I think it is too speculative even to guess what he might have done in those same 7 games.

Are you referring to Jacoby Ellsbury? I only see him having slugged .394 (if "slugged" can be applied to Ellsbury).

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/pecota/ellsbja01.php
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4727&position=OF

i didn't mean to question you or anything, him opening in the rotation really made me realize how good he can be