It isn’t exceedingly difficult.

The departure of those players (plus guys like Vande Wilson) will cut $40m right there. Raises for Maggs, Miggy, Bondo, D-Train, Inge, Nate and Grandy will total $20m so that cuts savings in half unless of course Robertson or Inge are traded which is a possibility. The other possiblity which I think is getting slightly more probable is that Maggs will be traded this winter. He has a provision in his contract guaranteeing his ‘10, ’11 option years if he statrs in 270 games in ’08 and ’09. He only has 159 to go and this season isn’t over yet. Dombrowski simply doesn’t seem to be the type of guy to take on the risk of $33m and two years to a 36 year old outfielder. There’s a tremendous fit with the Rays who need a righthanded bat and an outfielder and have a embarrassment of pitching prospects as well as SS Reid Brignac.

Would it be hard to win without Maggs’s bat? Yes, but the team’s emphasis would have to turn back to pitching and we’d just have to hope that Wilkin Ramirez continues to hit. An outfield of Ramirez-Granderson-Joyce would be pretty special. Having a SS who can hit like Brignac would help a lot too.

The other possibility is that Sheff gets traded for parts. I can see this happening in the offseason too if he can up his stock with a solid September.

I’m not saying it’s as easy as all that but assuming both Sheff and Maggs get traded for prospects that’s nearly $29m in savings. Couple that with the free agent departures, take away raises (and hell maybe even try to unload Inge or Robertson in favor of Dusty Ryan and…Freddy Garcia?) and you’ve saved the team $62m and only lost one true impact player in Maggs. Use some of it to resign Verlander and get another starter and you got yourself a team!

“I’m not saying it’s as easy as all that…”

First line, last paragraph.

I’m also aware that I’m not “exactly on target with my numbers” but you’ll excuse me for not calculating the hundreds of thousands for a flippin’ fan blog comment (all respect to Ian).

The Rays are actually spending more than $20m less than they did back in 2000. Their ability to take on a contract like Maggs’s is a different issue than their desire. I also think that if they tank in the playoffs because they have precisely two impact bats in their lineup they might be a bit more willing to spend some money on one. Fact of the matter is that if they want a righthanded RF who can hit about as well as Maggs can, they’re going to have to spend the money for him. There simply aren’t all that many cheap ones right now unless they can swing a trade for Xavier Nady, Ryan Ludwick or Jayson Werth. Doubtful…

I think a Yankee outfield with Matsui and Abreu is still really up in the air. The Yankees will likely not exercise Abreu’s option or Giambi’s which would free up a DH spot for Matsui (who probably shouldn’t be in the field anymore) and open up RF for Nady while leaving Damon in LF. Then they can either give Melky another try in CF, give Austin Jackson a shot or hunt for an outside hire.

I’ve only really rehashed trade speculation that has already been brought up in Sheff, Inge and Robertson. Maggs is actually the most movebale piece in regards to his talent though I agree that his contract might be an issue. Will all these guys get traded? I doubt it but I do think there’s a decent chance with Maggs. And I don’t think that can be termed as “dreamy” until I start saying things like “Maggs for Webb, straight up!”

Another issue that hasn’t been raised yet is why are we listening to Peter Gammons anonymous sources about cutting an arbitrary $40m from payroll? If money was going to be that big an issue after the 2008 season than why was Dontrelle signed before the season even started? Sure, every team wants to cut costs but to suggest that the Tigers have all of a sudden gone into Marlins-esque-fire-sale-panic-mode is a bit presumptuous if you ask me.