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Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.

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Rays on verge of deal with Burrell

Posted Jan 5, 2009 by Marc Lancaster

Updated Jan 5, 2009 at 02:51 PM

The Rays are on the verge of adding the big bat they have sought since the end of the World Series—and it happens to be a player who was on the winning side. Pat Burrell is close to joining the Rays on a two-year contract, two sources confirmed today. Fox Sports reports the deal will be worth $16 millioin.

Burrell, 32, has spent his entire career with the Phillies. The first overall pick in the 1998 draft out of the University of Miami, the Arkansas native broke into the big leagues two years later and has been a fixture in left field in Philadelphia since the following year.

Burrell figures to be used primarily as a designated hitter with Tampa Bay, and his right-handed pop will complement Evan Longoria’s power bat in a lineup that struggled against left-handed pitching last year. He has a .950 career OPS against lefties (compared to .819 vs. righties) and draws walks from southpaws at a much higher rate.

He has 251 homers in nine major-league seasons, with a high of 37 in 2002. In typical slugger fashion, Burrell has tallied high walk and strikeout totals throughout his career. He has fanned at least 120 times each of the last nine years but has also drawn more than 100 walks the past two seasons.

Though Burrell was hardly at his best against the Rays in the World Series, going 1-for-14, his lone hit led to the championship-clinching run in the rain-delayed Game 5.

After Rocco Baldelli’s homer in the top of the seventh tied the game at 3-3, Burrell led off the bottom of the inning with a double off J.P. Howell. Pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett came on to replace him and scored what proved to be the winning run two batters later on a Pedro Feliz single off Chad Bradford.