One player who will not be coming back to the Rays next season is Drew Sutton. The Rays may have been interested in bringing back Sutton if he was willing to stay at Triple-A Durham as infield depth, but Sutton has instead signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox. Sutton played in 31 games with the Red Sox back in 2011. Sutton has played in 8 organizations in his 9-year professional career and he actually has a solid 93 OPS+ in 308 big league plate appearances, so good luck to him finally holding down a big league job.

Finally, Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports has reported that the Rays are one of five teams interested in former Rangers reliever Mark Lowe. In 36 appearances for the Rangers in 2012, Lowe, 29, posted a 3.43 ERA, a 6.4 K/9, a 3.0 BB/9, and a 1.1 HR/9 in 36 relief appearances and 39.1 innings pitched, missing a month and a half with an intercostal strain. Those numbers are solid, especially at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, although the DL stint, which was Lowe’s fifth stint of 30 more days on the DL since 2006 according to Baseball Prospectus, is extremely concerning. However, if Lowe can stay healthy, the reward could be quite big. According to Brooks Baseball, Lowe’s fastball averaged 95 MPH in 2012 and he paired it with a sharp slider in the mid-80′s and a usable changeup. With stuff up that level, Lowe has late-innings upside, and while he’s not about to become the next Fernando Rodney, he could certainly play a key middle relief role for a major league team next season. The “problem” with Lowe is that he really was not that bad next season so teams actually know what he brings to the table and want to sign him. Lowe made 1.7 million dollars in 2012 and might actually be due for a raise next year. But the money should not be too substantial and if Lowe wants the perfect place to refine his mechanics and reach his potential, Tampa Bay is the perfect place. Look for the Rays to make a run at Lowe, and if he can sign and stay healthy, he could very well become the next Rays reliever signed to a cheap contract to become one of the best relievers in baseball.

Is it Sutton’s defense wherever he plays? Per UZR, Sutton has downright awful in right field and terrible as well at second base. However, he’s been above-average at third base and shortstop and average at first base. Taking out right field, he has a -0.4 career UZR and even including right field, FRAA has him at 2.1 runs above average. He’s an average defender, and that’s all a super-utility player needs to be. But you can basically throw all those stats out the window because the sample size is just so small. Sutton hasn’t played as many as 30 games at any single position in the major leagues, but in any event, he looks like a decent defender.

Is there something the overall numbers aren’t showing us about Sutton’s hitting? For his career, Sutton has a .256/.309/.399 line, a 93 OPS+. The big problem for Sutton is that he strikes out too much and doesn’t walk enough- his career strikeout rate is a bad 28.6% while his walk rate is just 6.2%. But he hasn’t stayed in one place long enough to work on his approach at the plate and he has actually been very good in that regard at Triple-A, posting a 19.6% strikeout rate and 13.0% walk rate. Sutton even has some other tools that have failed to materialize as he has bounced around from place to place. In Sutton’s last full season anywhere, his 2008 season at Double-A, Sutton was excellent, posting a .317/.408/.523 line with 39 doubles, 4 triples, 20 homers, 69 RBI, 20 stolen bases in 27 attempts, and 98 strikeouts versus 76 walks. He was doing that as a 25 year old at Double-A (league average: 24), but it was still a very impressive season. Does Sutton have the potential to put up that type of numbers in the big leagues if someone actually gives him an extended chance? Almost definitely not. But he has never had the time to adjust to pitchers enough to get his approach right at the plate the past three years. Nevertheless, he has still been a .270 hitter. He has been solid versus both righties (92 sOPS+ in the big leagues), and especially against lefties (126 sOPS+) albeit in a small sample, just 73 PA’s. He has even been incredibly clutch, posting a .424 batting average with runners in scoring position, although again in just 74 plate appearances. But despite all of that, Sutton keeps wandering from place to place, never staying anywhere for long.

Drew Sutton is a victim of circumstance and small sample sizes. He is a decent big league player. He is nothing special but has the ability to contribute to a big league team in a utility role. Why doesn’t anyone give him a chance? Because the same story happens everywhere he goes- he arrives with the new team, plays decently at the start but strikes out too much and doesn’t walk enough, starts to struggle, takes his frustration into the field, and then gets sent packing. He hasn’t been given time to adjust to his new location and the new pitchers he’ll be facing, but just as important is how nervous Sutton has become knowing how quickly he can be sent away if he doesn’t play well. You look at the stats on Sutton and they say that he’s a vintage Quad-A player, playing well at Double-A and Triple-A but getting overmatched by big league pitchers, hitting for a decent average but striking out too often, not walking, and not hitting for any power, limiting what he can do at the plate in the major leagues. Maybe Sutton is really nothing more than that.  But he’s never been given a real opportunity to prove otherwise.

This offseason, Sutton will sign with yet another organization or maybe even one of the same ones. He’ll likely head to Triple-A to begin the season before injuries or poor performance to the teams’ major league infielders give him a chance. 2013 is a pivotal season for Sutton as he turns 30 in June. Will he finally get enough playing time to adapt to his surroundings and show that he deserves to be in the big leagues?

On May 20th, 2012, Drew Sutton was traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash considerations. Less than 24 hours later, Sutton was traded to the Rays for cash considerations. Sutton played 18 games with the Rays, posting a decent .271/.314/.354 line while playing third base, second base, and first base, but now that his time is up with Jeff Keppinger back from the DL, Sutton will finally go to Pittsburgh. Sutton had some big hits and great defensive plays during his brief time in Tampa Bay, and good luck to him with the Pirates.

And finally, I missed an undrafted free agent, outfielder Charles Epperson out of Jackson State University. Epperson, 6’2″, 205, will turn 22 on June 30th. Epperson had a solid season for JSU in 2012, posting a .314/.359/.436 line with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, 36 RBI, and 8 of 13 in stolen bases in 49 games. He struck out 31 times versus 11 walks. Epperson is an athletic outfielder with good speed and a little pop and the Rays liked his work ethic, specifically his hustle.