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Rays Not Likely To Be Big Players At Winter Meetings

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Yes, the Rays are still going to attend baseball's winter meetings.

But when the Tampa Bay contingent rolls into the Opryland Hotel this morning for four days of non-stop talk, if not necessarily much action, the group can take comfort in knowing most of its frontline needs already have been addressed.

Last week brought a starting pitcher, starting shortstop and closer in Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and Troy Percival, leaving the Rays to fill in around the edges of their roster and accumulate some depth at the Triple-A level. Unless the Rays are sufficiently tempted to take a crack at another high-end swap by what many are expecting to become the most trade-heavy winter meetings in years .

"I expect us to have a lot of conversations with agents, a lot of conversations with other teams, just as we always would," Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "But obviously we have fewer questions to address today than we did on Nov. 25. We have to continue to be opportunistic and look for certain guys that we feel like fit us in our ideal scenario looking ahead to Opening Day. If we think that we can add one of those or two of those players, we're going to be aggressive to do so."

Most of the buzz since Percival signed a two-year deal Friday has centered on the need to find a left-handed bat capable of platooning in right field, at the very least. The name of free agent Darin Erstad, who, like Percival, has longstanding connections with Rays manager Joe Maddon from their Angels days, has become a rumor-mill favorite. There also are trade possibilities, with the likes of Houston's Luke Scott said to be drawing interest from a number of clubs.

The Rays also would like to add a left-handed reliever, with Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt considered the top free-agent candidates. A trade is also possible on that front.

Adding to the bullpen in general isn't considered as much of a need as it was a week ago. The addition of Garza likely pushed one of the trio of Jason Hammel, Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine into the bullpen as a long reliever, and signing Percival moved all of the returning bullpen arms an inning earlier in the hierarchy.

Whether the Rays add another pitcher or not, there already will be a number of holdover candidates competing for the last spot or two in the bullpen, including Scott Dohmann, Grant Balfour, Juan Salas and Jae Kuk Ryu along with early offseason addition Kurt Birkins, a lefty.

"We feel like by adding Percy and also the fact that one less guy can be in the rotation that we've essentially added two bullpen arms," Friedman said. "That being said, if we come across the right bullpen arm we're going to be aggressive to jump on it. As far as a left-hander goes, we in an ideal world would love one. There's some that we're talking to and some we've targeted in other organizations. If one of those guys comes through, we will have a left-hander in the bullpen on Opening Day. If not, we've got a couple guys that we'll look at internally and put against the other bullpen candidates and put together the best seven-man bullpen we can."

Beyond those specific remaining needs, the Rays also may explore the possibility of adding an affordable veteran catcher and definitely will look to add to their depth across the board.

They also can expect to hear plenty of rumors floated through the Opryland lobbies that include names like Carl Crawford and Scott Kazmir. The Rays aren't inclined to trade either of them, but speculation inevitably will persist. Perhaps the Rays are so blown away by an offer that they swing another blockbuster. Or perhaps they just listen and politely decline.

Either way, they'll be there, with the door to their suite wide open and every Blackberry powered up.

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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