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Rays Ready To 'Saddle Up' Behind Maddon

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 9, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Tampa Bay's longest-tenured player, two-time All-Star Carl Crawford, doesn't really care who the manager is - as long as the team finds a way to win.

If that manager is Joe Maddon, though, that's fine with Crawford. A good thing, too, after the Devil Rays exercised the two-year option on Maddon's contract that will keep the 53-year-old baseball lifer in a Rays uniform at least through 2009.

By then, the Rays should have an idea whether Maddon is, in fact, the manager who finally discovers a way to take the players he's given and mold them into a team that can compete in the high-rent district of the American League East.

'That's who they chose, so hopefully that's the case,' Crawford said. 'So, we can all saddle up behind Joe and try to get to the next level.'

Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said the decision to retain Maddon as manager was easy.

'In conversations with players as the season's winding down, I think it's important for all of them to understand that Joe is going to be their manager,' Friedman said. 'For us, it really wasn't a difficult decision. These last two years have been very important in terms of building a foundation, and we feel like Joe's an integral part of that.

'Now that we believe that foundation is in place, it's all of our jobs to continue to build a team that can not only compete, but can win the American League East.'

Maddon has raised some eyebrows because of his irrepressible optimism and his unwillingness to publicly chastise his players as he compiled a 119-184 record with the Rays (through Friday). That kind of criticism won't be heard coming from Tampa Bay's front office.

'It's who he is,' Friedman said. 'It's absolutely something we view as a positive.'

Having helped begin the major-league development of some of the Rays' top prospects, Maddon is braced for a shift in expectations over the next couple of years.

'I know it's a two-year extension, but I really want to be here for many years to come,' Maddon said. 'I see this as being one of the prime places to be in major-league baseball over the course of the next decade. And I want to be part of it.'

COACHES WAIT: The contracts of bench coach Bill Evers, pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Steve Henderson, first base coach George Hendrick, third base coach Tom Foley and bullpen coach Bobby Ramos will expire at the end of this season.

Neither Maddon nor Friedman would say Saturday whether any or all would be brought back in 2008.

Friedman did say he was pleased, in general, with the work of the assistant coaches. Maddon said he expects to talk to Friedman about the future of his coaches some time before the end of the season, but a decision won't be made until later.

'That will be a deal for the end of the year,' Maddon said.

BISCUITS WIN: Josh Arhart's pinch-hit, walkoff single in the 11th inning Saturday gave the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five Southern League semifinal against the Mississippi Braves. A victory today or Monday would put the defending champion Biscuits into the finals against the winner of the other semifinal between Huntsville and Tennessee.

In the International League's championship series, Triple-A Durham will play the Richmond Braves, who closed out their first-round series Saturday against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The Governor's Cup Series begins Tuesday at Durham Bulls Athletics Park.

Single-A Columbus, which already has advanced to the championship series of the South Atlantic League, awaits the winner of Saturday's West Virginia-Hickory game.

Carter Gaddis

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