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Rocco Still Seeks Answers

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2007

Updated: 09/14/2007 01:11 am

SEATTLE - Rocco Baldelli rejoined the Devil Rays on Thursday, in a sense, but he was decidedly short on revelations.

The hamstrung outfielder met the team here at the behest of Rays manager Joe Maddon and executive vice president Andrew Friedman, who wanted to get him out of the drudgery of rehab work at the Naimoli Complex and narrow his focus on next season.

Baldelli's presence doesn't mean he will be back on the field soon. On the contrary, the decision already has been made to shut him down for the 2007 season so he can prepare for next year. But Baldelli can't fully commit himself to that step until he knows what's going on.

'There has to be a reason why I feel the way I do,' Baldelli said. 'I don't think it's something that every player deals with, so eventually you have to find out why I'm feeling this way. It sounds pretty simple, but there's no way to treat it unless we really know what the problem is.'

Thus, the tests. Call it a battery, a variety, an assortment - all those terms have been used at various points in a shadowy process. All Baldelli and the Rays are willing to say at this point is that everything has come back negative so far and there still are a few results that have not come back.

Those lingering unknowns represent a potential dilemma for Baldelli.

'In one way, I want to find out what the problem is,' he said. 'In another way, I'd rather there be no actual, real problem with me. I don't really know how to look at it; it's kind of an unusual situation.'

Baldelli was somewhat evasive when asked if anything already had been ruled out, saying he didn't know exactly which results had come back and which hadn't. Pressed on whether any sort of catastrophic illness had been eliminated from the possibilities, he made a slight concession.

'I would think,' he said. 'A lot of the results that we got back did say pretty much that I'm a pretty healthy 25-year-old male. ... They've basically said that every result we've gotten back has been completely negative, so that makes me feel good. That makes me feel like eventually, when we find out what it is, it's going to be something that's treatable.'

Baldelli was adamant about one aspect of his situation. Contrary to one report that surfaced a couple of weeks ago, he said retirement from baseball has not been considered.

'I think I'm a little young to be making that kind of decision right now,' he said.

Baldelli said he fully plans to be ready to play next year, and Maddon said he would love to get 140 or 150 games out of his former center fielder in 2008, even if a good chunk of it had to come at designated hitter.

For now, Baldelli mostly will stick to conditioning drills and just enjoy being around his teammates. It also might serve to remove some of the clutter from his mind, which has been busy spinning through the possibilities of what might be causing the leg soreness that just won't go away.

'I know how big the gamut is, because obviously I think about it a lot,' Baldelli said. 'I know I'm getting tested for a lot of different things, and I'm not sure exactly what they all are, so it's a little bit of a stressful situation. But it'll be over pretty soon and I'll have some answers.'

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

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