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Gross Replaces Johnson On Roster

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 24, 2008

LAKE BUENA VISTA - The No. 26 jersey the Rays assigned to Dan Johnson when he joined the team Tuesday had a different name across the back Wednesday - that of the man who had just replaced Johnson on the roster.

The arrival Wednesday of Gabe Gross, acquired by the Rays from the Brewers the previous evening, meant somebody had to go. That somebody was Johnson, who was designated for assignment in a turn of events Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman described as "awkward."

It wasn't that the Rays lost interest in Johnson less than a week after claiming him off waivers from Oakland, Friedman said. It was basically that the first baseman/DH was rendered redundant by subsequent events: Carlos Pena's tight hamstring recovering quickly and the Gross trade coming together faster than the Rays had anticipated.

"We have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a player and we were anxious to see how he'd perform for us," said Friedman. "But the way things broke and the trade we were able to make, it just didn't really fit for us, looking from now through the next couple weeks."

With Pena healthy and Eric Hinske backing him up, the Rays didn't need another first baseman. When Cliff Floyd comes back from knee surgery, likely sometime in the first half of May, the Rays won't need a left-handed-hitting DH. And that was about the extent of where Johnson could be penciled into the lineup.

"It would have been hard for us to find Dan playing time," said Friedman.

That shouldn't be the case for Gross, who figures to get regular playing time in right field against right-handed pitchers and could back up B.J. Upton when necessary.

Gross made it to Champion Stadium late Wednesday afternoon to join his new team, about 24 hours after scoring the winning run for the Brewers against the Cardinals in Milwaukee. The 28-year-old was the victim of a roster crunch there and didn't exactly anticipate the trade that made him a Ray.

"It really surprised me how surprised I was," Gross said with a laugh. "With all the stuff that was fixing to happen - we had Tony Gwynn coming off the DL, Mike Cameron was fixing to come back - something had to give. It kind of caught me off-guard, but then I got to thinking about it and thinking about the situation I was coming into and the more I thought about it, the more excited I got about it."

KAZ GETTING CLOSER: LHP Scott Kazmir's season debut might be pushed back a day, Rays manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday, but not because of anything the Rays' ace has done.

The plan has been for Kazmir to return to the rotation May 3 at Boston, but he might wait until the following day to take the ball. The Rays are in the midst of a stretch in which they have three consecutive Mondays off, making it difficult to keep their starting pitchers on their regular days. How the rotation ultimately lines up will also depend on who gets bumped out to make room for Kazmir, a question that has no apparent answer right now.

At least the news on Kazmir's elbow continues to be positive. He threw 4

2/3

innings for Vero Beach on Wednesday, delivering 50 strikes among his 64 pitches. With numbers like that, it's not a surprise that he didn't walk anyone, but he did surrender seven hits and four runs while striking out four. The first and last batters Kazmir faced hit home runs.

"Maybe I threw too many strikes," said Kazmir. "They had some real free-swingers."

Kazmir's final rehab start will come Monday at Durham.

NOTEWORTHY: Pena was back at first base Wednesday after spending three games as the DH. Said Maddon: "I think he needs to get back on the field. He's not the DH type. There's way too much extra energy to be spent sitting around a bench." ... RHP Grant Balfour went on Durham's seven-day disabled list with a thigh problem that is not considered serious. ... The Red Sox have had to scratch their starting pitcher each of the last two nights, but their tentative rotation for this weekend at Tropicana Field features Tim Wakefield on Friday followed by Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett.

Marc Lancaster, Bill Whitehead

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