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Team USA Comes Calling

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: December 11, 2008

LAS VEGAS - Joe Maddon and Marcel Lachemann chatted Tuesday about the World Baseball Classic, with Lachemann slated to serve as the pitching coach for Team USA.

To hear Lachemann tell it Wednesday, he rattled off the names of enough Rays pitchers of interest to him and U.S. manager Davey Johnson that Maddon felt moved to ask his old friend to take it easy on Tampa Bay.

Rays players will need no introduction to those charged with assembling a U.S. roster that could include up to 28 players for next spring's tournament.
USA Baseball executive director Paul Seiler rattled off more than a half-dozen names of interest off the top of his head, from Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria to James Shields and Scott Kazmir. Seiler even made it a point to include Andy Sonnanstine and J.P. Howell and noted that Matt Garza - who also has received overtures to play for Mexico - is on a list of candidates.

"All those guys are going to be in the conversation, with the year that they had," Seiler said.

How many might the Rays ultimately lose to WBC play? At this point, Maddon is guessing Team USA will take two players - Crawford and a starting pitcher. The Rays' Rookie of the Year is definitely under consideration - "I love Longoria," Johnson said - but the U.S. is extremely deep at third base with Chipper Jones, David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman other possibilities at the position.

"With Evan, I still think he's attractive to them, but I also believe that they'll believe the next time it comes around in 2013, he would be the guy at that particular moment," Maddon said. "But if he were chosen, it would not bother me."

The Rays also figure to see other players on their roster elsewhere in the tournament. Akinori Iwamura is slated to play for Japan once again, and Carlos Pena (Dominican Republic), Grant Balfour (Australia) and Dioner Navarro (Venezuela) could also end up getting the call.

WHEELS KEEP TURNING: The Rays continue to scour the free-agent market for a high-impact hitter, a pursuit that seems likely to continue for a while.

Friedman met with Bobby Abreu's agent Wednesday, along with representatives for several other free agents.

"We have basically talked to all the agents of players we have interest in," Friedman said.

The market for seasoned sluggers like Abreu, Jason Giambi and Milton Bradley still figures to take a while to develop, but Friedman is confident the Rays will be able to reel someone in.

"We feel like we're in good position to get someone that we like," he said.

On another front, Friedman indicated Wednesday that the Rays might prefer to bolster their bullpen via a trade for a younger player rather than adding a veteran free agent. Ideally, they would acquire someone with options remaining to allow the roster flexibility they desire with Troy Percival's status to open the season still in question.

NEW NEIGHBOR: The Rays haven't had much success against CC Sabathia in the past, and they'll see a lot more of him now that he's set to don a Yankees uniform. They don't seem overly concerned.

"Regardless of who they throw out there, what their rotation looks like, who's on the field, we just have to get better ourselves," Maddon said.

FEELING THE DRAFT: Friedman said he wouldn't be surprised if the Rays lose anywhere from one to three players in today's Rule 5 draft. Reliever Eduardo Morlan has been mentioned most often.

The Rays hold the 28th pick, and Friedman said "a couple guys" have drawn their interest, but likely not enough to compel them to try and move up in the draft.

Marc Lancaster

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