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Rays Opening The Bank

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 19, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Scott Kazmir didn't bother to try to stifle his enthusiasm Friday - and it wasn't just because his bank-account balance is about to reach unseen heights.

The moves the Rays made this week represented something approaching a revelation for the young left-hander. In his tenure with Tampa Bay, he has spent far more time watching the team's roster torn down than built up, awaiting reinforcements and a pocketbook-backed sign of commitment to winning.

His team made a statement on that front Friday, signing first baseman Carlos Pena to a three-year deal worth $24.125 million that represents one of the most significant investments the franchise has ever made. Also, Kazmir agreed to a one-year, $3.785 million deal just before the team's deadline to cut off negotiations, avoiding a potentially divisive salary arbitration hearing.

To top it all off, people familiar with the negotiations said the Rays are in discussions with right-hander James Shields about a multiyear deal that would cover at least five seasons, including potential option years. The talks are far enough along that the deal might be reached within the next week, and it could be structured along the lines of the contracts signed by Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli before they reached the arbitration phase of their careers, with about three guaranteed years and a series of options.

"We've made some huge steps," Kazmir said. "I'm so excited to go to spring training and get the season going with the group of guys we have."

The best part about it, as far as he and others within the organization are concerned, is that the Rays will make their long-awaited assault on a .500 record and beyond with a team mostly devoid of mercenaries.

They'll have homegrown standouts in Crawford, Shields and B.J. Upton, along with players like Kazmir and Dioner Navarro who were added before establishing themselves as major-leaguers and opportunistic pickups like Pena and Akinori Iwamura.

"We have an incredible amount of talent in our team right now as we speak," Pena said. "It is in our best interests to try to maintain these outstanding young players here in Tampa - it's extremely important. I think when we do reach our goal of getting into the playoffs, it's going to be a very special feeling because we know it's homegrown - we are truly Rays."

The Rays' management team would get plenty of satisfaction if Pena's vision is realized, particularly after all the flak principal owner Stuart Sternberg caught for whacking the payroll down to about $25 million heading into last season. With Friday's deals, the Rays now have about $34.5 million committed to 12 players in 2008.

The Opening Day payroll should be about $40 million - peanuts for some of the Rays' division-mates but a healthy bump over the number the Rays had projected heading into the offseason.

"I think it's consistent with what we've been saying for the last couple of years," executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "The first step is acquiring the talent, whether it's a good signing by one of our scouts like Carlos or a draft or a trade of a guy in the minor leagues that grows up with us. Whatever the case may be, we know our own players better than anybody else and it's important for us to not only acquire top-end talent, but to be able to keep those guys in place for a number of years."

It's an approach reminiscent of the route the Cleveland Indians took in rising from laughingstock to postseason regulars more than a decade ago - a transformation that just happened to coincide with the Indians getting a new ballpark, a step the Rays also hope to replicate. For a long time, players didn't want any part of the Indians, but that stigma has long since faded.

Pena could end up being a trendsetter on that front for the Rays. He backed up his desire to remain in Tampa Bay by surrendering his first year of free agency in his new deal. Not many players before him have made that choice, and it was appreciated.

"It does kind of dovetail into something that has been very important for us the last two years," Friedman said, "which is trying to kind of reverse the image of the Rays organization in the industry, and we feel like we've made quantum leaps in the last couple years. Our goal is to become a destination spot - where players want to play, where people want to work."

Nothing makes that statement as effectively as winning, and it's about time for the Rays to follow through on that front. The players crave it - "I just want to win," Kazmir all but pleaded Friday - and management believes the window is on the verge of opening.

"I'm certain we're a winning, competitive team," Sternberg said. "In a couple of other divisions, people would be talking about us being in the playoffs right now - I really believe that. But we are where we are and I do think we're going to surprise some people this year."

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