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Options Pondered For Aybar's Return

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - There are no easy solutions for the Rays when it comes to finding IF Willy Aybar a spot on the active roster, so they'll have to make a difficult call when he is activated from the disabled list.

His left hamstring finally healed after more than a month on the shelf, Aybar may come off the disabled list as early as Thursday. He played second base for Triple-A Durham on Tuesday and is scheduled to do so again today. The Rays say they'll re-evaluate him after that, but it appears they're prepared to activate him by the start of the White Sox series.

And they will return him to the roster, no matter how well the rest of the players have played in his absence.

"He'll be back, yes," Manager Joe Maddon said. "We're still deciding exactly the right moment to do that."

Sorting through the possibilities, an interesting scenario is beginning to emerge as an avenue to clear space for Aybar. Ben Zobrist's primary value to the team is as a backup shortstop, but with Jason Bartlett starting nearly every day, Zobrist has mostly ridden the bench since coming off the disabled list May 13.

The Rays could send Zobrist back to Durham and lean on Evan Longoria to spell Bartlett when needed. Longoria played shortstop full-time in 2004 at Rio Hondo Junior College and got about 20 starts there the following season at Long Beach State while starter Troy Tulowitzki was injured.

On Tuesday, Longoria said the Rays haven't asked him about playing shortstop in a pinch, but he said he thinks he could handle the job.

"It's obviously a different position, a little bit different role to fill," he said, "but with some work I don't think that I would have that much trouble adjusting to that position."

One other option for the Rays would be to hope their starting pitchers keep going as deep in games as they have and drop back to an 11-man pitching staff, freeing up an extra spot for a position player. But Maddon said the Rays have not discussed going with 11 pitchers because "the moment you think you can, you can't."

FIGHTING WORDS: Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin on Tuesday became the latest local motivational speaker to offer words of wisdom to the Rays, following Bucs legend Lee Roy Selmon and longtime boxing trainer Angelo Dundee.

Kiffin, who said he has been a Rays fan since their beginning, recently relayed a message to Maddon telling him how impressed he was with the team's defense, and Maddon invited him to address the team.

"We have a sign up in the defensive meeting room that says, 'Play hard, play fast and play together.' I told them that," Kiffin said later. "I said, 'That's what you guys do!'"

Kiffin said he could see B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford - an option QB in high school - as cornerbacks, and he inquired about Jonny Gomes' 40-yard dash time, only to be disappointed when told baseball players aren't usually timed in the 40.

FARM FACTS: David Price will start for Single-A Vero Beach tonight, but for once, more eyes will be on the opposing pitcher than him. St. Lucie is scheduled to send a rehabbing Pedro Martinez to the mound for the 7 p.m. game at Tradition Field, the spring home of the Mets.

NOTEWORTHY: Baseball released the first tally of AL All-Star vote results Tuesday. Crawford and Upton were 13th and 15th, respectively, among outfielders, and Carlos Pena was fifth among first basemen. ... A moment of silence was observed prior to Tuesday's game in honor of former Rays pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who died Sunday after being struck by lightning in his native Venezuela. ... Jim Ferguson, an official scorer at Tropicana Field since the Rays' first season, worked his final game Tuesday.

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