TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Cardinals Are Courting Miller

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: November 21, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The Cardinals' interest in signing Trever Miller is strong enough that the left-hander was invited to St. Louis to meet with the team's doctors and take a physical Thursday, but he apparently left town without finalizing a deal.

The former Rays reliever is believed to be in line for a two-year contract with the Cardinals. But General Manager John Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the two parties were still working through the "language" of the agreement and a contract would not be completed Thursday. He would not say if the results of Miller's physical presented a problem.

Miller, who lives in Land O' Lakes, did not return a phone message left Thursday.

Tampa Bay declined its $2 million option for 2009 on Miller shortly after the World Series, allowing him to become a free agent. Considering the market for lefty specialists, Miller should be in line for a better payday with St. Louis. Earlier this week, the Giants signed lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt - who is six years younger than Miller - to a two-year, $8 million deal.

SPRING SCHEDULE SET: The Rays will play their first game at their new spring training home in Port Charlotte on Feb. 25 against the Reds.

That game is among the highlights in the Grapefruit League schedule released Thursday by the team. Tampa Bay will play the Red Sox four times and the Yankees twice in addition to a pair of games against the world champion Phillies in Florida before playing two more in Philadelphia on April 3-4. The Rays also will make two trips to the other side of the state, facing the Cardinals in Jupiter on March 2 and the Orioles in Fort Lauderdale on March 21.

The Rays also will host an exhibition against Puerto Rico's World Baseball Classic team March 4, one of two night games on the schedule for Port Charlotte.

THREE ADDED TO ROSTER: The Rays added top pitching prospects Wade Davis and Jake McGee to their 40-man roster along with reliever Dale Thayer.

All teams had to finalize their roster Thursday in advance of the Rule 5 draft, which will be held Dec. 11 at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. If Davis, McGee and Thayer hadn't been added by Thursday, the Rays would have risked losing them in the annual draft.

Davis, 23, is rated the No. 3 prospect in the Rays' system by Baseball America, trailing only David Price and Tim Beckham. McGee, 22, had been moving up in step with fellow 2004 draftee Davis until he had to undergo Tommy John surgery on his left elbow during the summer. He could miss all of 2009 while recovering from the injury. Thayer, 27, has spent the last two seasons in Durham's bullpen. He struck out 76 batters in 681/3 innings last year.

MAGRANE SIGNS OFF: The MLB Network on Thursday officially announced it has hired longtime Rays television analyst Joe Magrane. The former big-league pitcher will be featured on a pair of nightly studio shows - "MLB Tonight," which will run during the season, and "Hot Stove," which will air during the winter.

Marc Lancaster

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT