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ALCS Roster Still Up In The Air

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 9, 2008

The Rays' coaches and baseball operations staff met after Wednesday's workout to discuss the composition of the ALCS roster. The first order of business was to determine whether they want to carry 10 pitchers again or bump up to 11 for the best-of-seven series at the expense of a position player.

"Once we do that, depending on the outcome, we'll get into more of the specifics in terms of the players," said executive vice president Andrew Friedman.

As was the case before the Division Series, it will come down to whether the Rays believe they'll get more out of their final pitcher or final position player, and that could be a tough call. At the very least, they'll take the same 10 pitchers they carried in the first round.

If they carry an extra pitcher - either Troy Percival or Edwin Jackson - they will be better covered in the event they'll have to go deeper into their bullpen than against the White Sox.

But cutting loose a position player to get there presents no easy choices. Fernando Perez may have been the last man on, but he does things no one else on the roster can. Keep him and it might come down to cutting a stalwart like Eric Hinske, which isn't an appealing choice either.

Percival Makes His Case

Percival said he feels about the same physically as he did before throwing in the Instructional League last week, but his mechanics have returned to normal as he no longer feels the need to compensate for his ailing back.

"I'm back to staying closed, letting my arm work," he said. "I don't know what the velocity was - it's hard to judge with 18-year-old kids up at the plate - but nobody took good swings. I threw strikes to both sides of the plate and all of my off-speed pitches were good. So they have an option if they want to use it. I feel good."

Percival threw a bullpen session Wednesday, giving the Rays one more first-hand look at how he is throwing before a roster decision must be made Friday morning.

This And That

Maddon will stick with Carl Crawford in the fifth spot in the batting order: "I just like him in the middle of this whole thing right now. For me, it tastes pretty good right now." ... Reliever Al Reyes, who was released by the team in August, dropped by Wednesday's workout to say hello before heading to the Dominican Republic on Friday for winter ball. ... Catcher Shawn Riggans is "unlikely" to make the ALCS roster, Maddon said.

Marc Lancaster

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