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Busy Week Ahead As Rays' Roster Takes Shape

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 25, 2009

PORT CHARLOTTE - One week from today the Rays will play their final game in Florida before heading north to finalize their preparations for Opening Day.

It should be a busy week, as plenty of decisions and moves remain to be made before the Rays open defense of their American League Championship on April 6 in Boston.

There are currently 42 players in camp, and 17 of them will have to go before the opener. With a home game at Charlotte Sports Park tonight, the next round of cuts could be imminent.

The Rays should have the three players who participated in the World Baseball Classic's final weekend – Akinori Iwamura, J.P. Howell and Evan Longoria – back in camp within the next day or two.

Between their return and the need to begin pushing all the regular position players toward playing a full nine innings and continuing to escalate innings for the frontline starting pitchers, playing time will be tough to come by for those in camp who don't have a legitimate shot to make the final 25-man roster.

The flip side is also important, as those who will be going back to the minors need to get in all of their necessary work as well. David Price would be a prime example. Though Rays officials have continued to insist Price is in the mix to win the final spot in the major-league rotation, all indications have been they intend to have him open the season at Triple-A Durham.

If that's going to happen, it probably will happen soon. The Rays took the same tack with Evan Longoria last spring, sending him to the minors March 24 (though the regular season opened one week earlier last year). And with Iwamura back, Reid Brignac's time to go down and play regularly for Durham could come soon as well.

Manager Joe Maddon has said he would prefer to nail down the fifth spot in the rotation by the end of this week, and the final audition could come tonight. Jeff Niemann will start against the Pirates, hoping to bounce back from a terrible relief outing last week against the Blue Jays in which he allowed nine runs in two-thirds of an inning. Jason Hammel, Niemann's prime competition, struggled in his start Monday against the Pirates, walking five batters in four innings and terming his performance "unacceptable."

The feeling around camp seems to be that both Niemann and Hammel will make the Opening Day roster, with one in the rotation and the other serving as the long man in the bullpen, but veteran Lance Cormier (1.80 spring ERA) has put up a strong fight for the latter spot.

The Rays also will have to determine how to use the last available spot on their bench. With B.J. Upton expected to start the season on the disabled list as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery and Fernando Perez out for the bulk of the season after dislocating his wrist a couple of weeks ago, there is an unexpected opening.

It could go to an outfielder – likely Justin Ruggiano – or the Rays could use Ben Zobrist primarily as an outfielder and carry infielder Adam Kennedy until Upton returns.

However it all turns out, the Rays at least have the luxury of drawing from palatable options as they look to fill in around the edges of their roster. As Maddon and executive vice president Andrew Friedman have said repeatedly throughout camp, it's a good problem to have.

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at mlancaster@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7227.

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