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Bullpen among Rays' highest offseason priority

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 27, 2009

ARLINGTON, Texas - Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman has said in the past that the front office's season begins as soon as his team's season ends on the field.

That's a bit of an oversimplification, of course, as Friedman and his staff do plenty of wheeling and dealing from April through September. But the point is, the decisions made by the Rays' baseball operations department between that final game a week from today and the first workout of spring training in February will go a long way toward determining whether next season lasts a bit longer than this one.

Plenty of areas will need to be addressed as the Rays look to rebound from a disappointing 2009 season, but these four should take priority:

Retool the bullpen. Again.

Remarkable as it may seem considering all the disappointment that stemmed from the relief corps this season, the Rays' 3.90 bullpen ERA entering the weekend was fourth-best in the American League and just outside the top third among big-league teams.

Does that number soothe the fan base or make Joe Maddon feel better about the options on the other end of his phone? Probably not. So expect another handful of new faces in the pen next spring around the returning core of Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell and Grant Balfour.

The biggest question, of course, is what to do about finishing games. The Rays won't be able to afford an established closer, so they could go one of two routes in seeking outside help: a reclamation project, a la Troy Percival, or a promotion candidate - an effective setup man who might be ready to take the next step but would still be an economical option.

Figure out the catching situation

Still without an elite backstop in their farm system, the Rays will have to get creative again to shore up one of their biggest problem areas from this season.

Coming off a profoundly disappointing year, Dioner Navarro will be eligible for arbitration a second time and likely will approach a $3 million salary in 2010.

It's possible the Rays could decide to cut him loose rather than pay that much and instead pick up Gregg Zaun's $2 million option and pair him with a right-handed hitter making near the minimum - someone like Michel Hernandez.

Find a home for Zobrist

Given his ability to slot in at multiple positions and excel, it's unlikely Ben Zobrist will ever settle exclusively into one spot. But it would help in assembling the roster if the Rays decided Zobrist would be their primary second baseman or right fielder.

The trickle-down effect from that decision could affect how the Rays use the likes of Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac next spring and seal the departure of a couple of familiar faces.

Joyce's presence makes it unlikely Gabe Gross will return, and Rodriguez, Brignac, Zobrist and Willy Aybar should eliminate the need to pick up Akinori Iwamura's nearly $5 million option.

Keep 'em? Or dump 'em?

By clearing Scott Kazmir's contract from the books, the Rays bought some time in absorbing the raises due to Carl Crawford, Pat Burrell and Carlos Pena in 2010.

Of course, they'll also end up paying the arbitration-eligible B.J. Upton, Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett quite a bit more than this season, so there is a possibility they could attempt to move another of their hefty contracts in order to address multiple needs elsewhere.

It's unlikely Crawford would be a candidate for such a move, as he is simply too important to the Rays' chances of winning next year to be jettisoned. And given the way the offense has slumped since Pena went down with a season-ending injury, offloading the first baseman doesn't seem very palatable, either.

And Burrell? Well, of course it would make sense for the Rays to get out from under his $9 million salary for next season, but the only way that is likely to happen is if they take on another player with a similarly unappealing guarantee.

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