It's time for Rays to start finding new pieces

The five-day exclusive window teams had to negotiate with their free agents ended when Saturday became Sunday, meaning Carl Crawford's agent Brian Peters is a busy man as general managers from deep-pocket teams vie for the best player in Rays history.

The same goes for Scott Boras, who represents Rafael Soriano and Carlos Peña, and the agents for Grant Balfour and Joaquin Benoit.

Meanwhile, back at Tropicana Field, Rays VP of baseball operations Andrew Freidman is busy reshaping a team that won the American League East title in 2010 and has enough talent returning to be competitive in 2011.

How competitive depends on how well Friedman rebuilds the bullpen, which could lose as many as seven arms from 2010.

The bullpen is the priority, but the turnover from the 2010 and '11 squads won't end there.

There will be someone else in left field, and it might not be Desmond Jennings, who didn't exactly bang on the major-league door with a .278 average at Triple-A Durham last summer.

"There's definitely going to be some level of turnover," Friedman said. "That said, we feel like we still have a strong nucleus in place, and it is incumbent upon us to supplement around that core with complementary pieces that can help us win games."

Don't be surprised if Peña returns. His .196 average and a deep class of free agent first basemen could make it difficult for the former Gold Glove winner to find work.

He liked playing for Joe Maddon, he liked playing in St. Petersburg. With his role as a leader in the franchise's emergence and with the premium the Rays place on defense, Peña is still a good fit, though he will take a significant pay cut to move back into his old locker.

If the Rays were in any other division they would like their chances of returning to the playoffs in 2011. But they are in the AL East, where simply being good doesn't cut it. They went all in last season by stretching the payroll beyond their limit and adding Soriano for $7.25 million. It was money well spent since the closer set a franchise record for saves with 45.

With as many as 11 players now free agents, including the best player and the best closer in team history as well as a first baseman one year removed from sharing the AL home run title, Friedman is preparing for a busy offseason.

Not that it caught him by surprise.

"From three years ago, and more specifically a year ago, we certainly were aware of the potential changes after the 2010 seasons," he said, "and while we may have gone all in financially, we certainly didn't talent wise."

Meaning he didn't have to give up Jeremy Hellickson, Jake McGee or Jennings to land Soriano last offseason and he said "no thanks" to any GM who wanted those three at the trade deadline in July.

"We still have a lot of talented players returning," Friedman said.

That includes the entire rotation plus Hellickson, Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, B.J. Upton, Jason Bartlett, Sean Rodriguez, Reid Brignac and Matt Joyce.

Friedman will supplement that talent like he normally does, with affordable free agents signed after the holidays.

A lot will depend on how the market plays out this winter, and how it plays out begins today.

Roster move

The Rays added right-hander Matt Bush to the 40-man roster to avoid the risk of losing him to free agency. The top pick in the 2004 draft by the Padres, Bush made six relief appearances for Class-A Charlotte in 2010, with 12 strikeouts in 81/3 innings.

rmooney@tampatrib.com(813) 259-7227