Prospects will get brief glimpse into 'Ray Way'

To further indoctrinate their top prospects in the "Ray Way," the Rays will hold their first Winter Development Program from Monday through Thursday at Tropicana Field.

The selected prospects - 22 in all - will participate in baseball activities, receive media training and meet with director of team travel Jeff Ziegler, as well as members of the team's employee assistance staff.

The prospects will also visit Kids Café at the Pinellas Park Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday at 3 p.m., and attend a Lightning game.

The idea is to bring the players together for a little bonding and an opportunity to familiarize themselves with Rays manager Joe Maddon and his coaches. They also will get to see Tropicana Field and make a few public appearances on behalf of the team, which they will be expected to do when/if they reach the major-league level.

The prospects: C Luke Bailey, SS Tim Beckham, OF Todd Glaesmann, C Jake Jefferies, CF Desmond Jennings,1B Jeff Malm, SS Juniel Querecuto, OF Cody Rogers, 3B Matt Sweeney, RHP Nick Barnese, RHP Alex Colome, RHP Joseph Cruz, RHP Devin Fuller, RHP Jeremy Hellickson, LHP Kevin James, LHP Kyle Lobstein, LHP Jacob McGee, LHP Matt Moore, LHP David Newmann, RHP Scott Shuman, RHP Albert Suarez and LHP Alex Torres.

Youth coach's clinic

The Rays will host a free clinic for youth-league coaches Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Trop as part of the team's youth training program.

Rays third-base coach Tom Foley, pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Derek Shelton and minor-league field coordinator Bill Evers are among the instructors. Representatives from St. Anthony's Sports Medicine will provide instructions on injury prevention.

Enrollment is limited, and coaches can register at www.raysbaseball.com.

Hey, I'm Kelly

Rays C Kelly Shoppach said he is eager to get to spring training, because the most important part of his job is to know the pitchers. The learning process involves catching them in the bullpen and during games and hours of picking their brains so he can learn how each pitcher likes to approach a given situation.

Shoppach is also ready to get a jump on 2010, so he can put his 2009 behind him. Shoppach followed a breakout year in '08 (.261, 21 home runs, 55 RBIs) with a .214 average, 12 home runs and 40 RBIs last season.

"I'm anxious to get started, because I want to have a better year than I had in '09," he said.

A vote for Raheem

There might not be a bigger fan of the decision to bring Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris back for a second season than Maddon.

"Building a team takes time," the Rays manager said.

He would know.

How many fans wanted the team to make a change after the Rays finished 61-101 in Maddon's first year? Or after they finished 66-96 in Year 2? Both records were the worst in baseball.

In Year 3, Maddon guided the Rays to a 97-65 regular-season record, the AL East title and the AL pennant.

In Maddon's case, he received a lot of help from the front office, which upgraded the talent on the field.