Decision On Baldelli's Role With Rays Could Come Today

Outfielder Rocco Baldelli returned to the Rays' clubhouse Sunday, wearing the scraggly beard of somebody who's been lost at sea and sounding somewhat uncertain about his future.

But he pronounced himself ready for the role the Rays envision for him as a platoon outfielder, DH or right-handed batter off the bench. A decision could come today on whether he's added to the roster or receives another minor-league rehab assignment.

"I did it for the entire rehab assignment at Double-A Montgomery, so I think I could do it here," Baldelli said. "It was pretty hot where I was, too. That didn't help the situation, to be honest with you, but I was able to get through it."

Baldelli's only physical activity Sunday was to play catch with pitcher Andy Sonnanstine in right field for about 10 minutes before Tampa Bay's 6-5 victory in 10 innings. He watched the game from the dugout.

Manager Joe Maddon said he will talk to Baldelli before tonight's game against Cleveland and that he and Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman will make a decision.

"With Rocco, I just want to hear from him how he's feeling, what he thinks he can do, and I believe what he thinks he can do is going to end up being what he can do," Maddon said. "He's going to tell me specifically, and we're going to figure out if that fits in with what we need right now."

Once considered a potential cornerstone player for the Rays, Baldelli has played in only 107 major-league games in the last three seasons. The 6-foot-4, 26-year-old missed all of 2005 after knee and shoulder surgeries and appeared in only 35 games last year before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury.

This season, he was placed on the disabled list coming out of spring training with a muscle fatigue disorder - possibly the same condition that ended three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond's career, the Rays believe.

Baldelli said he doesn't thinks the medical treatments he's been getting are reversing the disease but that they are giving his body "more ammunition" to fight the fatigue.

"I don't know what the long-term prognosis is," he said. "I don't think the doctors have complete knowledge of it because I think everyone's case is different. I think you just stick with the treatments they give you, and see where it goes."

In other words, Baldelli doesn't know whether he ever will be an everyday player again. "I don't know if that's completely realistic," he said. "I don't know if it's something you can completely recover from. It took me a while to come to terms with that. I don't know if that's 100 percent the case, but I think it's generally the case."

Maddon said that if Baldelli does come back, getting him adequate rest will be the biggest challenge. "I think we'll have to maintain certain kind of parameters with regard to how we use him," he said.

"You might get something and then it just might go away because you get greedy with wanting more. So I'll have to play that one by ear, frankly."