Springer added to boost bullpen

A call from Oakland manager Bob Geren woke Russ Springer up Saturday morning at the team hotel in Kansas City. Geren told the veteran reliever he had been picked up by the Rays and that someone would be in touch.

"I got up, feeling pretty good about it," Springer said, "and a couple hours later I still hadn't heard from anybody, so I thought maybe he was punking me or something."

Eventually, all the pieces fell into place. After a farewell lunch with his fellow A's relievers, Springer hopped a plane to Seattle and arrived at Safeco Field in time to shag some fly balls in the outfield with the Rays' relievers during batting practice.

Joining his ninth team in his 17th season in the majors, the 40-year-old barely blinked at what to most would seem a rather chaotic day. And even though he was hardly giddy on the outside, he made it clear how excited he was to be back on the same side as his dear friend Dan Wheeler - they have remained tight since pitching together with the Astros - and back in the playoff hunt.

"Obviously I'm not young anymore, and I've been thinking the end's coming pretty quick and all I want is one more chance to get there," Springer said. "I talked to my wife around the trade deadline, thinking if something was going to happen, and came up with five teams that I'd like to go to, and Tampa was one of them. So I couldn't be happier."

Aside from Wheeler, Springer also had worked with Rays manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey before. Springer has been around so long that Maddon actually was his bullpen coach with the Angels in the early 1990s, and the Rays' skipper was pleased to have the veteran in the fold.

"I've known him for a long time, he's got a great personality, fits in with our group very well, and I think he's going to have a nice influence on some of the younger pitchers," Maddon said. "So it's just a really good fit."

Springer is 0-1 with a 4.10 ERA in 48 appearances this season, but nearly all of the damage done against him was confined to the month of May. He absorbed his only loss that month and was battered to a 13.00 ERA. Take out that month and Springer has a 1.65 ERA this season, with nine walks and 39 strikeouts in 322/3 innings.

He has extreme platoon splits, holding right-handed hitters to a .260 batting average and .660 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) while lefties have raked him to the tune of a .357 average and .982 OPS. With that in mind, Maddon said Springer will be used mostly against righties, and he'll have no qualms about calling on him in a tight situation.

It's all good to Springer, who plans to make the most of this playoff push if it is indeed his last.

"I pitch better when there's something on the line," he said. "I'm feeling good, and I'm going to have some adrenaline out there that I haven't had in a while. You can't fake that. I look forward to it."

Bullpen overload

The Rays' decision to designate IF Joe Dillon for assignment to make room for Springer wasn't cut-and-dried. Ultimately, the Rays decided to go with eight relievers and three bench players in large part because they had played two extra-inning games this week.

Though Dillon rarely got off the bench, Maddon said he didn't like having to cut him loose. In addition to being a fan of Dillon's approach to the game, Maddon will have to be especially creative with the way he uses his bench.

He said the Rays will likely carry the current configuration at least through this road trip, and he may have to have B.J. Upton take some ground balls during batting practice in case he's needed in the infield in an emergency.

Odds and ends

Before cutting Dillon, the Rays did the same to LHP R.J. Swindle, who they had picked up from the Brewers, in order to claim Springer. ... Charlotte was rained out, postponing rehab appearances for OF Fernando Perez and RHP Chad Bradford. They'll try again today. ... C Shawn Riggans went on Durham's DL with a mild oblique strain.

Marc Lancaster