Club is always seeking upgrades

The moves came in rapid-fire succession for a few days, with the Rays claiming three players off waivers - and cutting one before he arrived to make room for another.

But even though Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said Monday that he'll continue to monitor the wire for improvements, he doesn't see many other areas that need shoring up after adding C Gregg Zaun and RHP Russ Springer over the weekend.

"I think with the two moves we've made, they were two areas that we felt like we could potentially upgrade, that could potentially impact the club," Friedman said. "There aren't a whole lot of other areas where I think there would be something that would be as clear to us, but you never say never."

Even if the Rays don't add anyone else, they probably will continue putting in plenty of claims. Reports from various media outlets have said the Rays have been particularly active in claiming players, mostly to block the Yankees and Red Sox from making claims.

It is, as Friedman has said, the one perk of trailing those two teams in the standings, but the Rays have to be careful not to get carried away lest they be stuck with a huge contract they can't afford.

"For the most part, the players that we claim, we'd be happy if we got them," Friedman said. "But it's a fine line, and obviously we don't have the same resources that the Red Sox and the Yankees do. So it's definitely a calculated gamble."

Clock is ticking

When the Rays selected LeVon Washington with the 30th overall pick in this year's draft June 9, the speedster from Gainesville vowed to sign his first pro contract soon.

More than two months later, Washington still hasn't put pen to paper, and he's running out of time to do so. The deadline for drafted players to sign is Monday, but the Rays expect talks to heat up this week.

"We remain optimistic that we'll reach an agreement with LeVon," Friedman said. "It's the 11th hour right now, so I would expect things to move pretty quickly. We should have a much better sense in the next few days."

Washington's adviser, Scott Boras, was at Anaheim Stadium for the series opener, making face-to-face negotiation with Friedman a possibility.

Washington is hardly alone in his situation; only five of the top 20 picks have signed to date. But the Rays had hoped Washington would sign earlier so he could work with their medical staff to rehab a shoulder injury sustained in high school. At this stage, Washington might be limited to getting some at-bats as a DH in Gulf Coast League games if he signs, but even that isn't guaranteed.

"I think there's always an advantage to signing early," Friedman said. "We went through some of those advantages right after the draft, but it's not always that easy and not always that cut-and-dried. Instead of focusing on how great it would have been, we're focused on getting him signed and getting him out there and, more importantly, continuing the rehab process with our trainers."

Odds and ends

RHP Chad Bradford (back tightness) is slated to pitch tonight and Wednesday for Charlotte and could rejoin the Rays as early as this weekend. OF Fernando Perez (wrist) is slated for seven innings in Port Charlotte tonight. ... The Rays plan to map out the next stage of 2B Akinori Iwamura's rehab today. He likely will begin a minor-league assignment soon, and could put in the maximum 20 days as gets reacquainted with live pitching. ... Injured RHP Troy Percival, who lives in nearby Riverside, may be on hand for tonight's game.

Marc Lancaster