Live from Las Vegas, day two

UPDATE, 9:26: Friedman confirmed the meeting the Giambi and said it went well and "interest is genuine on both sides.'' He also said they had some active trade talks on Tuesday and though nothing was imminent there was one deal that "had legs."

UPDATE, 8:11: The Rays are also scheduled to meet in the next 24 hours with OF Bobby Abreu's agent, Peter Greenberg. Abreu is a more complete player than Giambi and Bradley and could be the Rays' primary rightfielder.

UPDATE, 7:30: Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman is over at the Las Vegas Hilton to receive the Organization of the Year award from Baseball America. He'll provide an update on the day's progress at around 8:30 or so.

In other news, the Rays have hired Tim Ireland to be their first Pacific Rim scouting coordinator, with responsibilities in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. They also agreed to add another minor-league affiliate, rejoining the rookie-level Gulf Coast League to coincide with the move of their spring operations to Port Charlotte. And they have hired Dave Myers, a former big-league coach with the Mariners, as the new hitting coach at Triple-A Durham, replacing Gary Gaetti.

UPDATE, 6:50: The Rays apparently moved quickly in the next stage of their information gathering process on candidate to improve their offense, with word around the Bellagio that they met late Monday night with Jason Giambi.

That would make sense as they had a lunch meeting with Milton Bradley on Monday as they seek to get a sense of their options.

Giambi, 37, has been mentioned in various reports as likely headed back to Oakland, but that does not appear to be the case as the Rays and others have interest.

Giambi was seen at the Bellagio on Monday night and the ex-Yankee told Newsday he didn't know where he was headed. "It's slow out there,'' he said. "Nothing's getting done yet.''

UPDATE, 6:30: Don't go too far with those plans to welcome Delmon Young back. While the Rays don't ever say never to anything, the chances of re-acquiring the talented rightfielder from Minnesota seem slim at best.
Overall, It's been another day of a lot of talking and very little action. The Orioles sent C Ramon Hernandez to the Reds for utilityman Ryan Freel and two minor leaguers, and there is plenty of talk that the Mets are on the verge of a deal with closer Francisco Rodriguez.

UPDATE: 1 PM: The Rays today will officially be named Organization of the Year by Baseball America.

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Another slow-starting morning out here, though with at least a possibility of news as there are reports the Cubs and Padres could finally be close to working out a Jake Peavy trade, with the help of one or two other teams, such as the Phillies and maybe the Orioles.

OF Delmon Young has been a popular topic of conversation around here as the Twins look to make some moves, and he remains, as we suggested Sunday, an intriguing possibility for the Rays.

ESPN's Jayson Stark came up with an interesting scenario for the Rays to get him back, trading Edwin Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine to Colorado in a three-team deal that allows the Twins to get Garret Atkins to fill their third base hole.

There's also some chatter that the Rays and Cardinals are talking, which makes sense since the Cardinals also have some outfield depth including Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick.

And the Rays may have steep competition for free-agent OF Milton Bradley, as the Cubs have serious interest as well.

Comments

[Morey19]

I'd love to see Ankiel or Ludwick, not Bradley or Giambi, and DEFINITELY not Young. We'd lose BJ's concentration for sure. Ankiel has a cannon for an arm and has a stick. As a centerfielder he'd be sick on D in right. Ludwick has the heavy lumber. Not to mention both of those guys would likely be cheaper than any of the other three.

[MarkFidrych]

Young? NOOOOOO!!! Bradley? Too much of a bipolar hothead!

[TriplePlay]

Bradley would be an awesome fit for the Rays - he hits both sides plays hard and all the crap about his attitude is simply based on the guy wants to win games.

I like that.