Live from Las Vegas, day three

UPDATE, 5:04: Just got done with the annual managers' lunch, and Joe Maddon sounded very intrigued by the possibilities of adding to the offense, but provided no more specifics. "There's some very interesting stuff out there, and it's real,'' he said.
He also said he was not concerned about losing players to the World Baseball Classic, acknowledging the possibility that LF Carl Crawford and one of their starting pitchers, such as James Shields or Scott Kazmir, could be selected for the U.S. squad. The Rays could also see several of their foreign players selected for their teams, such as 1B Carlos Pena (Dominican Republic), INF Akinori Iwamura (Japan), RHP Grant Balfour (Australia) and C Dioner Navarro (Venezuela).

UPDATE, 2:58: There has been a press conference about the upcoming World Baseball Classic going on (and on and on ...), though they aren't naming names yet for the rosters. Davey Johnson will manage the US team, and Derek Jeter is here for the announcement so you can probably pencil him in at shortstop.
There are a couple of Tampa Bay area related connections, as the US team will be based in Clearwater at the Phillies complex and the Canadian team in Dunedin with the Blue Jays. There will be some exhibitions as well:
March 3 - Canada vs. Blue Jays
March 3 - Team USA vs. Yankees
March 4 - Canada vs. Phillies
March 4 - Team USA vs. Blue Jays
March 5 - Canada vs. Yankees
March 5 - Team USA vs. Phillies

The Rays will have a limited role, hosting Puerto Rico for a March 4 exhibition likely at night in Port Charlotte (not St. Petersburg as listed in the official release).

Other teams training in Florida:
Dominican Republic, with Marlins in Jupiter
Italy, with Mets in Port St. Lucie
Netherlands, with Pirates in Bradenton
Panama, with Astros in Kissimmee
Puerto Rico, with Red Sox in Fort Myers
Venezuela, with Tigers in Lakeland


Also Wednesday, ex-Ray Aubrey Huff won the Outstanding DH award.

UPDATE, 2:30: Rangers OF Nelson Cruz is of some interest to the Rays, but not enough that they would give up Edwin Jackson, and certainly not more, as an mlb.com report suggests. ... Also, the Rays have considered Florida OF Jeremy Hermida, but to say they "rejected" a trade with the Marlins, as the Sun-Sentinel reported, sounds a little strong. And if the Marlins truly seek, as the paper reported, two pitching prospects "likely from a group including RHPs Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, Jeremy Hellickson and Mitch Talbot," they should have rejected it, given Hermida's thus-far unimpressive numbers - .267, 44 homers, 163 RBIs in parts of four seasons.

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Most of the early morning buzz is about the Yankees' reported deal with C.C. Sabathia, which would go seven years and $161-million. It's not particularly good news for the Rays, Sabathia is 7-1, 2.44 in 11 starts against them, but not exactly a surprise either.

Otherwise, there's some Rays-related chatter in reports coming out of other teams, including possible interest in Cardinals OF Rick Ankiel and Rangers OF Nelson Cruz, and yet another mention of SS Jason Bartlett as a potential trade target, this time by Toronto.

Comments

[9equals8.com]

I expect Rocco will be a Ray in the end. No one else will be willing to take the risk on his disorder. The Rays have better info than anyone and he's very well liked in TB. But, they are not going to pay him full-time money when he'll be a role player at best. He'll have to agree to a big pay cut (and he could be a very good value if that happens).

[9equals8.com]

The good news is that the Yankees had to spend more than anyone thought they would to sign CC. I think we all knew he was going to be a Yankee. It'll be interesting to see a) how in or out of shape CC is when he reports and b) is he going to be sharp after pitching on short rest in September and October of 2008?

Personally, I am most intrigued by the Milton Bradley idea. I wrote a piece on it at http://www.9equals8.com. He's not without risk, for sure, but he could be a nice piece to the 2009 puzzle.

Also, would the Rays really trade JB? There is a lot of smoke for the Rays to not be considering it. Do they think that highly of Reid Brignac or would they give Zorilla a shot at SS (I'll go on the record to say the moving JB would be a mistake)? It would not surprise me to see the Rays move Edwin Jackson given he's likely to make $2.0-$2.5 million in 2009 (that's a lot of money for a guy that might not even start). But, Edwin has a very high ceiling, so they'd better get something good for him! He has the stuff of a top shelf pitcher and those are rare and valuable!

[Gatorman2k1]

Obviously need to sign Rocco to make that happen... I do NOT want to see a guy I admire wearing the wrong colors. I prefer to hate all 25 of them.

[Gatorman2k1]

Lots of nice possibilities, even though some are lefties. It does stand to reason that either the primary DH or RF needs to be a rightie or switch hitter. Baldelli or Aybar could probably platoon RF pretty well if the DH is a lefty.

I would LOVE to see Bradley in here somehow. He may be "troubled" but in a good way... kind of the anti-Delmon.

[TriplePlay]

I find it curious that we have a need for right handed power but we looking at more left handers?

Please sound Bradley.

[MarkFidrych]

The Spankees sign Sabathia....BFD!! Let's see him perform under the weight of that huge contract in pitching in NYC.Even if he does win 20,Mussina won 20 last year and he's gone.So basically then they will have replaced Mussina's 20 with Sabathia's 20.I have my doubts he will though.

[Mike B]

The Rays success is making the yanks and sawx spend a lot of money this off-season. The Rays will only have to make a few minimal moves and still be competitive in the division this year.

Rick Ankiel would be an awesome addition to the outfield but might be a waste to trade one of the Rays pitchers for only one year of his services.

[Gene]

No one expected the Yankees to sit pat, so this is not a shocker. The Rays confidence should translate into some better at bats next year, expect much more offense to go along with the improved defense. On that thought, who is it that keeps bringing up JB's name as trade bait? Must be some other GM with a bad case of wishfull thinking!