Rays camp report
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Five things to know about the Tampa Bay Rays:
1. So far so good with Akinori Iwamura's move to second base. Though the Rays haven't named Evan Longoria as their opening day third baseman, he will get every opportunity this spring, and one of those opportunities involves shoving Iwamura over to second to make room. General manager Andrew Friedman says the Rays warned Iwamura that they may need him to move when they signed him before the '07 season, and the response, according to Friedman, was essentially, "Whatever the team needs me to do." That's still his attitude, and manager Joe Maddon likes what he's seen of Iwamura at second. "He looks very comfortable," Maddon says. "He looks as normal as he should look. Agility, quickness, range, his footwork around the bag ... he's really good. I think he's very much into it."
2. After fielding the majors' lowest payroll last year at $24.1 million -- which also helped get them the majors' worst record, 66-96 -- the Rays have boosted it to roughly $42 million this year. And it could grow beyond that if they actually sign one Barry Lamar Bonds to kick in some designated hitter at-bats. The company line from Friedman is, "It's our job to talk about everybody, especially if they can help us win." Friedman on Thursday did not say that Bonds is an issue Tampa Bay wouldn't tackle -- though reading between the lines, odds remain strongly against the all-time home run champion* landing here.
3. On a team full of youngsters, B.J. Upton, 23, says it's easy to finger the biggest thing he learned during his first full season in the majors in 2007: "Take care of your legs. Especially with us, playing on turf. It's tough." Even for 23-year-old legs? "Definitely. I missed a month of playing last year because my legs weren't in shape. That's the biggest thing."
4. Keys to the spring, in the eyes of the GM: Iwamura's transition to second, outfielder Rocco Baldelli's hamstrings and the continued maturation of the fleet of talented young pitchers the Rays have amassed. On Baldelli, whose chronic hamstring strains and pulls limited him to 127 games over the past three seasons, Friedman says, "We're going to manage it throughout the spring so that we can put him in position to be ready to go on opening day. We'll be very cautious with him." So far, so good for Baldelli, 26. Playing right field rather than center -- Upton is there now -- should help save his legs.
5. The Rays will move their spring training operation to Port Charlotte, into the Texas Rangers' old complex about an hour-and-a-half south, next spring after training in St. Petersburg since the club's inception in 1998. Among other things, the Rays think it will help build team camaraderie. "From a baseball operations standpoint, one of the nice things about moving to Port Charlotte is at the end of the day there, guys can't go 55 different directions -- or however many players we have in camp," Friedman says. "Training down there will force them to spend a little more time together on the golf course, playing video games, whatever. Stay in the clubhouse a little longer. It can only help." Training in St. Petersburg, the players simply scatter to their regular-season homes at the end of the day.
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