Team can trade for limited cash amount

© St. Petersburg Times
published June 29, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- If the Rays trade players for cash, as general manager Chuck LaMar is interested in doing, they won't be allowed to receive more than $1-million.

At least not without permission of the commissioner's office.

Under Major League Baseball rules, teams are prohibited from making any deal with cash considerations in excess of $1-million after June1. (Before that date, any such deals must be reviewed and approved by the commissioner's office.)

Further, a team can't make more than one deal in which it receives in excess of $400,000 cash considerations in a six-month period. To make another deal involving cash during that period, the team must receive prior approval from the commissioner's office.

In an effort to be proactive in what he expects to be a glutted midseason trade market, LaMar has told other teams he would take cash, or a combination of cash and prospects, for some of the Rays' established players.

WHAT GOES UP ... : Kevin Millar's seventh-inning fly ball never came down, sticking in the B-ring catwalk for a ground-rule double.

It was the second ball to defy gravity at the Trop (Jose Canseco did it May 2, 1999) and is believed to be the sixth in big-league history.

While it seemed clear the ball stuck in the catwalk, the players involved weren't sure what happened.

"I got scared," Rays leftfielder Jason Conti said. "I was like, 'Oh, no, I lost it.' I couldn't see it, I knew it was fair, and I was hoping that it didn't drop right behind me."

Centerfielder Randy Winn and shortstop Chris Gomez were ready for a carom. "I was hoping it would bounce off and we could catch it like (Cleveland shortstop Omar) Vizquel did to us," Winn said.

Said Millar: "It's a weird thing."

CUE SPORTSCENTER THEME: The ball simply slipped out of Travis Phelps' hand during his windup and landed a few feet away, but his eighth-inning balk will quickly become well known.

"I'm sure it will be part of the sports bloopers tonight, and probably for a long time," Phelps said.

CATCHING UP: Catchers John Flaherty and Toby Hall will continue to split playing time, initially in two-game shifts, until one emerges, manager Hal McRae said.

"They're going to make the decision for me," McRae said. "I'm just going to be watching."

NOW BATTING: Dave McCarty wasn't that upset to be released by the Royals since he wasn't playing much. And he was eager to sign with the Rays because he thought he might get to play more.

"Once they contacted me I started looking at it and said, 'They really could use some right-handed hitting, particularly somebody with some power,' and that got me interested," McCarty said.

The 32-year-old got promoted Tuesday after a month at Durham and is scheduled for his first start tonight in leftfield.

MEDICAL UPDATE: Pitcher Ryan Rupe's sore right knee is "feeling a lot better." Rupe will test it today in a sideline session and is hoping to be activated just before or after the All-Star break. ... Outfielder Greg Vaughn said his bruised right shoulder improved enough that he could lift his arm above his head.

MISCELLANY: The shutout was the Rays' first at home since Aug. 28, third this season and 23rd overall. ... Gomez's triple was his first since Sept. 1, 1999. ... Catcher Paul Hoover accepted an assignment to go back to Durham. ... Pitcher Delvin James went on the disabled list at Double-A Orlando with neck stiffness; Mark Malaska was promoted from Class A Bakersfield. ... The Rays of Hope Foundation received $5,000 from the Home Runs for Hope Challenge, won by the Watkins Motorlines Truckers team.