On the lookout for arms

YANKS 6, RAYS 0: Tampa Bay gets a look at potential starters, as N.Y. enjoys a night of milestones.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published September 25, 2002

NEW YORK -- As they begin the process of reconstructing the team for next season, the Rays have plenty of areas of concern that need to be addressed.

For starters, they need starters.

"We're searching for starters," manager Hal McRae said.

With the return of Paul Wilson, Tanyon Sturtze and Ryan Rupe uncertain, if not unlikely, since all three are eligible for arbitration and the accompanying hefty salary increases, the Rays will head into the offseason with Joe Kennedy as the only sure member of the rotation.

Victor Zambrano has been making a strong case to be included, with rookie Dewon Brazelton the closest of the minor-league prospects, along with Gerardo Garcia, Luis De Los Santos and the seemingly forgotten Jason Standridge.

Travis Harper would like to join them, but McRae thinks he is better suited, and better serves the team, in a swing-man relief role, and Harper's poor performance in Tuesday's 6-0 loss to the Yankees didn't do anything to change McRae's opinion.

Delvin James, however, may have worked his way into consideration. Continuing his comeback from a Sept. 2 shooting that left him with two holes in his left shoulder, James held the Yankees to four hits in five scoreless innings.

"I think he would have to be in the mix," McRae said.

The 24-year-old right-hander opened the season in the minors after a solid spring, then struggled through five starts after a mid-April call-up and spent the rest of the season on the disabled list and in the minors. He was pitching for Triple-A Durham when he and a friend were innocent victims of a shooting in a Waffle House in Raleigh, N.C. James allowed a double and three singles, working aggressively through the New York lineup.

"He's that type of kid," McRae said. "He threw the ball well, and against a good lineup. He didn't throw a lot of pitches."

Harper, 26, eventually would like to be a starter. But he has proved more effective in shorter stints, going 3-5 with one save and a 3.76 ERA in 29 relief appearances, 2-4 with an 8.33 ERA in seven starts.

He struggled from the start Tuesday, allowing a two-run homer to Jason Giambi in the first and another as part of a four-run third that ended his night.

"I'd prefer to start, but by the same token the long relief/spot starter thing worked real well for me this year, especially up through midseason. I was effective there," Harper said. "So it's hard to say, 'Oh I want to start when I've been effective doing this.' I've said a few times before that I feel like eventually I'll end up there, but I'm not going to put a timetable on it."

The Rays have their days against the Yankees, like Monday, when they played a crisp game, beat the Yankees 3-2 and led the New York Post to splash a back page headline that read:

"X-RAYTED Dismal D-Rays embarrass Yanks again"

But there are many more like Tuesday, when it wasn't so much that the Rays did anything wrong but that the Yankees just did everything better.

The game was virtually a roll call of Yankees stars and their latest accomplishments:

Giambi hit his 39th and 40th home runs as part of a 4-for-4 night.

Bernie Williams rapped his 200th hit, reaching that milestone for the second time in his career.

Mike Mussina held the Rays to two singles and struck out a season-high 12 in winning his 17th game.

About the only event that didn't happen yet is Alfonso Soriano's entrance into the 40-40 club. He is one home run away, and the Yankee Stadium fans have greeted each at-bat with standing ovations and chants of "M-V-P", but the Rays held him hitless in five at-bats.

"It was too much Mussina and too much Giambi," McRae said.

Mussina made it very tough for the Rays, pitching with the precision that has made him one of the game's best, even if he might be the Yankees' No. 4 starter.

"He didn't throw very many pitches where we could hit them," Ben Grieve said. "There wasn't a whole lot we could do."

The loss prevented the 54-103 Rays from shedding the label they have worn since June 2 as the worst team in the majors.

Detroit, after losing to Kansas City, is 54-102. The Rays are 54-103. Milwaukee, which beat Houston, is 55-102.