Piniella still sees promise

As bad as the Devil Rays have been - so head-shaking, eye-rolling bad that he has resorted to joking about all the things he's seen this season that he'd never seen before - Lou Piniella remains convinced the future is bright and improvement can come quickly.

The key, though, is getting the key to managing general partner Vince Naimoli's checkbook.

"If you're asking me if I had to do this all over again, I'd do it," Piniella said. "So that tells you how I feel about the situation. I feel it's going to improve and I'm optimistic. We've just got to spend a little money this winter. ...

"People probably have their doubts. I don't. I don't have any doubts at all that it can be done."

Naimoli talked big when hiring Piniella last fall, but he isn't making any promises lately, saying he won't have a player payroll budget until November. Attendance at the Trop has been bad, and Naimoli puts the onus on the fans by linking the two, but the enhanced revenue-sharing plan should at least give the Rays more of other teams' money to spend.

"We should (have more money to spend)," Piniella said. "We have the lowest payroll in the majors by how much? If we spend a little money next year to fill in some holes we can get better in a hurry."

The first step is knowing what they have, and they want to careful to not over or underestimate their prospects. Expect to see a bunch, well-knowns such as Doug Waechter, Jon Switzer Pete LaForest and others, promoted during the next couple of months.

Free agency won't be the only solution. "We'll probably have to trade some young pitching to get some position players," Piniella said.

If Naimoli could provide a budget now, Piniella and GM Chuck LaMar could get a head start, taking advantage of teams looking to dump players at a discount by the July 31 trading deadline. Instead, they are more likely to discard a veteran or two, sending a Marlon Anderson, Travis Lee, Terry Shumpert or Al Levine to a contender for a marginal prospect.

"I can't see us making too many moves with young players," LaMar said. "But if he we did, it may be a big move, tying in a veteran with a young player to get another good young player at a different position."

LUCKY CHARM:Three times in the past two years, Richard Waechter has made surprise visits to watch son Doug pitch, and it's been a good thing.

Richard went to Charleston, S.C., last spring, and Doug was promoted the next day to Bakersfield. Richard went to Bakersfield later in the summer and Doug was moved up to Orlando two days later. Monday, Richard went to Cooperstown, N.Y. to watch Doug pitch in the Hall of Fame exhibition. Wednesday, Doug got word he was going to Triple A.

So when is Richard going to Durham? "I'll have to pray about that one," he said.

CONSPIRACY THEORY: GM Brian Cashman didn't only say it was "complete hogwash" to suggest the Yankees quickly postponed Thursday's game with the Rays so they wouldn't have to pitch struggling Jeff Weaver against the Mets. He also said the Yankees had reasons to want to play - specifically having Andy Pettitte facing Rob Bell. "We had 36,000 tickets sold, and we would have loved to play it," Cashman told New York reporters. "And if you looked at the pitching matchup, it more than favored us."

HOO-RAYS: ESPN's Peter Gammons says top draft pick Delmon Young is being mentored by Albert Belle in preparation, work ethic and approach. Hopefully not in media relations. ... New York media says Gene Michael would have been a candidate to replace LaMar if he had not re-signed with the Yankees.