Rays won't just play out string

Tampa Bay can reach some encouraging goals with a strong final month.

ST. PETERSBURG - In another season or two, after a couple more years of development and payroll increases, the Devil Rays expect to be playing September games that are meaningful to them.

But that doesn't mean their final month of this season will be meaningless.

The Rays have the opportunity to shape, if not determine, who wins the AL West, the AL East and the AL wild card. And some of their players have the chance for some impressive individual accomplishments, topped by Rocco Baldelli's bid for rookie of the year.

Of the Rays' 27 remaining games, 20 are against four teams competing for, at most, three playoff spots: three with the Mariners starting tonight, three this weekend with the A's, seven with the Yankees and seven, including the final three, with the Red Sox.

"We have a chance to ruin some playoff aspirations for some teams," reliever Lance Carter said. "This month is our playoffs."

Or, as pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez said: "We're going to (mess up) a lot of teams going to the playoffs."

Manager Lou Piniella says simply their goal is to play as well as they can and win as many games as they can, and whatever they spoil in the process, they spoil. "Let those playoff-bound teams win somewhere else," he said.

The experience of playing against those teams will be a benefit to the Rays, for Piniella and team officials to be able to evaluate the young players against top-notch competition and for the players to see what it's like to play under immense pressure and scrutiny.

Be it ever so meager at 53-82, but there is a thing or two for the Rays to play for.

They could avoid losing 100 games for the third consecutive season if they can finish 10-17 or better. They can win a franchise-record 70 games if they can finish 17-10 or better. They even could finish out of last place for the first time if they can make up 71/2 games on the struggling Orioles.

"Trying to not lose 100, that's 63 wins. Is that attainable? Yes," Carter said. "Is 70 wins attainable? Yes. But you've got to look at the teams we're playing. We play well against the East (28-27), better than people expect. So is it attainable? Yes. Absolutely. We have a chance to win every game. That's our mind-set. We feel like we have a chance to win every time we go out there. And that comes from the manager."

The Rays have never had a player win any of the major awards or lead the league in any positive statistical category. (Pitcher Tanyon Sturtze last year led the AL in losses, runs, hits and walks).

This year, they could have both.

"There's some things here to look at individually," Piniella said.

Baldelli clearly is one of the top three candidates for the rookie award, voted at the end of the regular season by two members of the Baseball Writers Association of America in each league city.

Even though his average has dropped in the second half (.304 pre-All-Star, .280 since), his overall numbers, defensive prowess in centerfield and exciting style of play put him on relatively equal footing with Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui and Royals shortstop Angel Berroa.

But Baldelli faces two significant challenges: Matsui gets tremendous exposure and hype by playing in New York; and Berroa is getting increasing attention as the Royals continue to hang in the AL Central race.

Baldelli, typically, isn't concerned: "At this point, I don't even care. I've got other things to worry about."

Carl Crawford is in the running to win the AL stolen-base crown. He leads Detroit's Alex Sanchez (the former Rays minor-leaguer) 45-32 and shows no sign of slowing. The leftfielder has a good shot at 50 steals, which only five players his age, 22, or younger have done.

"It means a lot when you win any category," Crawford said. "It means a lot to me. It lets people know you are going to do something in the major leagues."

Rightfielder Aubrey Huff always has fancied himself a doubles hitter, but the chance to lead the league in doubles (he and Anaheim's Garret Anderson have 44 each) is not much more than an interesting sidelight. "It'd be cool to have, but it's not something I dwell on," he said.

His only goal is the same one he always has at any level he plays: to hit .300. "You hit .300, everything else comes with it," he said.

At the pace he's going, that would include 30 or more homers, 50 or more doubles and 100 or more RBIs. Add it together and it's a tremendous season, accomplished by 10 players. Better yet for Huff, it also adds up to a huge payday in his first year of arbitration eligibility: around $2.5-million.

First baseman Travis Lee is a candidate for a Gold Glove, based as much on the number of tremendous plays he has made as how many errors he has saved with his smooth and agile defense.

Gonzalez, who returned to the majors after spending five years battling back from injuries, has to be among the front-runners for AL comeback player of the year.

Carter, the Rays' All-Star, has a chance for 30 saves, which would make him the fifth rookie to get that many. He has had a hand in 54.7 percent of the Rays' wins (22 saves and seven wins), second among rookies to St. Louis' Todd Worrell, who was involved in 56.9 percent of the 1986 Cardinals' 79 victories (36 saves, nine wins).

Victor Zambrano, who starts tonight, has the chance to be the first Rays pitcher to win 10 games since 2001. He also has a chance to be the third pitcher in history, and first since 1944, to lead his league in walks (91), hit batters (16) and wild pitches (15).