ST. PETERSBURG - Tampa native Jason Romano is coming home to play.
The Devil Rays made their first trade of the 2004 season Saturday, acquiring the infielder-outfielder Romano, a 1997 graduate of Hillsborough High, from the Dodgers for minor-league infielder Antonio Perez.
Romano is expected to be on the 25-man big-league roster when the Rays re-open their season Tuesday night. The Rays will remove someone from the 25-man roster after Romano reports in the next day or two.
"We're awfully glad to have Jason as a part of the organization," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said. "Not only is he a Tampa native, but we think he has the chance to be a good major-league player."
Romano, 24, started last season on the Dodgers roster and played second base, centerfield and leftfield during four stints with the major-league club. He appeared in 37 games, batting .083 (3-for-36). He spent part of the 2002 season with the Rockies and Rangers and has a major-league career average of .250 (26-for-127) in 84 games.
This spring, Romano led the Dodgers in eight offensive categories, including average (.379), runs (16), homers (five), stolen bases (five) and RBIs (14).
Perez, who came over in the deal that brought manager Lou Piniella from Seattle and sent Randy Winn to the Mariners, spent most of last season in the minors, but played 48 games for the Rays. He batted .248 with two homers and 12 RBIs.
He had been assigned to Durham before Saturday's trade.
HENDRICKSON SHARP: Pitcher Mark Hendrickson looks ready for the start of the season.
Hendrickson had his best outing of the spring in the Rays' Grapefruit finale Saturday. The tall left-hander allowed just two hits (both to slugger Carlos Delgado) and one run in six innings in Dunedin. Facing his former team, Hendrickson walked one, struck out two and recorded 10 ground-ball outs in the 7-5 victory against the Blue Jays.
"I didn't feel super strong, but I'm happy with the way I executed pitches and it turned out that some of pitches were more effective (Saturday) than all spring," Hendrickson said. "I was happy with it."
And he was happy with his spring. After missing his first start because of a strained rib-cage muscle, Hendrickson got stronger and stronger, and his last two outings were his best. Last week in Japan, Hendrickson pitched five innings of three-hit, one-run ball in a victory against the Yomiuri Giants. Then he was dominant Saturday.
"It's kind of good that I got to pitch over in Japan," Hendrickson said. "I think it gave me a chance to get an atmosphere that is similar to a regular-season game. ... I'm ready to go."
GAME DETAILS: Don't tell Eduardo Perez that Saturday's game didn't count. Perez went 3-for-4 with a home run. He also showed heads-up hustle on the bases, going from second to third after Jays pitcher Ted Lilly missed a throw from Delgado after a groundout. The ball rolled away from Lilly and Perez took third. He scored on a sacrifice fly.
Charles Gipson had a two-run double in the ninth that gave the Rays a 7-1 lead, and that turned out to be the difference as reliever Jorge Sosa struggled, giving up four runs in the ninth. The Rays finished 11-8, their first winning spring.
"Let's hope the season mirrors our spring training," Piniella said.
CHANGE IN PLANS: The Rays were supposed to play against their Triple-A affiliate, Durham, today at Tropicana Field but canceled that game. Instead, the Rays will work out at the Trop.
The Rays' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates will play after the workout at 2 p.m. The public is not allowed to attend, but full-season ticket holders are.
FIRST PITCH: World junior middleweight champion and St. Petersburg resident Winky Wright will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Tropicana Field opener against the Yankees on Tuesday.
Rays senior adviser Don Zimmer will throw out the first pitch at the second game of the series on Wednesday. All fans attending that game will receive a Zimmer fan mask.
Speaking of Zimmer, he will be the grand marshal at the Festival of States Night Parade on Monday in St. Petersburg.
MISCELLANY: Designated hitter Aubrey Huff left Saturday's game after one at-bat because of a stiff back. Rightfielder Jose Cruz sat out Saturday's game with a sore calf muscle. Both are expected to play Tuesday. ... Leftfielder Carl Crawford will be available for a Web chat at 4 p.m. Monday on devilrays.com.
