BOSTON - With speculation flying about his future, manager Lou Piniella called on Devil Rays ownership to make the team more competitive more quickly.
"I'd like to see our organization get after it a little more," Piniella said.
Piniella said when he agreed to a four-year contract with the Rays, he was told the organization was committed to winning. Now, he wants to see it make the necessary moves, such as adding two front-of-the-rotation pitchers and two middle-of-the-lineup hitters, to be able to compete with the elite teams.
"Who's interested in winning 65 games or 70 games? I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in much better. ... I don't think the organization would be interested in paying me the money I'm getting paid just to win in the 60s. I think that's very fair to say. I think I was brought here to get this thing to the .500 mark initially and above and get this thing to the point where you san say this team at least can compete for a wild-card spot. That's what I would like to see happen," Piniella said.
"All I want to do really is win here. That's it. It's a simple thing. That's all I really want to do. That's what I came here for. That's what I'm here for. And that's what I'm going to put all of my energies to as long as I'm here."
Managing general partner Vince Naimoli said the Rays are committed to winning but still plan to build slowly as their core of young players matures.
He said the organization would make some additions for next season and increase the league-low $23-million payroll but declined to provide specifics, except to say the total would be more than $30-million.
"We're not going to stay static," Naimoli said. "We are going to put money in to keep getting better. There's no question about that."
Piniella, though, is interested in more immediate gratification:
"It's nice to talk about the future all the time, but I'm 61 years old and I'd like to have an opportunity to win again."
Though Piniella said several times he was signed for two more years, he never went as far as saying he unequivocally would be with the Rays for 2005-06. He said he wouldn't quit, not with nearly $8-million due in salary, but raised the possibility he could be let go.
"The organization might just get tired of me and send me home," he said. "You never know. That's a possibility."
Naimoli repeated Tuesday what he told the Times on Monday, that he expected Piniella to be with the team for at least the next two years.
"He's a very honest, straightforward man; it's not a fault to want to win," Naimoli said. "Lou is a gentleman. He's a man who honors things, as all of us are. I don't see him not honoring things and I don't see us not honoring things."
Piniella said he was "embarrassed" by the volume of speculation in New York about the Mets wanting to hire him to replace Art Howe.
NEW FACES: The Rays called up pitchers Todd Ritchie and John Webb from Triple-A Durham and plan to use them out of the bullpen.
Ritchie, 32, spent the season working his way back from June 2003 shoulder surgery, going 6-7 with a 5.69 ERA in 20 minor-league starts. Webb, claimed on waivers from the Cubs in February after he broke his right leg, was 1-1, 5.31 at Double-A Montgomery and 1-3, 3.27 at Durham, and he pitched in one August game for the Rays.
Ritchie, who pitched in the majors for the Twins, Pirates and Brewers, is the 24th pitcher the Rays have used this season, matching the club record from 2000 and 2003.
The Rays don't plan further additions. IN ROTATION: Doug Waechter looked sharp in a bullpen session and will stay in the rotation, starting Friday at Toronto. Waechter has struggled in two starts since coming off the DL.
MISCELLANY: Carl Crawford scored his 92nd run, surpassing Aubrey Huff's team-record 91 from last season, and tied Gerald Williams' 2000 record with his fourth leadoff home run. ... The Rays announced a four-year extension to keep their short-season Class A affiliation with the Hudson Valley (N.Y.) team. ... The Rays continue to await word on a possible Sept. 23 makeup game in New York.
