Baseball

Cantu gets star treatment

Cantu gets star treatment

Jorge Cantu said he felt like a rock star.

First there was breakfast with Mexican president Vicente Fox . Then Cantu was presented th e Premio Nacional de Deportes (Mexico's national sports award) as the country's athlete of the year for baseball. Finally there was an open car ride through the streets of Mexico City in a parade that marked the Mexican revolution.

"It's something I will never forget," Cantu said. "Never, ever, ever."

It all happened on Nov.20, the revolution's 95th anniversary.

Cantu said breakfast was enchiladas, eggs and beans. Riding in the parade with friends and fellow ballplayers such as Esteban Loaiza , Ismael Valdez and Rodrigo Lopez was exhilarating.

Most memorable, though, was speaking with Fox.

"He was so easy and charming," Cantu said by cell phone from his father's cattle ranch in Reynosa, Mexico. "He wasn't one of those politicians who just talks to you. He was really into it. He came all the way over to my parents to say hi and talk to them and take a picture."

Cantu said he gave Fox one of his Tampa Bay road jerseys and a signed baseball.

"He said Tampa Bay is his team," Cantu said.

The Rays infielder, who batted .286 last season with 28 home runs and 117 RBIs, said he has not been able to come to financial terms with the Mexican League's Culiacan Tomato Growers. In the interim, he has been working on the ranch.

"But my dad doesn't want me to do anything with the cattle because I might get hurt," Cantu said.

Cantu said he runs every morning and works out every afternoon. He said he will sit out the winter if he has to.

"I need to get ready," he said. "Maybe I'll just go (to Culiacan) but ask them to be fair."

A NICE STORY: Bill Evers , who spent 30 years in the minor leagues waiting for a shot at the big time, has a lot of friends. When word of his hiring as Rays bench coach got around, the good wishes poured in.

"I'm just tickled pink for him as excited as he was," third-base coach Tom Foley said. "He has worked really hard and put the time in and grinded it out. And here he is. I tip my hat to him."

"I'm very happy for Bill," hitting coach Steve Henderson said. "He's a good manager. He knows a lot of the guys. He's happy just to get a chance."

As Tampa Bay's liaison between the major- and minor-league organizations, Evers won't lose touch with the team's grass-roots efforts. Still, it will be nice to put on a Rays uniform for a full season rather than as a September callup after his minor-league seasons ended.

"Well-deserved," bullpen coach Bobby Ramos said. "He has done nothing but help the organization and help his guys. He's very smart, very detailed, very organized."

MINOR SHUFFLING: With Evers out after eight years as manager of Triple-A Durham, the Bulls need a replacement. Former Astros bench coach John Tamargo is believed the front-runner.

MONEY BALL: The Marlins have traded away pitcher Josh Beckett , third baseman Mike Lowell and first baseman Carlos Delgado , and could do the same with outfielder Juan Pierre and catcher Paul Lo Duca .

They know they are going to lose pitcher A.J. Burnett to free agency and could lose outfielders Juan Encarnacion and Jeff Conine , shortstop Alex Gonzalez and closer Todd Jones .

In fact, when spring training opens, there could be only four players remaining from the 2003 championship team: Miguel Cabrera , Dontrelle Willis , Luis Castillo and Lenny Harris .

It's all part of the dismantling of a team that had a $65-million payroll last season and was in the thick of the playoff race but had the majors' third-lowest attendance. Plans for a new stadium in Miami also are dead.

"It's tragic. It really is," Beckett told the Miami Herald about the gutting of the club. "I don't want to go backward. Some of me hopes it's not true."

MONEY BALL II: Major League Baseball announced that White Sox players made $324,532 each for winning the World Series. The runnerup Astros made $191,985.