Rays' biggest mystery steps to plate

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The hands that hold the future were busy fiddling with a mustard container. From the looks of it, the mustard container was winning.

Andrew Friedman squeezed for a minute, and nothing. He picked at the top, and still, the sandwich remained dry. Finally, he scowled. He stood up, walked across the room and took matters into his own hands.

And there you had it: Friedman's first trade as the Devil Rays executive vice president of baseball operations was to turn a container of French's that didn't work into one that did.

Which, in the condiment-as-metaphor portion of life, begs this question: Now that Friedman has conquered the mustard, can he also cut it?

This is Friedman's turn at bat. For all the praise aimed at Stuart Sternberg, for all the kudos pointed toward president Matt Silverman, for all the approval of manager Joe Maddon and vice president Gerry Hunsicker, the camera lights now are pointed toward the 29-year-old Friedman.

Come on, kid.

Show us what you've got.

Going into next week's winter meetings, Friedman is the essential Devil Ray. He is in charge of sculpting the roster, which also means shaping the future, which also means taking another eraser to the past. The future of Danys Baez? Pretty much, it's up to Friedman. Aubrey Huff? Same thing. Toby Hall? Ditto.

In other words, in the reconstruction of the Devil Rays, Friedman appears to be playing lead shovel.

Say what you will about the fresh taste of a franchise, but everyone knows the tingle will last only so long. Free parking matters only if a fan is driving to the Trop, and bring-your-own-chicken helps only if he is going inside. Eventually, this team is going to have to be better, be smarter, to convince everyone things have changed.

Which is where Friedman, wheeler-dealer, comes in.

All Friedman has to do is trade yesterday for tomorrow.

"I don't think of it as pressure," Friedman said Tuesday, sitting on a veranda overlooking Tropicana Field. "I think of it as a challenge. I wake up every morning excited about the possibilities."

This player for that one? This contract for the other? An outfielder for a pitcher? An older guy for a young one? Making a deal now as opposed to waiting to see? This team's deal vs. that one's? Weighing caution against boldness? Trying to separate a good fit from a bad deal? Magic beans vs. pork 'n' beans?

Basically, that's the schedule for Monday.

Orchestrating a major-league roster is a heady job. Ask any serious rotisserie league player, and they would swear they could do it. But when the job is to sit across from the Braves' John Schuerholz and determine whether he will give up more in a trade or not, when agent Scott Boras is on hold, when the clock is ticking on another deal, the air can get thin in a hurry.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the league's storekeepers look at Friedman, the new kid from the historically bad franchise. One assumes it will be similar to the way the sharks look at the rubes in a high-stakes poker game. One look, and they are divvying up your stars, your prospects and your watch.

How will Friedman do? We'll see.

His is the most difficult transition of all of the new faces of the Rays. Sternberg has owned businesses before. When Silverman sells a corporate skybox, it really isn't that different than what he has done before. But for Friedman, a business where employees are bartered for the employees of other businesses is a little different.

In summation, here is Friedman's job: He's the guy in charge of foresight.

Friedman has to find a player with upside who will fit into the locker room at a bargain. He has to see through Vinny Castilla and Ben Grieve. He has to avoid contracts such as the ones given to Greg Vaughn and Wilson Alvarez. He has to be decisive enough to say yes and strong enough to say no. He has to know when to insist on his voice and when to listen to Hunsicker's; otherwise, one of them is unnecessary.

Friedman's predecessor in the job, Chuck LaMar, had a reputation for overvaluing his prospects and for being slow to pull the trigger. It was as if LaMar had been burned so often that he wasn't about to make any deal that wasn't lopsided in his favor. Therefore, few deals were completed until it was time to dump a salary. The running gag was that LaMar said "yessir" to everyone but other general managers.

Going in, Friedman has many of the same restrictions. As salaries rise from "stupid" to "ridiculous," there still isn't a lot of money on hand, although he says the team will be flexible if the right deal can be made. Big-market teams are still going to have an attitude that you should give away your talent simply because they asked.

Give Friedman this. He's sharp, he's energetic and he has plenty of confidence. The pressure of the position doesn't seem to make him dizzy.

"I can't get caught up in all of that," Friedman said.

At this point, no one knows about Friedman. Does he have the right feel for a trade? Does he have enough imagination? Enough vision?

Soon, we will find out. Soon, the future starts to take shape.

Soon, he starts to pursue players, and we will see what kind of player the Rays have in Friedman.

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