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Many factors in Rays' malaise

Questions about the manager and front office. Injuries. Surly veterans. Poor play all around. Is it any wonder Tampa Bay is 2-7?

• AL standings • NL standings

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 13, 2001

BALTIMORE -- It's not that anyone was expecting that much from the Rays. But no one was expecting this.

What was supposed to be a season of transition, a time to phase out some of the veterans, ease in some of the prospects and nudge the won-loss record a bit toward respectability, quickly has become an abomination.

Already, the Rays have showed to be a team that has -- and, in some cases, still has -- serious problems, with the flaws extending from the executive offices to the clubhouse to the last seat on the bench.

As is often the case, there is a conglomeration of things wrong. Key players have started poorly. Deficiencies in the construction of the club are apparent. Issues regarding the makeup and chemistry surfaced quickly.

Even after Wednesday's win, the Rays' 2-7 record was the worst in the majors (matched by Kansas City), and there was no disputing they earned the distinction with a week of wretched play.

They may have spent Thursday's off day feeling good about snapping a seven-game losing streak, but the Rays must know it will take a lot more than one win a week.

"I don't think it's too early to say there are some things that have to change, and change immediately," general manager Chuck LaMar said.

LaMar watched the games in Boston, went back to St. Petersburg for a few days and will rejoin the team today, eyes open to all possibilities.

"I think it's been as disappointing a stretch of eight games as we've ever had," LaMar said before Wednesday's win. "We have not played good baseball. We played some tough teams but we had several games I thought we had a chance to or should have won the game and didn't. It's as disappointing a week of play as I've seen."

LaMar, as he has in prior seasons, tagged the play of the team's most experienced and highly paid players as the primary area of concern.

"Overall, as a group, the veteran players have not performed the way that we think they're capable of playing," LaMar said. "If they're not performing up to their capabilities obviously that's their fault. If they are performing up to their capability, then it's my fault for bringing in some of the veterans that I did."

While some of the veterans, specifically Vinny Castilla, Greg Vaughn and Gerald Williams, have struggled, their play is not all that is wrong with the Rays. Following are some other areas of concern.

Inconsistent offense

The No. 1 off-season priority was to improve the league's worst offense, and the Rays brought in Wade Boggs as hitting coach (their third in four years) and made good-bat/bad-glove outfielder Ben Grieve their centerpiece acquisition.

But the lineup still doesn't flow. The leadoff man, Williams, has an on-base percentage of .200. The middle of the order -- Vaughn, Fred McGriff, Grieve and Castilla -- has more strikeouts (36) than hits (32) and just two home runs. Russ Johnson, who just took over at second base, is the only "sparkplug" type player. There is little speed, limiting manager Larry Rothschild's creativity.

During the first nine games, the Rays already have gone 112/3 innings without a hit and 20 innings without a run. They were shut out twice. They went 44 innings without holding a lead.

Frankly, there are too many players who run hot and (thus far mostly) cold, and too few who are consistently productive. They swing at the first pitch, don't do the little things, strikeout too much.

Williams is hitting .172 and drew his first walk Wednesday. Castilla, since a 5-for-9 start, is 2-for-25. Grieve, hitting .182, had an 0-for-14 stretch. Vaughn struck out in seven straight official at-bats as part of an 0-for-16 skid. Catcher John Flaherty is hitting .222. Only McGriff is off to a solid start.

Financial restraints

The Rays didn't make many changes from the team that finished last season, though apparently there wasn't much LaMar could do. Under orders from owners -- whose pockets got shallow after so-so attendance -- to reduce, or, at least for now, to maintain, payroll, LaMar was basically handcuffed, and haunted, by his previously unsuccessful moves.

There is $15-million tied up in veteran pitchers Wilson Alvarez and Juan Guzman, who are still recovering from shoulder surgeries with uncertain return dates. There is $7-million due to Castilla, even more painful since Aubrey Huff is close to being ready at Triple A. There is $8.25-million committed this year, and $18-million over the next two, to Vaughn, who has yet to prove he is as important a player on a bad team as he was on good teams in San Diego and Cincinnati. There is $3-million this year, and $3.25-million next year for Flaherty. There is $3-million owed to Williams and $6.5-million to McGriff, and both have 2002 options.

That makes $42.75-million in salary out of an opening-day total of $56.3-million for seven veterans. None is part of the team's long-term future, but all might be here for a while.

Alvarez and McGriff have no-trade clauses. Guzman isn't going anywhere until he is pitching consistently. Vaughn would require a team willing to make a major financial commitment. With a young pitching staff, Flaherty could be worth keeping. Castilla doesn't have much trade value at that salary. That leaves Williams, who brings some different issues, as the most tradable player of the group.

Chemistry

There seems to clearly be problem, which isn't that surprising given the makeup of the club. Other struggling teams often are stocked with younger players who are just excited to be in the big leagues and play hard no matter what. The Rays have several veterans who aren't used to losing and more likely to be unhappy -- and grumble about it. That makes for a sensitive situation.

Some fault the players. There is a perception that certain veterans are selfish, consider themselves above the team, think they know better how things should be done and flaunt it. Williams' petulant outburst over being pinch-hit for in the ninth inning of an 11-0 loss would seem a prime example.

They have the attitude that they've done things a certain way for a long time, that they don't need any tips from the manager or (at least some of) the coaches. They don't recognize their shortcomings and have lost touch with reality.

Others fault the manager. There is a perception that Rothschild has "lost" the clubhouse, that several veterans don't respect him as a manager and won't play hard for him, that they've "quit" on him. It's not as if they'll drop a ball on purpose or not run hard, but there is hardly a sense of unity, no feeling that they're all in this together and will do whatever it takes.

The complaints, which players only make when they know their names won't be attached to them, are that Rothschild doesn't communicate well, that he worries about too many non-essential issues (like whether there can be music in the clubhouse), that he sets a tone that is too serious and too negative.

Either way, or in some combined way, this is not a close team. Only a few, and usually the same few, players linger after games to talk baseball. Several occasionally stay in separate hotels on the road. Some players, especially Williams, routinely show up at the last minute. Every team has cliques, but even the most basic conversations in this locker room seem forced. They just don't seem to have fun.

Square pegs, round holes

The roster doesn't fit together well. Once again, the Rays have too many leftfield/DH type players. And while they're certainly better than the days of Paul Sorrento and Bubba Trammell, they're still not right.

Because McGriff still wants to play every day at first base, the Rays don't have a spot for Steve Cox, one of their best young pure hitters. To get Cox in the lineup, they will use him mostly at DH, especially after he had a rough time in leftfield last weekend. That means Vaughn, a 35-year-old with shoulder and leg problems, has to play leftfield. That forces Grieve, who isn't smooth and doesn't throw well, to rightfield. And that doesn't leave any room for Jose Guillen, who still flashes the potential to be an impact player.

They have two catchers, Flaherty and Mike DiFelice, who both feel they should be playing more. They're carrying 12 pitchers and one backup infielder, 23-year-old rookie Damian Rolls, who has played in five major-league games. They don't catch the ball well at the corner infield or outfield positions. They lead the majors with 13 errors.

Making a pitch

Between the injuries to Alvarez and Guzman and the slow development of top pitching prospects such as Matt White and Bobby Seay, the Rays are short on arms.

The Rays feel they have three solid starters in Albie Lopez, Paul Wilson and Bryan Rekar, but they don't have an ace, the one pitcher good teams depend on to stop losing streaks. Lopez, a free agent at the end of the season, and Rekar have been solid but not spectacular. Wilson flashes potential to be dominant but is a work in progress after missing most of three years with injuries.

After that, well ... Ryan Rupe, who followed a good rookie season with a horrible sophomore performance, has had one bad start and one good one. Travis Harper, the No. 5 starter, doesn't have the stuff to survive any mistakes. If one or both falter, the Rays are short on options. They could move Tanyon Sturtze or Ariel Prieto from the bullpen into the rotation, or they could take a shot that Jason Standridge, who has made two starts above the Double-A level, is ready.

The Rays haven't had a game started by a left-hander since October 1999, and that might not change until Alvarez is ready, whether that be May or June or whenever.

The bullpen, which LaMar ransacked last season to trim payroll and acquire prospects, is being rebuilt on the run, a mix of pitchers with great potential (such as Esteban Yan) and great pasts (such as Ken Hill). The present, though, can be a problem.

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