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Call-ups reflect focus on upside, not stats

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 19, 2001

The past few times the Rays needed pitching, they bypassed minor-leaguers with more impressive stats, such as Mickey Callaway, Travis Harper and Brian Rose, and went for the ones with stuff, such as Jesus Colome, Victor Zambrano, Jason Standridge and Bobby Seay.

When first baseman Steve Cox hurt his back shortly after replacing Fred McGriff, the Rays left Ron Wright and his 18 home runs at Durham, instead shifting Aubrey Huff to first and calling up third base prospect Jared Sandberg. (And leaving Russ Johnson on the bench as well.)

When they needed an extra outfielder, they moved Damian Rolls rather than take another look at Bobby Smith, who seems to have resurrected himself with a position change and a .288 average, 19 homers and 61 RBI.

Why?

Because the Rays are making a total commitment to their young players and the future. Because manager Hal McRae doesn't want to waste time with players who aren't going to help in the next few seasons. Because, finally, they seem determined to decide who can and can't play rather than trying to hang on to every bit of talent they have.

"The guys we called up have more ability than the guys we haven't called up," McRae said. "Maybe they weren't playing as well or performing as well, but they have more ability. They're more what we're looking for.

"We've got a ton of average players. We're not looking for average players. We've got too many of those already. We need a couple guys to be good."

The Rays had a pretty good sense Toby Hall, Brent Abernathy, Jason Tyner and Joe Kennedy were going to be all right. But because of where they are in the standings and what they are trying to do, they have the luxury to be able to experiment with some of the others.

"We hope to play players who are going to play long term rather than stopgap guys," McRae said. "We prefer to play players we feel will be with us for the long term, players with upside potential. ...

"You're wasting time with stopgap guys. Where are you going with them? It's not like we're in a pennant race where you're just trying to win a game and you play whoever can play. Where we are, I like the long-term guys."

In limited samples, the moves seem to have worked. Colome, 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA in Durham, has pitched better here. So has Standridge. Sandberg, who was hitting .239 at Triple A, looks more comfortable.

"We didn't know that they were going to play better here than down there," McRae said. "We had no clue. We're not that smart. We knew they had ability. I think ability is the way to go. Everyone is not going to pan out. Everything is not going to work out.

"But at least we know the players we're bringing up have an upside. They're not players that are not going to get any better. And they're players that potentially can get us better quicker."

MANAGING FOR THE FUTURE?: Is Larry Rothschild looking to get another managing job soon?

There were some mixed signals last week when Rothschild took a job as a "very limited consultant" with the Marlins.

South Florida media speculated Rothschild was being hired to reclaim his old job as pitching coach and replace Rich Dubee, but both Rothschild and Florida GM Dave Dombrowski scuttled such talk, saying the assignment was simply to evaluate minor-league pitchers. "Don't read anything more into it," Rothschild cautioned.

Dombrowski said they "would love" to have Rothschild "for years," but "he desires to get back on the field."

Rothschild, though, said he turned down a major-league pitching coach job just before the All-Star break.

So if wants to get back on the field, and he turned down a chance to be a pitching coach, what's left?

SOME HONOR: Ben Grieve was named leftfielder on the Sporting News' "All-Star, All-Snail Team," honoring the slowest players. "It isn't just that he's the plodding-est outfielder in baseball. It's also that it seems to take him a day and a half to figure out where the ball is headed in the first place."

JUST WONDERING: If the Rays hold a "Turn Back the Clock" day, would the players all wear Durham jerseys? ... Now that investment banker JP Morgan is officially in charge of a potential sale, just how would a classified ad for this team read? ... Given his indecisiveness regarding the trade to Chicago, will there be a Fred McGriff "Waffle Day" at Wrigley Field?

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