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Writers must choose among so-so valuables

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 23, 2001

TORONTO -- The newspaper writers who cover the team on a regular basis will be asked soon to make a difficult decision, one much more complicated than their usual dilemmas of whether to add bacon to a double burger or if a certain pair of jeans can be worn for a third straight day.

In the next week, members of the local Baseball Writers Association of America chapter will have to vote for the Rays' most valuable player.

And that, truly, will be a tough call.

With a team struggling to win 55 games, you could probably say no one is most valuable. But the award still is going to be given.

Because of all the change this year, there are only two players, Ben Grieve and Greg Vaughn, who have been starters the entire season.

Grieve is having the worst year of his young career. And while Vaughn has some impressive team-leading numbers -- 24 homers, 82 RBI, 74 runs -- he also has a .233 batting average. He has only three homers and 22 RBI since the All-Star break. The total stats may look good from the outside, but he hasn't had anything close to what he'd consider an MVP year.

Fred McGriff, who was hitting .318 with 19 homers and 61 RBI in 97 games, would have been the likely choice, but he was traded in late July, and the team has played better since he has been gone.

So if those aren't the winners, who is?

Do you suggest a role player like Randy Winn, who has put up decent numbers -- a .282 average, six homers, 48 RBI -- while playing in a career-high 116 games? Or middle reliever Doug Creek, who has been relatively reliable (2-4, 4.30, .234 opponents average) while pitching in 63 games to match his career high? Or Paul Wilson, who after a horrendous first two months and two more in long relief has come back with a shot to win 10 games?

Each in his own way has been valuable, but not a most valuable player.

That leads to what seem to be the two strongest candidates -- pitcher Tanyon Sturtze and outfielder Jason Tyner.

After beginning the year in the bullpen (in a move of desperation by then-manager Larry Rothschild), Sturtze has become the Rays' most dependable starter.

On a team loaded with uncertainty, Sturtze is the one pitcher on whom the Rays can count for a solid outing each time out. He is 8-10 with a 4.63 ERA as a starter and has pitched six or more innings in 19 of his 24 starts. Maybe more impressively, the Rays -- 44 games under .500- are 12-12 in his starts.

Tyner didn't get called up until mid-May and didn't start playing every day until late June. All he has done since is prove himself as a potentially disruptive force at the top of the lineup who, despite playing in just more than 100 games, likely will have the team record for steals (he has 25; the record is 28) along with his record 32 infield hits (third in the American League) and 11 bunt hits. He has had three hitting streaks of 10 or more games and has a shot to finish with a .300 average.

While Tyner doesn't have typical MVP numbers, he does embody what the new Rays are all about -- play hard, get dirty, have fun.

The award will be announced during the final weekend of the season.

CENTURY CLUB: Unless the Rays go 11-4 in their final 15 games, they are going to lose 100 games for the first time in their four-year history and be the first AL team to do so since the 1996 Tigers.

It will make big headlines, but manager Hal McRae insists it is not a big deal.

"It's just a number," McRae said. "It means we lost too many games -- that's all it means to me. We just have to get better and we have our share of ballgames. When you lose a hundred games, you're not winning your share."

Plus, McRae said, it's all a matter of perspective. "I remember reading (earlier this season) that we were talking about having the worst record ever."

JUST WONDERING: Given the Rays' usual financial concerns, how has having only two home games this month affected their cash flow? And how much impact will the economic downturn have on their efforts to sell and renew vital sponsorships?

HOO-RAYS: The team is making a generous offer in providing two free outfield tickets for Thursday's game to all retired and current members of the military and police, fire, rescue and EMS squads. ... Tom Foley heads west Tuesday to manage the Maryvale team in the Arizona Fall League. ... The Rays plans to keep their advanced Class A team in Bakersfield, Calif., next season but likely will move it back east in 2003.

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