The Rays introduced newly acquired OF Matt Joyce to the media on Tuesday, and he talked about how excited he was about the trade, and the opportunity to play near his family's Riverview home.
And while the Rays have been cautious about expectations, saying Joyce figures into their future plans but that are not sure if he'll be on the 2009 opening day roster and how much impact he'll have, Joyce said he plans to come to spring training and "raise some eyebrows.''
Executive VP Andrew Friedman, meanwhile, said he remains "cautiously optimistic" the Rays will be able to add an impact bat to their lineup, most likely from a group of free agents that includes Milton Bradley, Jason Giambi, Pat Burrell, Garret Anderson, Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey.
Friedman said he didn't have a good read yet on how the market would develop timewise, but said the Rays were prepared for any situation and he didn't expect the pursuit to last, as some have speculated, into late January/early February.