Now that that other sport is over with, the return of baseball, and the start of spring training, is truly on deck.

The Rays are expected to announce, perhaps as soon as today, the official signings of RHP Kyle Farnsworth, INF Kelly Johnson and DH Luke Scott, all of which we reported over the last two weeks. But there will be news in how they make room on the 40-man roster as they have to either trade, release or designate for assignment three players from the list below.

Obviously there are several ways the Rays can go. The players marked in italics are clearly staying on the roster, and the ones in bold would seem among the top candidates to be removed. The ones in plain type conceivably could go either way.

PITCHERS (21)
Chris Archer
Alex Cobb
Alex Colome
Dane De La Rosa
Frank De Los Santos
Brandon Gomes
Jeremy Hellickson
Roberto Hernandez
Josh Lueke
Jake McGee
Mike Montgomery
Matt Moore
Jeff Niemann
Jake Odorizzi
Joel Peralta
David Price
Cesar Ramos
Felipe Rivero
Fernando Rodney
Enny Romero
Alexander Torres

CATCHERS (5)
Robinson Chirinos
Chris Gimenez
Jose Lobaton
Jose Molina
Stephen Vogt

INFIELDERS (9)
Tim Beckham
Reid Brignac
Yunel Escobar
Elliot Johnson
Hak-Ju Lee
James Loney
Evan Longoria
Ryan Roberts
Sean Rodriguez

OUTFIELDERS (5)
Sam Fuld
Brandon Guyer
Desmond Jennings
Matt Joyce
Ben Zobrist