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Rays won't allow highs, lows to sway trade talks

By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
In print: Sunday, July 20, 2008

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It would seem only logical to think that their skid going into the All-Star break — specifically, their lack of offense — would make the Rays more pressured and likely to make a trade before the July 31 deadline for nonwaiver deals.

And, according to executive vice president Andrew Friedman, it would be absolutely wrong.

Much like the players on the field and the man in the manager's office, Friedman said he has to maintain the equilibrium of not getting too optimistic about wins and too discouraged by losses, especially in what he considers such small samples.

"Had we flip-flopped our seven-game winning streak and our seven-game losing streak, people would be talking about how we went into the break as one of the hottest teams in baseball and (we) don't need anything at all," Friedman said. "That's one of the challenges in this job. You can't get too high, and you can't get too low.

"So we don't feel any more urgency because we lost seven in a row than we did two weeks before that."

Which means the Rays are still looking at every possibility to improve; still looking primarily for a right-handed-hitting outfielder and an experienced late-inning reliever (a Huston Street/Matt Murton combo from Oakland is a hot rumor); still more concerned about the acquisition cost (in terms of prospects) than the financial ramifications; still willing for the first time to have free-agent-to-be rentals "on the radar"; and still more likely to make a small deal than a big one.

"We're going to approach this deadline just like we have the others and go after some players that we like, that we have on our target lists," Friedman said. "Some are minor-league players that may help us in 2010, and some are major-league players that may help us in 2008.

"We're approaching it just as we have every other (deadline), and we'll continue to act aggressively if something lines up and makes sense for us."

Marc Topkin can be reached at topkin@sptimes.com. Keep up with the latest Rays news online at blogs.tampabay.com/rays.