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Rays expect to tweak rather than overhaul roster

 
Joe Maddon, left, and Andrew Friedman believe that the Rays’ nucleus is still strong enough to be competitive next season.
Joe Maddon, left, and Andrew Friedman believe that the Rays’ nucleus is still strong enough to be competitive next season.
Published Oct. 1, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG — In the aftermath of their worst season in seven years, Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said he doesn't believe they need to make many changes for next season to be one of their best.

"We feel like we have the core talent in place to be really, really good next year," he said. "Now we need to spend time kind of tweaking the roster and focusing on different aspects of it to put ourselves in position to break camp next year with a realistic chance to be playing competitive games in September.

"And as I sit here right now, I feel really confident in our ability to do that."

Most of what Friedman and manager Joe Maddon said during Tuesday's wrap-up media session at the Trop was devoid of specifics or definites. But what was clear was that they feel at least some, if not much, of the struggles that led to the 77-85 finish were random and not likely to be repeated, thus the roster needs only adjusting and not an overhaul.

"As we break down our guys on an individual basis and go through each player, we feel like we have a really talented group," Friedman said. "Now we need to focus on how guys complement one another and things we can do to round out the roster and put ourselves in position to be as good as we think we can be."

Though principal owner Stuart Sternberg said the payroll will be reduced after a franchise-record $80 million investment didn't pay off, Friedman indicated they won't be driven to dump salaries and will maintain their usual flexible and opportunistic approach.

"We're going into this offseason to solve for talent and to put ourselves in position to be playing competitive games next September," he said. "And we feel very confident we'll be able to do that irrespective of what our specific payroll number will be."

Any changes they make likely will require creativity in the trade market, as they have their whole roster under control, with more than $80 million in actual and projected commitments. The depth Friedman mentioned could lead to trades of either Matt Joyce or David DeJesus (two lefty hitters who will make about $5 million each) and starter Jeremy Hellickson, who could get close to $4.5 million via arbitration.

Their top priority will be improving an offense that scored an American League-low 612 runs. Friedman said there is a "very fine line" to not overreact, noting they were pleased with the number of opportunities created but not the conversion rate, as they led the majors with 1,193 runners on base. Also, the ultimate goal isn't to score a set number of runs, just more than they allowed (625 this year).

Friedman said they all share responsibility for the disappointing season, and he believes they can learn from it — and benefit from the ensuing reduction in expectations — as they seek to continue their run of success.

Also:

• Maddon reiterated his desire to stay with the Rays long-term. His latest contract, a three-year deal averaging $2 million, is up after next season and talks on an extension are expected to take place this winter. "I love it here," he said. "To be able to be here from 2006 and build what we have, it's very exciting. Hopefully it's going to last many more years."

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• Maddon indicated he was surprised at comments from Wil Myers about not working hard enough in spring training and Evan Longoria about some players not having the right mind-set to grasp the difficulty of the challenge they faced. "The players and us as a staff , we have to work together and make sure that is right," Maddon said. "That fact that it's even been verbalized, I'll really be more in tune to next season."

• Friedman sounded like there wasn't much question about picking up a $7.5 million option for infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist. "He's been a huge part of our past success, and as I sit here today I expect him to be a large part of our future success," he said. "A guy like Ben helps our roster in so many different ways."

• Though catcher Jose Molina had a historically bad offensive season, with a .178 average and .187 slugging percentage (two extra-base hits, four runs in 225 at-bats), Friedman and Maddon defended his defense, such as his ability to frame pitches and get extra strikes called. Per Baseball Prospectus, Molina got 139.8 extra strikes called, seventh most in the majors, which projects to save 19.3 runs, and the 30 passed balls and wild pitches when he was on the plate were only 19th most.

"The offensive production wasn't what he had wanted it to be or us, but he still caught well, he still received well, he was still was a very big asset regarding our pitching staff," Maddon said. Molina is signed for next season at $2.75 million.

Contact Marc Topkin at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.