DBAHO Posted December 9, 2003 Share Posted December 9, 2003 No suprise really, ST. PETERSBURG - Carl Everett may get the first chance to fill the hole in the middle of the Devil Rays lineup. Team officials are planning to meet today with Everett, one of three free-agent outfielders they are interested in. They are also considering Jose Cruz and Juan Gonzalez and could strike a deal before Friday's opening of the winter meetings in New Orleans. "We'd like to do at least one more thing before we go to the meetings," manager Lou Piniella said Sunday. "We've done all our homework and we're ready. We know the areas we need to improve and we've got a definite plan. It's just a question of getting the people in here we want. If not, we'll go on and get other people." Everett, a 32-year-old Tampa native, is a switch-hitter who batted .287 with 28 homers and 92 RBIs for the Rangers and White Sox last season. The Rays did not plan to offer arbitration by Sunday's midnight deadline to any of their free agents, Ben Grieve, Travis Lee, Al Martin, Rey Ordonez and Terry Shumpert, though they still were negotiating with Ordonez. They were watching closely to see what decisions other teams made to find out what free agents could be signed without requiring draft pick compensation. They want to sign another middle infielder (Pokey Reese, Rey Sanchez, Tony Graffanino and incumbents Ordonez and Marlon Anderson are among the possibilities), an experienced reliever (Mark Guthrie, Kent Mercker and Scott Sullivan, among others), and a backup catcher (Keith Osik and Eddie Perez, among others). Saturday's two-year deal with reserve infielder/outfielder Eduardo Perez will be finalized this week after he takes a physical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.