Rays' closer glut makes more sense than you think - MLB - CBSSports.com Live Scores, Stats, Schedules

Miller's camping trip

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- You probably don't think the Tampa Bay Devil Rays worry much about ninth innings.

You probably look at the their 99 losses last year, and at their six consecutive seasons of 90 or more losses, and figure, closer, why would the Devil Rays need a closer?


Lou Piniella is preparing the Devil Rays for the day when they will need a good closer. (AP)

It's not like they give you steak knives in McDonald's.

But there they are here, there, everywhere in Camp Lou, Year II. There are practically more closers than palm trees in camp this spring.

There's Danys Baez, the erstwhile Cleveland Indian, signed to a two-year deal this winter with the idea that he will be the kind of hard-throwing, lights-out closer that seals things shut tighter than Tupperware. Baez earned 25 saves for the Indians last year.

There's Lance Carter, a 2003 All-Star, who collected 26 saves last season.

There's Mike Williams, a 2003 All-Star, who picked up 28 saves last season.

There's Todd Jones, a 2000 All-Star, who brings 184 career saves to camp.

"It's like being in a strip club with only $40 in your pocket," said right-hander Rob Bell who, if his stuff matches his sense of humor this spring, just might crack the Devil Rays rotation. "With all of the All-Stars, who do you want?

"Any of those guys can do the dance on any night."

If things work the way the Devil Rays expect, it will be Baez who's dancing most often in the ninth inning.

"We brought him in to pitch the tail end of games," manager Lou Piniella said. "But again, we hope to win enough games that we need a couple of people there.

"I tend to pitch and play people who get the job done. Baez has got a fine arm. He's got all of the equipment. And he's got three years of experience to boot.

"But again, I remember the fact that Lance Carter pitched well for us last year, too."

By the way, it's OK to stop chuckling now. Yeah, the Devil Rays are stuck in baseball's toughest division. But these aren't the Devil Rays who have spent their existence as baseball's funniest punch line. A closer is going to come in more and more handy for Tampa Bay over the next couple of seasons.

These guys are going to be good, and sooner rather than later. In Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and Jose Cruz Jr., the Devil Rays might just have the best defensive outfield in baseball. Aubrey Huff is a legitimate power threat. Toby Hall has gotten better behind the plate. Tino Martinez is here to play first base.

Maybe in this year of the Superpowers in the AL East, the Devil Rays won't factor in too much. But, finally, this is a developing team, not a junkyard for rejects.

Which means, sooner or later, they really are going to need a closer. Last season, the Devil Rays ranked 13th in the AL with only 30 saves (they also ranked 13th with only 63 wins. Only Detroit was worse in each category).

"I'm willing to do whatever they want me to do, whatever they think will make the ballclub better," said Carter, 29. "They haven't told me what my role is."

"I'll probably be a setup guy," said Williams, 34, who pitched in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia last year. "It doesn't matter. Just so I pitch. You've gotta have 25 guys to win. You've gotta have guys in the middle innings, too, guys to get the ball to the closer. If they don't get the job done, you're not going to win."

"Danys has got a great arm," said Jones, 35, who pitched for Colorado and Boston last season and hasn't worked exclusively as a closer since 2000. "He's got plus stuff, and he's got a lot higher ceiling than the rest of us. He's going to be around awhile."

Baez, who signed a two-year, $6.5 million deal after never living up to expectations in Cleveland following his defection from Cuba, figures he'll close for the Devil Rays. But just because they told him that when they signed him doesn't mean he's going to believe it until opening day.

"I'm going to be on the team," Baez said. "I don't know for sure where I'm going to be. They've said that (he'll close)."

Initially a starter in Cleveland, Baez said he now prefers closing.

"It's great to be there at the end of the game, with only three outs to go," he said. "When it's just you, the hitter and the plate."

Piniella will be watching closely when the games start, observing how Baez, Carter and the rest react in Grapefruit League situations.

The rest of the Rays, no doubt, will be sizing up the competition with interest, too.

"Lance Carter has a false sense of his own humor," Bell said, chuckling. "Mike Williams, I'm still trying to get a read on him. Todd Jones is a seasoned veteran with a few purple hearts. And Baez, anybody who has been through the trials and tribulations he has, has depth of character."

Carter, whose All-Star appearance last year means approximately the same as those of Williams and Jones -- nada -- said there are no large egos and bad blood poisoning the relievers' end of the clubhouse.

"I think there are things I could learn from Todd, and from Mike," Carter said. "Me and Danys are two different types of pitchers, but there are things I can learn from him, too."

Said Williams: "As a young guy, yeah, you look around and try to figure, 'Is this guy gonna make the team or not?' But as an older guy, you figure if you do what you're supposed to do and pitch the way you should, everything will work out."

Of course, not everyone in camp is buying all of this happy talk.

"That's what they say," Bell said. "But I'm sure they've all got voodoo dolls at home."