--INF Jorge Cantu, the team's 2005 MVP, did not take his demotion to Triple-A well, requesting a trade and saying he wasn't sure he would report to Triple-A Durham.

"What can I say? I'm going to keep it real simple. I'm not a minor-league player," Cantu said. "Probably a change of scenery would be best. It's just for the best. I have to look out for myself. I don't have anything to prove down there, I believe. And what I've done here, it's like it was invisible. So I guess I've go to go."

--RHP Seth McClung, who was demoted to Triple-A Durham, said he wasn't aware he had a fourth option and would have put more of an emphasis on results this spring is he knew he could be sent down. He had an 11.57 ERA and allowed 25 base runners in 9 1/3 innings. "To the layman, you look at my spring and saw numbers that are ugly," he said. "But for me, what I see out of my spring is an individual who took an intelligent approach to a spring training situation where I had to work on some things."

--LHP Scott Kazmir, 23, makes his second career Opening Day start at Yankee Stadium. He is the youngest pitcher to face the Yankees in an opener since 22-year-old Camilo Pascual in 1956 for Washington.

--1B Carlos Pena was signed to a one-year deal for $800,000, plus the chance for $400,000 in incentives, as the Rays completed their roster Sunday. Pena takes the place of injured INF/DH Greg Norton, who will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee. Norton was hurt in Friday's second-to-last exhibition. Last season, he strained a left hamstring in the second to last game and missed the first four weeks.

--CF Rocco Baldelli's right hamstring feels good enough that he could play the outfield, but the Rays are more concerned he could aggravate it and end up out of the lineup. So for at least the first week, he likely to be limited to DH duties, with rookie Elijah Dukes and B.J. Upton playing center. 'It's all based on how Rocco feels," manage Joe Maddon said. 'I told him, as we've talked about in the past, 'I don't want any artificial deadlines. When you're ready to go, tell me you're ready to go and we'll make the move. For now I just want him to concentrate on that because he can control his running game better as an offensive player. On defense it's harder to control your running. This way we can put a governor on what he's doing a little bit."

--LHP Casey Fossum completed his preparation for Friday's home-opener start by throwing 90 pitches in an intrasquad game at the minor-league complex, allowing 13 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

BY THE NUMBERS
11 -- Rays who were on an Opening Day major-league roster for the first time.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I don't know how I'm going to take it. I don't know if I'm going to faint or what." -- Rookie OF Elijah Dukes, on making his major-league debut as the starting centerfielder Monday in Yankee Stadium.

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