On the other hand, he earned $4.35 million last year and may command even more on the market and possibly more than 2 years. And an anomaly is that both last year and in his career his splits show him far better against lefties than righties, except for his home runs.

What about Cliff Floyd who can DH and play both RF and 1B? Injuries or not, this is a man who can hit. He was scheduled to receive $5 million from the Cubs, but they bought out his option.

He will be 35. Since 2001 he has gotten 520, 550 and 555 ABs in 3 different seasons, last in 2005, so he does play, and he does hit. The last 2 years he has played considerably less, although he was better in 2007. With time at DH, he might be able to contribute more regularly.

If so, we have our RF and need only seek a lefty bat for DH or 4th outfielder.

Just to scare some people, don't be surprised if the lefty bat flexible enough to play RF or 1B and DH is Gregory Blakemoor Norton, a 35 year old utility player who hit .277/.374/.387 in the second half last year coming off an injury that marred his first half and .296/.374/.520 with 17 home runs the year before.

You are probably right about it needing serious talent to get him, but you never know how others evaluate. He is now the 4th outfielder at best, he had a miserable year, they need pitching and seemed to sour on him last year. (Was he injured?)

In my ideal scenario, the Rays acquire Quentin for some combination of pitchers like Hammel, Jackson, Howell, Talbot, Mason and (sigh, sigh) maybe Sonnanstine. Unlikely? Yes. But I am not sure it is not doable. And then we sign Floyd to a one or two year contract, perhaps with team options and appearance incentives. He got $3 million in 2007 and was due $5 million in 2008 had the Cubs not bought out the option, so the money seems doable also.

I know the consensus on Norton, but he is a player who can serve. Actually, he is known as an excellent clubhouse player. And while the power numbers look bad in 2007, they were fine in 2006 and his other numbers, once he regained strength after the injury recovery (I am speculating of course) were not bad at all. I don't recall him being especially fragile, apparently he likes playing her and he provides flexibility. He is certainly not my preference, but I would not be surprised, nor were all other options gone, overly critical, should the Rays re-sign him.

I do not like the idea that the Rays may be banking on 4 players, all of whom are so unlikely to succeed, for 2 positions. In a best case situation, the Rays can now say they have 4 plus hitters in the lineup (Pena, Longoria, Crawford and Upton) and 3 adequate hitters (Iwamura, Bartlett and Navarro). Maybe I am selling Iwamura a bit short, but overall, if everyone plays as well as we can reasonably expect, that is the reality of the offense. I do not think the Rays can afford 2 more spots given over to black holes or sub-par hitters. That would be 5 of 9 spots with merely adequate or poor hitters.

Last year I might have agreed to risk giving Ruggiano his chance, but the Rays are in a new phase of their cycle, and it is now time to fill positions with more certain talent. Let him make the roster as a 4th outfielder and if the opportunity arises prove himself. But the Rays should not be handing a job to someone so iffy. I shuddered at a blurb I saw indicating they may be close to signing Erstad, a dreadful hitter. The Rays need to find someone they can depend on to play right field and contribute to the offense.

My answer is that he is also a question mark, but in his first appearance in the majors, he hit pretty well. In 2006, as a 23 year old, he got 166 ABs and had a line of .253/.342/.530 with 13 doubles and 9 home runs. That is a promising debut.

In 2007, he slumped terribly, although I think there was some injury issue. (Of that I am not certain.) Overall, his minor league numbers, even conceding they were accumulated in the PCL, were extraordinary. His overall minor league line is .312/.427/.526 with 55 home runs and 103 doubles in 1337 ABs. Ruggiano's numbers are close, although not quite so good, and some of his were accumulated in tougher hitter's environments. But balancing that are two factors. One, Quentin began in high A ball as a 21 year old while Ruggiano started his career in rookie ball at age 22. And second, while Ruggiano struck out every 3.2 ABs at AAA ball, Quentin only did it every 6.5 ABs in AAA. I do not mean to obsess over the strikeouts, but I do not think we can ignore them in assessing Ruggiano's chances.

Finally, while Ruggiano was never perceived as a top prospect and became a throw-in in a trade (much to Friedman's credit, of course), Quentin has consistently been ranked as a top prospect. While hardly conclusive, it is another mark in his favor. In 2006, Baseball America ranked him as the 20th best prospect in the entire minor leagues while Ruggiano does not appear in the top 100 list at all.