The Rays have signed 23-year old righty reliever Matt Bush to a minor league deal. He was a first round pick of the Padres in 2004 as a shortstop but he was then converted to a pitcher due to his lack of success as a hitter in the minors. His missed all of the 2008 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery and he got into trouble off the field that caused him to miss the 2009 season. He last pitched in 2007 in Rookie and A-ball and he worked in 7 games (0 starts) in which he was 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Bush only allowed 5 hits in 7 2/3 innings in 2007 and he whiffed 16 batters showing that he has potential. The question is: Can he keep his head on straight? The Rays are willing to give him another chance to prove himself but they will likely let him go at the first sign of trouble.

Back when the “Devil” was still in the Rays’ team name, Roberto Hernandez was the closer for three years. He pitched in 207 games (0 starts) for the D-Rays and he was 8-16 with 101 saves, a 3.43 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. But, 1999 was his best year as he made the All-Star team and he also finished #10 in the Cy Young voting. He pitched in 72 games (0 starts) for the Devil Rays that year and he was 2-3 with 43 saves, a 3.07 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Although Hernandez was only with the D-Rays for three seasons he is the all-time leader in franchise history with 101 saves and he is #3 all-time in games pitched with 207.

31-year old lefty swinging Carlos Pena is back to man first base for the Rays again in 2010. He played in 135 games last season in which he was 107 for 471 (.227 avg, .893 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 39 homers (tied for the league lead) and 100 RBIs. He would have led the league in homers by himself if he didn’t get hit on the hand by C.C. Sabathia with a pitch breaking a couple of fingers. Pena’s average has dipped the last three years for the Rays but he has still been very productive averaging 88.7 runs scored, 38.7 homers and 107.7 RBIs per season. He has won a Gold Glove with the Rays and he has outstanding range but he made 10 errors last season and that’s too many.

26-year old switch-hitting Willy Aybar can also play 2B and 3B but 1B is his best position defensively. He played in 105 games for the Rays last season and he was 75 for 296 (.253 avg, .747 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 12 homers and 41 RBIs. Aybar only made 1 error in 31 games last season at 1B for the Rays as he finished out the season there replacing the injured Carlos Pena.

35-year old lefty swinging Chris Richard is back with the Rays this season. He played in 13 games for the Rays last season and he was 2 for 19 (.105 avg, .366 OPS) with 1 run scored. Richard also played in 100 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 96 for 365 (.263 avg, .885 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 24 homers and 75 RBIs. Richard made 1 error in 13 games at 1B for the Rays. He will likely again start the season in AAA and get a call from the Rays if the need arises.

The Rays have brought back 30-year old lefty swinging Dan Johnson. He played last season in Japan and he didn’t like it too much. He played in 10 games for the Rays in 2008 and he was 5 for 25 (.200 avg, .726 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Johnson has played in 328 games in his major league career and he is 273 for 1,103 (.248 avg, .763 OPS) with 140 runs scored, 44 homers and 161 RBIs. Johnson did get some key hits in 2008 after rosters expanded that September so he will likely be on the Rays’ roster at some point in 2010.

30-year old righty swinging Ryan Shealy will also be in camp on a minor league deal. He played in 25 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 30 for 87 (.345 avg, .879 OPS) with 15 runs scored and 12 RBIs. Shealy has now played in 164 games in his major league career and he is 146 for 538 (.271 avg, .764 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 19 homers and 94 RBIs. If Shealy can prove that he is healthy he could surprise the Rays as he has had success in the show before.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: A

25-year old switch-hitting Dioner Navarro will battle 29-year old righty swinging Kelly Shoppach this spring for the starting job behind the plate. Navarro probably comes into camp with a slight edge due to the fact that he knows the pitchers of the Rays. He played in 115 games for the Rays last season and he was 82 for 376 (.218 avg, .583 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 8 homers, 32 RBIs and he also stole 5 bases. If Navarro doesn’t improve his hitting in 2010 he will be riding the bench. He has had the benefit the least three years of having to threat on the roster to take his playing time away but that has changed with the addition of Shoppach. Navarro had 5 errors and 6 passed balls in 113 games behind the plate last season for the Rays as he often looked lazy on defense. Navarro threw out 24% of the runners trying to steal on him last season and Rays’ pitchers had a 4.23 ERA with him behind the plate. Navarro better come to spring training focused or he will be sitting a lot in 2010.

Kelly Shoppach is a power hitter so don’t expect him to hit much better than .250 in 2010. He played in 89 games for the Indians last season and he was 58 for 271 (.214 avg, .734 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 12 homers and 40 RBIs. Shoppach’s main issue on offense is his whiffs as he did that 98 times last season. If the Rays can get Shoppach to cut down on his whiffing (easier said than done) he will likely be a huge asset to the offense in 2010. Shoppach had 4 errors and 6 passed balls last season for the Indians while working in 81 games behind the plate. He threw out 21% of the runners trying to steal on him last season and Indians’ pitchers had a 4.67 ERA with him behind the plate. That was ERA was quite an achievement as the Indians’ pitching staff really sucked last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2010: C

Fred McGriff only spent a few years for the Devil Rays near the end of his career but he was very productive for them. He played in 577 games for the Devil Rays in which he was 603 for 2,074 (.291 avg, .864 OPS) with 277 runs scored, 99 homers and 359 RBIs. McGriff is still #3 all-time for the Rays in hits, #2 in both batting average and OPS, #5 in runs scored, #3 in homers and #3 in RBIs despite not playing too long in Tampa. He made the All-Star team for the Devil Rays at the age of 36 when he played in 158 games in which he was 157 for 566 (.277 avg, .826 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 27 homers and 106 RBIs. The “Crime Dog” wasn’t with the Devil Rays for a long time but he made his mark in team history.