Rays: Baldelli, Crawford moving up

It seems default mode in Tampa is desperation. Why else would you even think of batting Rey Ordonez second? Of course, it didn’t take too long for Lou to back off that idea.

So now the leadoff slot is Carl Crawford’s to lose. Later in this piece is a note that Lou and hitting coach Lee Elia are working with Crawford to make him more aggressive, which wouldn’t seem to be his problem.

Baldelli, apparently, willl bat second, if he deserves it.

I scoff at the idea of Lou, lover of vets, putting two strike zone impaired slashers at the top of his order, but he really has little choice. Neither Marlon Anderson nor Brent Abernathy is an obvious alternative.

Tampa is one sorry-looking team.