"With Luke Scott signed and set for everyday duty, the Rays are now focused on adding another hitter to complete the planned upgrade of their offense.

Executive vice president Andrew Friedman said they are perusing numerous possibilities: trade or free agent, right- or left-handed, bargain or expensive.

Most interesting, he claimed they are not limiting their search to a first baseman.

"We're just looking for a bat," Friedman said. "We like to have 'optionality.' We like to be as flexible as we can be. We don't want to pigeonhole ourselves into any one area if we can avoid it just because it expands the applicant pool.

"We're just going through a long list of names right now trying to figure out how we can line up on the best player that we can, when factoring in offense, fit with our offensive unit, defense, and the net result."

That would be an unexpected posture for the Rays, given how much manager Joe Maddon, with whom they are closing in on a multiyear contract extension, values a slick-fielding first baseman to anchor the infield defense.

Without one, they'd be looking at primarily using Scott, who is below-average defensively. Plus, he said he was told he'd be the primary DH, and he admitted he may not be far enough along in his recovery from July right-shoulder surgery to play first at the start of the season (or the outfield until May or June). Other possibilities include Sean Rodriguez and Ben Zobrist."