Jason Standridge

Standridge provided some false hope that the conversion to relief work might be working, but eventually his poor K/BB ratio caught up with him. The idea that he might be a closer in the future seems a little farfetched at the moment.

Standridge is your quintessential Quadruple-A pitcher. Texas signed him after Tampa Bay let him go in the offseason; that's one of the few organizations where he might still be able to compete for a major league rotation berth.

Stop us if you've heard this before -- after a brief, ugly stint in the bigs and a workmanlike, but not dominating, part-season in the minors last year, Standridge may be competing for a spot in Tampa Bay's rotation this spring. His competition will be a bit tougher this season, however, so if Standridge can't crack the major league Opening Day roster, the Rays may decide they're both better off without each other.

Standridge established himself as an effective Triple-A starter in 2002 (hey, quit laughing -- few of us are good enough to say that about ourselves, right?), going 10-10, 3.12 in 29 starts. Lou Piniella sounds inclined to give the former first-round (1997) draft pick a chance to make the Devil Rays' starting rotation next season. Standridge has a 5.24 ERA in 22.1 career big league innings, but half of those innings have come against the Yankees, so he should be cut a little slack there.