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Tampa Bay is the place where Greg Vaughn's bat speed went to die, Lou Piniella spent three years agonizing, and the organizational bigwigs barely cracked a smile when former promotional guru Mike Veeck proposed adding "Lawyer Appreciation Day'" to the schedule.

Hey, you'd have trouble working up a sense of humor, too, after the Vaughn-Jose Canseco-Vinny Castilla-Fred McGriff "Hit Show" fiasco of 2000.

After a shift from the Vince Naimoli ownership to the more fan-friendly regime of Wall Streeter Stuart Sternberg and nine straight seasons of 90 or more losses, Tampa Bay has a brand new identity: It's the home of talented young fly catchers, yearning to breathe free.

The Devil Rays produce outfielders the way Sylvester Stallone cranks out sequels. They have speedsters (Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli), volatile wunderkinds (Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes), a designated hitter (Jonny Gomes) and a soon-to-be converted infielder (B.J. Upton). No wonder people barely noticed when the Rays lost star-crossed former No. 1 draft choice Josh Hamilton in the Rule 5 draft two weeks ago.

Still, the glut seems incongruous when you consider other clubs in need. Washington's projected outfield consists of Austin Kearns in right, Alex Escobar in center and Ryan Church in left. Atlanta is looking at a Matt Diaz-Ryan Langerhans platoon in left field, and Florida might begin the season with converted utility infielder Alfredo Amezaga chasing down balls in center.

Andrew Friedman, in his second year as Tampa Bay general manager, contemplates the imbalance daily while trying to upgrade his roster in the shadow of the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and, yes, even the Orioles.

Potential trade partners make proposals, casual conversations either escalate or go nowhere, and two-team scenarios occasionally are expanded to three. Yet to this point, nothing has materialized.

Friedman, bright, hard-working and learning quickly at age 29, is more earth-bound than predecessor Chuck LaMar, whose trade proposals usually were deemed outlandish. But he knows what he wants, and so far, he has shown little inclination to bend.

"I think they have a plan," said an American League executive, "but it's another thing to execute it. They have to determine the right value for their players and a team that lines up with them, and then be realistic."

Have the Rays been too focused on making the perfect trade?

"Well, they haven't made any deals for them yet," the executive said.

Friedman's big objective is adding pitching. The Devil Rays ranked 12th in the American League with a 4.96 ERA and set a league record by losing 60 games in which they held the lead. Nevertheless, the projected staff for 2007 looks very similar to the group that underwhelmed in 2006.

If the season began today, Tampa Bay would run out a top four of Scott Kazmir, Casey Fossum, James Shields and Jae Seo, with Seth McClung the leading candidate to close. The Devil Rays made runs at Mark Mulder and Octavio Dotel, only to come up short in both cases.

Friedman has resisted the temptation to overpay for a Jason Marquis, Mark Redman or Tomo Ohka. He regards the surplus of position player bodies on his roster as a security blanket of sorts, given that the Rays were crushed by injuries last year and lacked the depth to compensate.

"If a move makes sense for the long-term, great," Friedman said. "If it doesn't, we still have the ability to hold on to all these players, give them at-bats and continue their development in some cases. We don't view this as a situation where we have to get a deal done before spring training starts."

In a span of two months last summer, Friedman traded Aubrey Huff, Toby Hall, Julio Lugo, Mark Hendrickson and Russell Branyan when they no longer fit the plan. Now he's trying to build a pitching staff to coincide with the progression of the team's top position player prospects. It's not only outfielders: Third baseman Evan Longoria and shortstop Reid Brignac, rated the team's No. 2-3 prospects by Baseball America, are moving quickly through the chain.

Small-market executives like to talk about "windows of opportunity." That's why Oakland's Billy Beane and Minnesota's Terry Ryan are so highly regarded in the business; their clubs compete year in and year out regardless of departures and the inevitable economic pressures.

Tampa Bay still has some time before its window closes, in part because Baldelli and Crawford are signed to such club-friendly deals. Crawford is signed through 2010, at a maximum total cost of $27.5 million if the Devil Rays exercise two options. The Devil Rays could have Baldelli for five more years at a maximum cost of $26 million.

If Friedman is going to trade one -- most likely Baldelli -- it will have to be for a front-line starter with a year or two of big-league service time. We're talking about kids like the White Sox's Brandon McCarthy, the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley, the Angels' Ervin Santana or one of Florida's promising young starters.

Pitchers who aren't on his wish list? Jon Lieber, Jon Garland and Brad Penny, trade candidates who are too expensive now and unlikely to be around by the time the Rays are competitive.

For the moment, Friedman makes incremental upgrades. Last week, he spent $7.7 million over three years for Akinori Iwamura, a Japanese third baseman with holes in his swing and big strikeout totals. But the Rays are hoping for a .300 average and 15-20 homers, and Iwamura has the versatility to play several positions. He's nicknamed "Top Gun" for his strong throwing arm.

"I liked what I saw," said a coach who watched Iwamura in the World Baseball Classic. "He takes a big, aggressive cut and he believes in himself. He plays with some flair."

The Devil Rays could ease the outfield congestion by trading Jorge Cantu, moving Iwamura to second base and playing Upton at third. But Cantu looked terrible last year after hurting his foot, and Chris Dial of the Baseball Think Factory calls him the "worst fielder in the majors." When Ronnie Belliard and Mark Loretta are having trouble landing everyday jobs, it's unlikely Tampa will find much of a market for Cantu.

Finally, the Rays have the option of sending some of the young outfielders back to the International League. But given the negative headlines that Young, Upton and Dukes generated in Durham, N.C., last year, the city might revolt if that happens. So the Rays will try to get Upton 450 big-league at-bats, possibly as a super-utility player. And they'll attempt to find 350 for Dukes between the outfield and the DH spot.

All that lineup-juggling could tax the imagination, patience and paternal skills of manager Joe Maddon, the man entrusted with babysitting the volatile and/or immature segment of the Tampa roster. Still, Maddon told reporters at the winter meetings that he sees no urgency for the Rays to move an outfielder.

"You talk about a core group to grow with -- my God," Maddon gushed. "It's one of the finest that has come along in a long time."

Last year, Maddon made some waves against David Ortiz and Ryan Howard by shifting all his infielders to the right of second base and moving his third baseman to the outfield. He referred to the alignment as his "3-4 defense."

Barring an outfield departure or two between now and spring training, Maddon might be unveiling a 2-5 or 1-6 version come April.

Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN Insider. His book "License To Deal" has been published by Rodale. Click here to order a copy. Jerry can be reached via e-mail.