NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK : All Signings Point Toward Success

There will be a Caribbean flavor at Tropicana Field this year, with one bleacher area featuring sand, umbrellas and tropical cuisine.

For the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, however, their inaugural season doesn’t figure to be a day at the beach.

Much like the Arizona Diamondbacks, a swirl of trades and free-agent signings after the expansion draft have left the Devil Rays a far more competitive team than any first-year predecessor, but they are lodged in the high-rent neighborhood that is the American League East, seemingly doomed for the basement against the mega-franchises of the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.

“We’re trying to build an organization, not just a first-year team, and it would be a mistake to go out and spend what those established team are spending just because we’re in the same division,” Manager Larry Rothschild said.

“We’re not going to be lured into what would only be a feeding frenzy. That’s not the way for us to approach it.”

Said General Manager Chuck LaMar: “We want to be competitive as quickly as we can, but we never want to let our short-term goals get in the way of our long-term goals.”

Which is not to say that LaMar didn’t aggressively attack the market.

He traded for first baseman Fred McGriff, shortstop Kevin Stocker and catcher John Flaherty on the night of the Nov. 18 expansion draft and signed free-agent closer Roberto Hernandez to a four-year, $22.5-million contract.

In subsequent weeks, he signed free-agent pitcher Wilson Alvarez to a five-year, $35-million contract and also came to terms with third baseman Wade Boggs, designated hitter Paul Sorrento and outfielder Dave Martinez.

The Devil Rays’ regular lineup probably will include only three players selected in the draft: center fielder Quinton McCracken, who hit .292 and stole 28 bases in 325 at-bats for Colorado last year; second baseman Miguel Cairo, who stole 40 bases and hit .279 at the Chicago Cubs’ triple-A level, and possibly outfielder Mike Kelly or Bubba Trammell.

Rothschild, the former Florida Marlin and Cincinnati Red pitching coach who signed a three-year, $1-million contract and will be managing for the first time, hopes to create a National League-style running attack, which is a good thing.

The Devil Rays don’t have much power. McGriff hit 22 homers last year, his lowest total since 1987, and was dumped by the Atlanta Braves in favor of free agent Andres Galarraga. Sorrento hit 31 homers for the Seattle Mariners, but batted only .205 against left-handers.

Sorrento is 32, McGriff 34 and Boggs will be 40 in June.

It’s a homecoming for McGriff and Boggs, who grew up in the Tampa area.

“I played for two teams rich in tradition,” Boggs said of the Red Sox and Yankees. “Now I have the opportunity to be on the ground floor of a new organization, and it’s refreshing to the point that after 16 years in the big leagues I can now give something back to the young guys.

“The feeling here is that we can compete. In fact, we don’t think of ourselves so much as an expansion team but a first-year team. I mean, you think of expansion as a conglomerate of triple-A guys trying to make a name. We have a lot of veterans who are still productive mixed in with the young players. There’s a lot of talent.”

Boggs needs 200 hits to reach 3,000. His average has dropped each of the last four years, but it’s on defense that his durability and range are the concerns. The Yankees basically platooned him with Charlie Hayes.

“My attitude is no different than if I had signed with Anaheim or Kansas City or some other team,” he said. “I’m not on a mission to prove anyone wrong, but as a professional athlete you have to prove yourself every year.”

In an era of diluted pitching, the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks dilute it even more. Tampa Bay has Alvarez at the front end of the rotation and Hernandez at the back end of the bullpen, but in between are a series of questions.

The other four projected starters--Cuban Rolando Arrojo (who received a $7-million contract and was 5-0 in the Arizona Fall League), former Angel Dennis Springer, former Florida Marlin Tony Saunders and ex-Dodger prospect Rick Gorecki--have not won 20 games combined.

Nevertheless, LaMar, who prepped as an assistant to John Schuerholz in Atlanta, said, “We have a chance to win every night if our pitching is healthy. I think we’ll be competitive in every sense, but I also think that five years is an accurate benchmark as to what you’ve built and where you’re headed.”

Owner Vince Naimoli expects attendance of 3.2 million and a first-year gross of more than $90 million, putting the Devil Rays among the industry’s top eight teams, he said. The first-year payroll will be about $27 million, not counting the $10.2-million signing bonus given high school pitching prospect Matt White out of the 1996 amateur draft.

How many games can the Devil Rays win? The expansion record is 70, by the 1961 Angels.

“I will not get into numbers ever, whether it’s this team or the ’27 Yankees,” Rothschild said. “My number, when it comes to winning games, is one; the next one.”