Yesterday in our review of the American League East, we talked about the Rays looking for a right-handed bat such as Baltimore Orioles infielder Ty Wigginton, Kansas City Royals OF/DH Jose Guillen and Washington Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham.

Mark Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times says that adding such a piece to the Rays will require some tough decisions such as understanding the potential impact of the player they are acquiring and the overall cost of the acquisition in money and in prospects.

“We’ll have a lot of conversations as we try to ascertain if there’s a great fit for us or not,” executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. “On the surface, there aren’t very many guys available that fit us extremely well. We also have a lot of depth internally that we’re focused on, and because of that depth, the bogey for a player we acquire from the outside is higher. He has to be a really impactful player.”

Topkin suggests a few players that could fit the Rays’ need including Washington’s Adam Dunn, Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, Philadelphia’s Jayson Werth, Houston’s Lance Berkman (who’d have to waive a no-trade clause) and to a lesser degree maybe Milwaukee’s Corey Hart, Toronto’s Jose Bautista, Chicago’s Derrick Lee, Kansas City’s Jose Guillen and Seattle’s Russell Branyan.

“Our focus before the trade deadline has always been to really lock in on impactful type players that could make a significant difference and not necessarily make a move to make a move,” he said. “Then in years past, we spent August kind of focusing on the complementary type pieces. Just this year, there are less impact type guys than there were in ‘08 and ‘09.”

Related posts:

1. State of the MLB Trade Deadline market
2. Tampa Bay Rays Rumors: Could Lance Berkman be headed to the AL East?
3. National League West buyers and sellers
4. Top 11 MLB trade candidates: Martinez, Lee, Konerko, Lilly, Uggla, Cantu, Oswalt, Berkman, Guillen, Wood, Millwood
5. Price’s MLB Trade Deadline Buyers and Sellers