Even though designated hitter Johnny Damon has expressed interest in returning to the Rays, Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times points out that the team won’t make any quick decisions regarding the status of him or Casey Kotchman.

Topkin adds that the Rays still don’t know either who they will “bring in or ship out.” Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman will have to find a way to improve the offense with limited resources. Friedman is trying to find “the optimal mix” of 13 position players that can best produce and prevent runs says Topkin.

If they decide to trade for hitters, there are already teams eying their well stacked pitching staff according to Topkin. Damon hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 HR’s and 73 RBI’s in 582 AB’s for the Rays in 2011. Kotchman hit .306/.378/.422 with 10 HR’s and 48 RBI’s in 500 AB’s for the Rays in 2011.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.