BALTIMORE — It was early in spring training, before the position players were scheduled to report, when Matt Silverman went searching for the one position player who did not have a position on the team, at least not the team the Tampa Bay Rays projected for Opening Day.
Silverman found David DeJesus on Field 5 at Charlotte Sports Park, taking his cuts during batting practice, chatting up his teammates.
Silverman, the Rays’ new president of baseball of operations, wanted to have the talk. The one where he mentions the trade rumors, the offseason moves and why DeJesus would be the odd man out at the end of camp if he remained with the team that long.