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Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Today's St. Petersburg Times offers a couple of very important pieces of fantasy information.  The first piece of information contradicts what ESPN's Jerry Crasnick had been told regarding the Rays' closing situation.  In his Monday chat, Mr. Crasnick said he was told Dan Miceli was the favorite to close.  That raised my eyebrows but wouldn't surprise me given Rays' manager Joe Madden used him in that role at the beginning of last year.  (Veterans get the edge.  Why believe those lying statistics?)  However, the SPT reports this:

There were indications that veteran reliever Dan Miceli may be released - at a cost of $850,000 - to create a 40-man roster spot....

At the other ends of those "...." was the second piece of information:

....and that the final job among the position players could come down to a choice between former frontliners Jorge Cantu and Jonny Gomes.

Does this mean the veteran Greg Norton is going to make the team ahead of Gomes?  That'd be the logical conclusion.  Why believe those lying stats that Norton has produced this spring?

If Cantu is demoted, it means the Rays are comfortable playing BJ Upton on a semi-regular basis at 2B.  For my money, I have to believe it is Gomes on the outside looking in.  The risk that Upton can capably man a key defensive position in the infield is too high.  This doesn't mean Cantu can, but he hasn't been making 50 errors a year either.

What should be done - releasing Greg Norton, seems the least likely scenario.  Hoping that a trade can be made three days before the end of Spring Training seems even less likely.