Welcome to the Rays Q&A. Submit your question by following the link at the top of the page, or click here.

You are also welcome to comment on the Q&A using the “Send us your comments” link below.

Note: The live portion of the Q & A is now over. TBO.com will conduct similar sessions with Tribune columnists and reporters before the start of many Rays’ series the rest of the season. Submit your question now to have it considerd for the next Q&A, and stay tuned to TBO.com for more.

Also, check out this week’s audio Podcast with Rays reporter Marc Lancaster.

Q: Are the Rays willing to go after Xavier Nady or Jason Bay? If so, what will it take to get either one of those guys? Which reliever who is available at the trading deadline will suit in well for this team?
—Edgar Rivera, East Chicago, Ind.

A: They’re willing to go after just about anyone who could help them assuming the price is right. The price certainly would be higher for Bay than Nady, undoubtedly including at least one of the Rays’ higher-end prospects. They may be willing to give up Jeremy Hellickson or Reid Brignac, for instance, in a deal that might include other players (Jonny Gomes? Jason Hammel?) considering Bay isn’t eligible to bolt as a free agent after the season, but I’d be surprised if they made that deal. They like the composition of their team for now and they have to be more cognizant of how much of their in-house talent they surrender because they need that pipeline flowing to sustain themselves. Nady would be cheaper and I can see that happening, but other teams interested in his services (the Mets?) might offer the Pirates a better return simply out of desperation.

Q: The rays need to do more bunting earlier in the game.  Runs have been hard to get lately.  plus, bunting refocuses the batting eye when you are not hitting.
—Ken Chance, Inverness

A: I got at least three questions along these general lines this week. I don’t know that suddenly having everyone in the lineup drop down a bunt or two is going to fix the essentially team-wide hitting woes, but that seems to be a popular theory among some observers. Look, I prefer the National League game, which features more bunting and strategy in general because of the pitcher’s presence in the batting order, but keep in mind that outs are valuable and shouldn’t be given away too often. The Rays have more a of a speed game than most AL teams, but they can also hit home runs top to bottom in their lineup most days. Swinging to put the ball in play (or taking a walk) probably is a more effective approach in most cases, though you’ll see skilled bunters like Dioner Navarro lay one down every once in a while.

Q: When do you think David Price is gonna be called up? Do you think Garza is forreal or ???
—Titus, Chicago

A: I can see Price being summoned when the rosters expand in September (it helps that he already is on the 40-man roster after signing a major-league contract last summer) but not before that. I also wouldn’t necessarily expect him to move into the rotation. The Rays could slot him into the kind of role Joba Chamberlain played for the Yankees last season, with an inning or two of relief here and there. I think Price could be quite effective in that type of role while getting his feet wet for a shot at the rotation next spring.

As for Garza, yes, I do. No one has ever questioned this guy’s raw abilities. All the complaints you heard about him from his days in Minnesota had to do with a certain level of immaturity, and he seems to have turned the corner on that front this season – as is to be expected as he gets older and more experienced. Garza’s stuff is nasty at times, and as long as he keeps the ball down he’s going to get a lot of people out.

Q: Does the front office have an innings limit set for Price this season?
—Joe, Tampa

A: I’m sure they have a general range in mind, but they haven’t articulated it publicly. They’re very aware of the year-to-year increase in innings pitched for their young starters, with a 20 percent jump about the most they would like to see. Price threw XXXXX innings last year for Vanderbilt, but didn’t pitch in a game after the first week of June. That could mean his arm is fresh enough to push a little farther this year or they would prefer to bring him along more slowly since pitchers start more frequently in the minors than in college. Any way you cut it, Price’s time on the disabled list to open the season could prove rather useful in keeping his innings count down and thus making him available for a late-season call-up.

Q: Players are often described by the subjective adjective “clutch,” meaning that they make the play that must be made at a critical moment in a game, whether it be a hitter’s walk-off base hit or a 3-up, 3-down 9th inning by the closer.

In any given game, it can be relatively easy to say who made the clutch plays. But how about for a season or a career? How do you evaluate a player in the long-term and objectively determine that he deserves to be labeled a clutch player? Is there any correlation between the best players statistically and those labeled the most reliable clutch players?
—Mac, St. Petersburg

A: Well, you can look at stats like batting average and RBIs with runners in scoring position, or performance in LIPS (late-inning pressure situations), but the concept of “clutch” always will have some subjective element. And there are year-to-year changes. Think about Alex Rodriguez last season and all the big home runs he hit – I mean, the guy carried the Yankees through much of the summer. This year, not so much. When was the last time you remember hearing about him saving a game for New York? It hasn’t happened much that I can recall.

If you’re talking about the Rays this season, what about Gabe Gross? He leads the team with three walk-off hits despite not coming aboard until late April and receiving limited playing time since then. But does that mean you’d rather have him at the plate in a two-out, tie-game, bottom-of-the-ninth situation than Carl Crawford or Evan Longoria? I don’t know that it does, but Gross has produced in some big situations.

Q: What is the latest update on Rocco Baldelli’s return to the Rays?
—Steve From, Cambridge, Minn.

A: Baldelli is currently rehabbing with Double-A Montgomery and there has been some talk of playing him in the outfield for the first time this season sometime soon. His health situation remains fluid – quite literally a day-to-day thing – and the Rays are going to take their time with every aspect of his recovery. If he can demonstrate over the next month or so that his body can handle playing a few days in a row – even as a DH – he could be a factor for the Rays down the stretch.

Q: Has anyone bothered to point out to B.J. Upton that he can’t hit the ball if he doesn’t swing the bat? Does he lead the league in called third strikes?
—Robert Vijil, Plant City

A: Taking walks and getting on base is a big part of Upton’s game, and the Rays aren’t complaining about it. No doubt he hasn’t hit as well as he would like for about the last month, but expanding his strike zone probably isn’t going to help him get back on track. The thing Upton is most concerned about is that he’s missing hittable pitches – either swinging through them or not making solid contact and driving the ball. It tends to be a cyclical thing, though. He demonstrated last season what he can do when he gets on a roll, and chances are he’ll find that point again sometime in the next couple of months.