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ST. PETERSBURG -- Erik Neander wasn¡¯t quite finished with his opening statement Tuesday morning inside the Rays Club at Tropicana Field. He had credited the Rays¡¯ staff who evaluated, pursued and ultimately signed starter Zach Eflin and thanked everyone else who helped make the deal happen. He¡¯d explained what the Rays liked about Eflin and how they believe his best days are ahead of him.

Then the Rays¡¯ president of baseball operations addressed the elephant in the room. Or rather, the hitters who weren¡¯t in the room.

¡°That we made this commitment to Zach, while our offense and that being such a focus, should speak that much more highly to how much we appreciate Zach and how much we wanted him here, to divert from our most public of plans,¡± Neander said. ¡°Zach is not a hitter. We know that. But there's nothing wrong with making a strength that much stronger. And [we] believe that with Zach here we've got a chance to, on any given day with our rotation, have a group that has recently pitched at the front of rotations or at that ability level or very much has that potential.

¡°Our greatest goal is to win a World Series. The best way to do that is to win by one. We¡¯ve made clear our desire to improve our run scoring, but if we can also improve our run prevention, that's certainly another way to go.¡±

Indeed, a lot of the Rays¡¯ success dating back to 2008 has been built on pitching and defense. With a deep, talented rotation and another strong bullpen, the Rays should pitch well enough to have a chance to win every day. And, yes, 2-1 wins count the same as 8-1 victories.

They can improve their run prevention and run production, though. You only need to win by one run, but as the Rays were reminded all too painfully in the postseason, that can also be the most frustrating way to lose. Last year, the Rays went 69-14 when they scored at least four runs compared to 17-62 when they scored three runs or fewer. Even a little bit more offense could go a long way.

The Rays recognize that. Neander said they¡¯ve meant what they¡¯ve said about their top priority this offseason.

¡°I think the most acute area, identifiable area for improvement is one we've shared with our fans, which is scoring more runs,¡± he said. ¡°But that can't totally cut us off or limit us from the greater goal, which is winning by one. ¡­ There¡¯s still plenty of time to continue to explore what could help our position player group, but we¡¯ve got to work with what we have. You can¡¯t force anything, but yes, there are no deadlines and we¡¯ll stay at it.¡±

As for what they Rays are after, the hints they¡¯ve dropped lead to a pretty narrow pool of candidates in the free-agent market.

Ideally, they want a left-handed hitter to balance their mostly right-handed lineup. They want a veteran with a consistent track record, someone who could take pressure off their younger hitters. They¡¯re not totally sold on the idea of a rebound candidate; they have enough of those already, frankly. They¡¯re flexible enough to take on someone just about anywhere but shortstop.

With all that in mind, Michael Brantley still looks like the best free-agent fit. Brandon Belt and Matt Carpenter could help. Trey Mancini bats right-handed, but his career splits are stunningly similar: .265/.330/.456 against right-handers and .266/.331/.459 vs. lefties. There are always creative trades to be made.

Whoever it might be, there¡¯s still a need. There¡¯s also still time to address it.