With Dioner Navarro struggling immensely, Tampa Bay hoped to improve its catching situation down the stretch by acquiring Gregg Zaun from Baltimore. Zaun held up his end of the bargain, hitting .286/.323/.495 for the Rays, but the team has faltered, going just 23-29 since the trade.
Regardless of the club's late season struggles, Zaun said he hopes to return to Tampa in 2010, and maybe even beyond, according to Joe Smith of The St. Petersburg Times.
"I'm very interested. I know this team is going to be a competitive group of guys," Zaun, 38, said. "I love the coaching staff. Home is here. I don't see any reason why, if the terms are agreeable, that I would want to go anywhere else."
"Tampa is at the top of my list right now," Zaun said. "I'd love to come back."
The team holds a $2MM option for Zaun next year, but a clause in his contract gives him the right to void that option and forfeit the $500K buyout if he was traded before November 1st of this year, which he obviously was. That doesn't seem like it'll be an issue, though.
A 15-year big league veteran, Zaun has hit .252/.347/.414 in over 1,300 plate appearances over the last three years.
