ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -The Tampa Bay Devil Rays picked up manager Joe Maddon's two-year option for the 2008 and 2009 seasons on Saturday.

The move had been expected since Tampa Bay principal owner Stuart Sternberg spoke highly last month about Maddon's developmental work with the youthful Devil Rays, the American League's youngest team.

``I know it's just a two-year extension, but I want to be here for years to come,'' Maddon said. ``I see this as being one of the prime places to be in all of Major League Baseball in the course of the next decade. I want to be a part of it.''

Maddon, in his second season as Tampa Bay manager, had a record of 119-184 entering play on Saturday.

``You can see the growth in the past two years and that's just the tip of the iceberg,'' Maddon said. ``It's just going to keep getting better.''

Tampa Bay executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said retaining Maddon was not a tough decision.

``Everyone we talked to said he was definitely the right person for player and staff development, and teaching the game,'' Friedman said. ``But we also feel he's the right person for the transition into a winning team. Obviously time was going to tell, but we felt strongly that he would, and now after seeing him for two years and appreciating what he is all about, we're extremely confident he's the right person to get us to that point.''

All-Star left fielder Carl Crawford is hopeful that brighter days are ahead for the Devil Rays, who have never won more than 70 games in a season.

``Everything looks like they've been getting better,'' Crawford said. ``Two more years we get to see, see if the positives keep coming in. Developing players keeps happening and everything has been fine so far. Switching managers would have stopped the system that had already been in place.''

One key piece of Tampa Bay's future is left-hander Scott Kazmir, who is 11-8 with a 3.79 ERA in 30 starts. He will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this coming offseason.

``I'm not really focused on that right now,'' Kazmir said. ``I'm just thinking about the next game here, my next start and worrying about playing here. I want to be a Devil Ray. I'm happy where I am right now, and I'm not thinking about anything else.''

Kazmir said discussions on a potential long-term contract could take place after the season.

``We haven't really talked, but they said we would have talks in the offseason,'' Kazmir said. ``They haven't approached me about anything else.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.