December 9, 201114 yr By Jerry Crasnick ESPN.com Archive The Tampa Bay Rays have reached agreement with rookie pitcher Matt Moore on a guaranteed five-year, $14 million contract, according to a baseball source. The deal includes multiple club options and could extend to eight years for a guaranteed $37.5 million and buy out two years of Moore's free agency, the source said. It includes escalator clauses based on innings pitched and games started that could raise the overall value to $40 million. The Rays plan to announce the contract at a news conference Friday afternoon, sources said. Moore, a 23-year-old left-hander, has emerged as one of the elite young prospects in baseball. He went 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA in 27 starts for Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham this season, striking out 210 batters and walking only 46 in 155 innings. Late in the minor league season, ESPN's Keith Law ranked Moore as the No. 2 prospect in the game behind Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper. Moore was dazzling in a September callup to Tampa. He struck out 11 New York Yankees in a five-inning start, and allowed only one run over 10 innings in two appearances against Texas in the American League Division Series. Moore's deal continues a long-term pattern for the Tampa Bay organization, which has long taken an aggressive posture in trying to lock up players with little or no service time. The Rays have done similar contracts with outfielders Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford, pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis and third baseman Evan Longoria since 2005. The Rays expect Moore to join David Price, Shields and AL Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson in one of of baseball's best rotations in 2012. Davis and Jeff Niemann are also in the mix, but have been mentioned in speculation as potential trade chips for Tampa Bay. Moore's contract is the biggest ever in guaranteed dollars and potential earnings for a pitcher with less than two years of service time. It surpasses previous deals for Shields, Davis and Oakland's Brett Anderson, who all had one year of service time when they signed their contracts. Jerry Crasnick is a ESPN.com senior baseball writer for ESPN.com.
December 9, 201114 yr This was a very smart move by the Rays, locking this kid up early like Evan Longoria.
December 10, 201114 yr I haven't heard much about this kid...he must be pretty good I was watching a few of his starts last year... he is phenomenal.
December 10, 201114 yr Dominated in the Rays only post-season win this year. I was very impressed with him.
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