January 8, 200422 yr Credit: MLB.com 01/08/2004? 1:42 PM ET Rays sign Huff to three-year deal By?Paul C. Smith?/?MLB.com ST. PETERSBURG -- Aubrey Huff came through at the plate in a big way in 2003. On Thursday the Devil Rays rewarded Huff, their first homegrown star, with a three-year contract totaling $14.5 million. Huff had been eligible for salary arbitration for the first time. "That's awesome," said Rays rookie sensation Rocco Baldelli. "It's a great sign of commitment from our team. And it definitely means the organization is heading in the right direction." Last season, Huff put up the best offensive numbers the club has seen in its six-year history. The 27-year-old lefty tied the team record of 34 home runs in a season. He set franchise records for batting average (.311) and RBIs (107). He also set new team standards for hits (198), doubles (47), extra base hits (84), total bases (353), runs scored (91), intentional walks (17) and slugging percentage (.555). "Aubrey Huff is a pure hitter," said Rays manager Lou Piniella. "Hitting is what he lives for." Huff and Toronto's Vernon Wells were the only two AL hitters who ranked in the Top 10 in the league in the Triple Crown categories. And Gary Sheffield and Albert Pujols were the only two NL hitters to achieve the feat. Only 11 players in Major League history have matched Huff's '03 totals for hits, doubles, home runs and RBIs. If he had gotten two more hits and one more home run, Huff would have become just the 16th AL player to collect 200 hits, 35 homers and 100 RBIs in the same season. Huff played in every Rays game last season and has appeared in a team-record 275 straight games. It is the second-longest streak in the Majors to Miguel Tejada's run of 594 games. The 6-foot-4, 231-pounder had hits in all but 37 of the games last season while playing right field for the first time since his junior season at the University of Miami. He also became the first Rays player to receive votes for the AL MVP Award. Huff was the Rays' fifth-round pick in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft. After three seasons of hitting better than .300 in the minors, he made his Rays debut late in the 2000 season. He started the 2001 and '02 seasons at Triple-A Durham but spent most of both seasons with the Rays, playing first base, third base and DH. In 2002, he hit .313 with 23 homers and 59 RBIs. Overall in the Majors, Huff is hitting .294 with 69 home runs and 225 RBIs in 1,623 at-bats in 425 games. Paul C. Smith is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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