The Rays Tank: David Price, Rays avoid arbitration

At the same time that the U.S. Government was busy pulling itself together to solve this fiscal cliff debacle, the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a bit of a looming fiscal hiccup of its own, by agreeing to terms on a 1-year deal with Cy Young winner and staff ace, David Price.

The deal will pay Price just over $10-million for 2013, a sizable raise from his $4.35-million 2012 earnings. Price was entering his second year of arbitration eligibility and had been projected to make $9.5MM by MLBTradeRumors' Matt Swartz.

The left-hander will be eligible for free agency in 2016 but will first see two more hefty raises in arbitration for 2014 and 2015. A long term deal seems less likely each day and trade talks surrounding the three-time All Star will no doubt accelerate heading into next off-season.

The deal also makes Price the highest paid Ray--baring further off-season moves--eclipsing Evan Longoria's $6-million salary.

UPDATE:

The exact figures of the new deal are $10.1125-million, per Roger Mooney of the Tamp Tribune.

• R.J. Anderson of The Process Report takes a look at what we can expect from the Rays during the final six weeks of the off-season.
• Elsewhere, the Indians signed Brett Myers to a 1-year contract.
• In a rumor that is shocking to no one, the Marlins may be shopping their last good player, Giancarlo Stanton. Should they listen on offers?
• Yahoo! Sports makes a case for designated hitters in the National League. Zzzz