Rookie Pitcher Matt Moore, Tampa Bay Rays sign guaranteed five-year, $14 million deal -MLB Update
Rookie pitcher, Matt Moore and the Tampa Bay Rays announced that both have agreed on a five-year deal worth a guaranteed amount of $14 million on Friday, December 9, 2011, which is certainly a big move and firm starting step for the player in his young career.
Being one of the most talented younger players in the league, Tampa Bay expects that he will grow with the team and eventually evolve into one of the best around Major League Baseball (MLB).
"Matt is one of the most talented young players in baseball and exactly the type of person we look to build around," Rays executive vice president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, said. "For us, making a long-term commitment to a player is not only
a question of his ability, but also his work ethic, competitive drive and character. Matt excels in each of those aspects and we're thrilled that he'll be part of our core for many years."
The 22-year-old could also be up for $500,000 in signing bonuses along with a total of $39.75 million that could extend up to eight years and buy out two years of the players’ free agent status later on in the future.
Moore was especially one of the best elite young prospects due to his performance in the Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham this last season in which his performance was 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA in 27 starts. He struck out 2010 batters and allowed only
46 to walk in 155 innings which is certainly impressive for a player of his age and style.
The young pitcher was also called up during the 2011 MLB regular season in September to play, striking out 11 New York Yankees in a five-inning start.
It might be a difficult division to get adjusted to due to the lack of experience in playing in the major leagues, but the Tampa Bay Rays are sure that overtime, Matt Moore will turn out to be an investment which brought out more than what was expected in
the start.
It will certainly be interesting to see how he performance when the new season kicks off next year.
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