Hot-Stove: Rays Lock Up Matt Moore

The Rays just locked up former uber-prospect and current rookie sensation, Matt Moore, to a five year, $14 million deal. Reminiscent of the 2008 deal with Evan Longoria, Moore’s deal is precedent setting because it is the first deal of its kind for a pitcher with less than a years service time, and tops any deal signed with a pitcher, with less than two years service under his belt. The deal includes club options covering Moore’s third arbitration year, as well as his first two free agent years.  If those options are exercised, the deal could be worth $37.5 million over the course of eight years. It could also exceed $40MM with escalators.

Mind you, Matt wasn’t going anywhere. Moore is under team control for six years. It does, however, remove any questions as to where he’ll be come the start of the season. In a nutshell, it makes Moore a stronger candidate for the Rays opening day rotation.

Now, the question begs: Who will the Rays trade to free up a spot on that starting rotation? Will it be Wade Davis, Jeff Niemann, or James Shields? Though Tampa Bay signed six players over the course of the last two weeks, they didn’t do as much as expected to shore up DH and first-base, nor did they sign another catcher (outside of Molina) as hoped. With the likes of Willingham and Alonso, as well as other players that the Rays have been rumored to be interested in including Casey Kotchman and Johnny Damon, things should get interesting over the course of the next few months. Now that Mark Buehrle is off of the market, and Roy Oswalt is reportedly close to signing a three year deal, you can expect the three above to be pushed to the forefront of desirable starters, potentially (in Shields case) on the market.