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 A person with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday night that the three-time All-Star and the Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to a one-year contract worth just over $10 million, avoiding arbitration.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet made a formal announcement. Price earned $4.35 million last season, when he went 20-5 with an American League-low 2.56 ERA.
The hard-throwing left-hander barely beat out Detroit's Justin Verlander to become Tampa Bay's first Cy Young winner. He tied Jered Weaver for the league lead in wins and winning percentage and was sixth in strikeouts with 205 in 211 innings.
The Rays are expected to announce the deal with 27-year-old later this week.
Price was the first overall pick in the 2007 draft out of Vanderbilt. He was promoted to the majors late the following year, when Tampa Bay made an improbable run to the World Series.
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In 2010, he became the youngest pitcher to start an All-Star game since Dwight Gooden in 1986 and finished second to Seattle's Felix Hernandez in Cy Young balloting after going 19-6 with a 2.72 ERA.
The ace of one of the deepest rotations in baseball last season, Price will be counted on even more in 2013 following a six-player trade that sent right-handers James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for four minor leaguers, including top prospects Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi.
[Associated
Press; By FRED GOODALL]
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