Rays complete deal with Corey Kluber - Tampa Bay Times

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ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays on Wednesday made official their one-year deal with right-handed starting pitcher Corey Kluber.

Kluber said in a Zoom interview from Tropicana Field he chose the Rays because he feels they have a good chance to win the World Series and that he heads into the season healthy.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner will get a guaranteed $8 million, with the chance to earn up to $5 million more based on the number of games started, up to 30.

The Rays were one of three finalists to sign Kluber last offseason, when he joined the Yankees on a one-year, $11 million deal.

He made 16 starts for New York, posting a 5-3, record with a 3.38 earned-run average. Though he missed three months in the middle of the season with a right shoulder issue, he finished healthy.

“We saw it in our division last year that once he got rolling pretty good, there’s more than enough there to compete at a high level,” Rays baseball operations president Erik Neander said. “We’re excited to have him on our side this year.”

While his performance will be most important, Kluber, 35, also was targeted to add a veteran with a pedigree of success to complement what otherwise looks to be a young rotation featuring Shane McClanahan, Luis Patino, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Baz.

“The experiences that he’s had in this game, the accomplishments that he’s had in this game — we often speak about how beneficial it is to have someone with those types of credentials, that type of resume around younger, impressionable players and talent,” Neander said. “We’ve been fortunate to have a few here, but there aren’t many that are a better example for young players than Corey Kluber.

“So we’re really excited about that. And even more so than I think the benefits that he’ll provide to that group and the example he’ll set and what our young arms will learn from him — obviously that’s a big part of the deal — but the driving reason is because of what we see in the ability and what’s still there.”

Neander said head athletic trainer Joe Benge and the medical staff spent a lot of time and “did a tremendous job” assessing Kluber, and they feel good about his health.

“(We) anticipate him taking the ball on a regular basis,” Neander said. “Maybe we’re a little limited in the early going to manage the workload and all that, but somebody that for us at the type of commitment we’re talking about and the quality that we think he’s likely to bring every fifth game, this is a really exciting addition for us.

“The feel to pitch, the moxie, the guile, the the cutter, the slider, the breaking balls, the feel for all of that is still very, very good.”

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