The Rays agreed to a one-year, $10.1 million deal with David Price earlier this week, allowing the two sides to avoid arbitration for the 2013 season.
The deadline to complete a deal was Jan. 18.
"It's always our intent [to get a deal done prior to the deadline]," Andrew Friedman said. "Sometimes it works out, other times things gravitate toward the deadline. ... I think the spirit of this deal was to try and do something that was fair for both sides, however you define that. And both sides continued to want to get a deal done. And in David's mind, he was very open to doing that earlier than the deadline."
Earlier this offseason, Tampa Bay signed Evan Longoria to a long-term deal. It would seem as though Price is next in line for one.
"We don't comment specifically about long-term deals," Friedman said, "but obviously, if you look at our track record, we like to do long-term deals when it works out for both sides. And so it's one of those things with David, or really anybody else on our roster that qualifies, and obviously the dollar figures vacillate among the different guys. So it's just one of those things that has to line up well for both sides."