The New York Times-20080124-Rays Lock Up Shields- -Brief-

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Rays Lock Up Shields; [Brief]

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The right-hander James Shields and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a four-year, $11.25 million contract. Shields's deal includes three team options that could make it worth about $38 million over seven years. Performance bonuses could boost the value to about $44 million. Selected by Tampa Bay in the 16th round of the 2000 draft, Shields was 12-8 with a 3.85 earned run average in his first full season in the majors last year.