Fri 1/18/13 9:42 AM

Rays avoided arbitration with RHP Jeff Niemann by agreeing to a one-year, $3 million contract. Niemann was arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter after making $2.75 million in 2012. The big right-hander missed most of 2012 with a broken fibula and had to be shut down in September with a shoulder issue, but he's healthy now and is expected to be part of the Rays' 2013 rotation.