ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - David Price didn't leave the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with a lot of options for the top pick in the baseball draft.

The hard-throwing college left-hander was so good at Vanderbilt this season that an organization strapped for pitching couldn't help but envision someday plugging the 6-foot-6, 225-pound prospect into its major league rotation.

"Pitching is king," Devil Rays executive vice president of baseball operations said after Price joined David Clyde (1973), Floyd Bannister (1976) and Brien Taylor (1991) as the only left-handed pitchers selected No. 1 overall.

"Everybody knows about our position players. And while I think our pitching depth is a little bit underrated, you can never have enough. The fact he's left-handed, and the ballparks we play in, the lineups we face in this league, it can only help."

The Devil Rays have one of the youngest rosters in the majors, featuring promising talent like Carl Crawford, Delmon Young, B.J. Upton and Rocco Baldelli. But they've struggled to develop top-flight pitchers in what generally is regarded as one of baseball's better minor league systems.

Scott Kazmir, obtained in a trade from the New York Mets, and James Shields, a 16th-round draft pick in 2000 who is 5-0 with a 3.08 ERA this season, are emerging as solid front-line starters.

Price is the third college pitcher the Devil Rays have selected in the first round in the past four drafts, joining Rice right-handers Jeff Niemann (2004) and Wade Townsend (2005). But unlike the NFL and NBA drafts, it's more difficult to project when - or even if - a prospect might be ready to produce at the highest level.

The first order of business with Price is signing the native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., who went 11-1 with a 2.63 ERA while helping Vanderbilt win the Southeastern Conference championship this season.

Friedman said discussions with Price's agent, Bo McKinnis, will begin Friday. Once a deal is reached, the Devil Rays will decide where the 21-year-old will begin his pro career. There is not a timetable for getting him to the majors.

"We're not going to place expectations on ourselves or him by setting a date," Friedman said. "But I think it's in everyone's best interests if the day he's ready to pitch in the big leagues that he is pitching in the big leagues."

Price isn't making any predictions, either.

"This is something that takes time sometimes. I completely understand that," Price said by telephone. "I'm going to do anything Tampa Bay wants me to do. ... If it takes me five years to get to the big leagues, and they think I'm ready after that fifth year, that's fine too."

The Devil Rays said Price, who led the nation in strikeouts with 194 in 133 1-3 innings, had been at the top of their draft board since October, when Tampa Bay finished with the worst record in the majors and assured itself the No. 1 pick for the third time in franchise history.

Scouting director R.J. Harrison said the team was present for all 18 appearances Price made this season.

And while Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters and California high school third baseman Josh Vitters also were possibilities for the top choice, Price's position never wavered.

"You don't want to be too premature on something like this because I think you become closed-minded," Harrison said. "We didn't want to put blinders on to the rest of the field. And he was still pitching. Anything could have happened."

By the time Price surrendered a home run this week in his only relief appearance of the season - during a 4-3 loss to Michigan in the NCAA tournament - the Devil Rays were sure he was the player they wanted.

"We think this guy has all the ability to be a front of the rotation-type pitcher. Now it's just a matter of getting him signed, getting him in a uniform and getting him along that developmental process," Harrison said.

Price's fastball has been clocked in the mid-90s and he also has an outstanding slider. He rarely used his changeup in college, however the Devil Rays are confident he'll be able to use it effectively, too.

Price is looking forward to the challenge.

"I'm very excited. ... Everybody talks about their young players, but they forget about their older ones, Carl Crawford and Scott Kazmir and all them," he said.

"If that team's doing something it's going to be because their veterans are leading their younger players. I think when you have a good mix of veterans and younger players, that's when you have something really good going for you."

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)