16-year-old Czech baseball prodigy signs with Rays

A 16-year-old pitching prodigy from the Czech Republic, Štepán Havlíček, has signed a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, the US Major League Baseball club announced on Wednesday. Havlíček pitched for the Czech junior national team and struck out 13 batters in 11 1/3 scoreless innings during the European Junior Championships last August in Germany. According to sources, the Rays said Havlíček will likely attend some portion of spring training, which begins in late February, and play in Major League Baseball's Australia Academy later this year. The training will help determine at what level of the minor-league developmental system Havlíček might start in his pursuit of one day reach the roster of the Rays, who lost to Philadelphia in the 2008 World Series.