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No More Personal Service Deals & Milestone Bonuses

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Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to put an end to personal service deals and milestone bonus clauses, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports. Existing contracts with these deals or bonuses won’t be affected by the changes, which were agreed to this month.

Albert Pujols and Ryan Zimmerman recently signed long-term contracts which include personal services provisions and Alex Rodriguez has milestone bonuses associated with his contract. However, MLB and the union say these bonuses violate baseball’s collective bargaining agreement. The sides have agreed that the CBA doesn’t allow players to agree to deals that include obligations beyond their playing careers.

MLB is trying to prevent teams from finding loopholes that enable them to evade the luxury tax, Stark reports. Personal service deals and milestone bonuses aren’t considered guaranteed money and therefore don’t count against the luxury tax.

AL East Notes: Nunez, Valentine, Hutchison

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Believe it or not, Rays left-hander Matt Moore has never started a game at Tropicana Field. The 22-year-old left-hander will take the mound at home against the Twins tonight for his first Tampa Bay start. Here are today's AL East links…

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests the Yankees should use Eduardo Nunez as their primary left fielder while Brett Gardner's on the disabled list. Nunez could be part of the Yankees' future, while veterans like Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez won't be, Sherman argues.
  • It's too early to bet against Boston manager Bobby Valentine, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Some rival executives say Red Sox president Larry Lucchino tried to regain power by hiring Valentine, according to Rosenthal.
  • Ben Badler of Baseball America introduces readers to right-hander Drew Hutchison, who will make his MLB debut for the Blue Jays tomorrow. The 21-year-old could use some more minor league seasoning, but he's quite polished for his age and could fit in as a back-of-the-rotation starter not unlike Henderson Alvarez. The Blue Jays decided to rely on internal starting pitching options this offseason instead of completing trades or free agent signings.

Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

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If you prefer your MLBTR fix limited to only your favorite team, we've got you covered.  Below are links to our team Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds.

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Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

Angels, Erick Aybar Agree To Extension

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Months after signing second baseman Howie Kendrick to an extension, the Angels have agreed to extend shortstop Erick Aybar with a four-year contract beginning in 2013.  The new portion of the deal is worth $35MM and will pay $8.5MM per season with a $1MM signing bonus.

Kendrick’s four-year, $33.5MM extension was apparently used as framework for Aybar’s deal, though the shorstop was reportedly seeking at least five years and $50MM. As our Extension Tracker shows, Aybar joins Troy Tulowitzki and Alexei Ramirez as the only shortstops to sign extensions worth $30MM or more in recent years.

Aybar, 28, has been the Halos’ regular shortstop since the start of the 2008 season. He’s hit .278/.322/.386 during that time, doing his best work in 2009 (.312/.353/.423) and 2011 (.279/.322/.421). Aybar reached both the 30 stolen base and ten home run plateaus for the first time in his career last season. He took home a Gold Glove Award last year and ranks eighth among all shortstops with a +2.6 UZR/150 since the start of 2010.

MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez first reported the agreement while Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link) had the terms of the deal.  Mike Axisa and Zach Links contributed to this post.

Minor Moves: Pelzer, Clevlen

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Keeping track of the day's minor moves…

  • The Orioles released right-hander Wynn Pelzer, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. The Orioles had acquired Pelzer from the Padres in the 2010 Miguel Tejada trade. The 25-year-old posted a 4.00 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 87 2/3 minor league innings last year, his first full season in Baltimore's system.
  • The Diamondbacks signed outfielder Brent Clevlen to a minor league deal, according to the transactions page at CBSSports.com. The 28-year-old has big league experience with the Tigers and Braves, but split the 2011 season between two minor league teams and an independent league club. He owns a .265/.344/.430 line in 11 minor league seasons.

Rays Claim Brandon Allen

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The Rays claimed first baseman Brandon Allen off of waivers from the Athletics, his agency announced on Twitter. Both teams have confirmed that Allen has been claimed. The SFX client had been designated for assignment by the A's last week.

Allen, 26, has a .205/.291/.375 line in 274 career plate appearances with the Diamondbacks and Athletics. The left-handed hitting 2004 draft pick posted a .200/.277/.377 line in 195 MLB plate appearances last year, but has a .268/.355/.489 line in eight minor league seasons.

Quick Hits: Phillies, Red Sox, Rangers, Vazquez

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The latest links from around MLB…

  • Placido Polanco, John Mayberry Jr. and Jim Thome aren't hitting, and David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News points out that this puts the Phillies in an uncomfortable situation. Murphy looks back at some of the Phillies' offseason decisions and wonders if the team should have prioritized a hitter over a closer.
  • Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald points out that two of Boston's primary offseason additions – Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon — are no longer contributing on the big league roster just two weeks into the season. Bailey is recovering from thumb surgery and the Red Sox optioned Melancon to Triple-A.
  • Ken Davidoff of the New York Post says the Rangers might have the best 25-man roster in baseball. Davidoff believes Texas can sustain its success even if prominent players leave as free agents.
  • Infielder Ramon Vazquez is looking to make a comeback and some teams are showing interest, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The 35-year-old hasn’t played in the Major Leagues since 2009.

Yankees Sign Nelson Figueroa

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The Yankees have signed right-hander Nelson Figueroa to a minor league deal, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Mike Silva first reported that the Yankees had a deal with ACES client.

The Blue Jays signed the 37-year-old to a minor league deal in January, but appear to have released him since. Figueroa started the 2011 season in Houston's rotation, but the Astros released him in August after he posted an 8.69 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 29 innings. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a 6.05 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 99 2/3 innings.

MLBTR Seeks Part-Time Writers

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We’re looking to add to the MLB Trade Rumors writing team. The position pays on an hourly basis. The criteria:

  • Exceptional knowledge of all 30 baseball teams, no discernible bias. Knowledge of hot stove concepts like arbitration and free agent compensation.
  • Availability to regularly work a 1-5pm CDT shift or 5-11pm CDT shift every Sunday is required. Weeknight shifts may also become available.
  • Writing experience is necessary and online writing experience is preferred.
  • Attention to detail and ability to follow the MLBTR style and tone.  
  • Ability to analyze articles and craft intelligent, well-written posts summing up the news concisely. 
  • Ability to use Twitter and an RSS feed reader such as Google Reader. In general, you must be able to multi-task.
  • If you're interested, email mlbtrhelp@gmail.com and explain how you stand out in a couple of short paragraphs. Hundreds will apply, so we cannot respond to most applications.

Aaron Miles Aims To Play In 2012

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Free agent infielder Aaron Miles hopes to play this season, so he's staying in shape in anticipation of the right opportunity. Agent David Schwartz says the 35-year-old Miles will be ready if an opening emerges.

Miles became a fixture on last year's Dodgers team, hitting .275/.314/.346 in 490 plate appearances. He hasn’t played much shortstop in recent years, but Schwartz says his client can fill in at short, second and third if necessary. Miles spent considerable time at second and third last year, and appeared briefly at shortstop, a position he hasn't played much since 2008.

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