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Brewers Notes: Ramirez, Gamel, Green, Braun

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GM Doug Melvin confirmed this evening that the Brewers won’t bid on free agent first baseman Prince Fielder. Here are more details on the Brewers, who agreed to terms with Aramis Ramirez and obtained Jose Veras for Casey McGehee today…

  • The Brewers have already committed more than expected to the 2012 payroll, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links). "We've stretched it well beyond where we wanted to go," Melvin said.
  • The Brewers will proceed with Mat Gamel at first base and they also intend to give infield prospect Taylor Green a chance to make a contribution in the Major Leagues in 2012, Haudricourt reports (Twitter links). The Brewers won’t sign a prominent free agent first baseman this offseason.
  • Melvin declined to comment on the possibility that Ryan Braun will miss 50 games in 2012, Haudricourt notes. The 2011 NL MVP tested positive for a banned substance and may face a lengthy suspension.
  • Ramirez is a reasonable solution for the Brewers, but they'll likely need more to repeat as division champions in 2012, ESPN.com's Keith Law writes.

National League Non-Tenders

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Here are this year's National League non-tenders. You can also keep track of all teams with our non-tender tracker and check out our list of non-tender candidates:

Rangers Focused On Trading For Starting Pitching

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The Rangers are more focused on trading for a starter than signing Prince Fielder or bidding on Yu Darvish, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Here are the details on the Rangers…

Players To Avoid Arbitration

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Tonight is the deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players. Many teams will agree to terms with players before the deadline and we'll keep track of them here:

  • The Orioles have agreed to terms with Dana Eveland on a one-year, $750K deal for 2012, MLBTR has learned.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with Mike Fontenot on a one-year deal for 2012, avoiding arbitration, MLBTR has learned. It's a $1.05MM deal, according to the Associated Press.
  • The Red Sox announced that they re-signed Matt Albers. He'll earn $1.075MM, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
  • The Padres agreed to terms with Chris Denorfia on a one-year deal, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (Twitter link). The deal is worth $1.165MM, according to Ronald Blum of the AP
    The Pirates agreed to terms with Jason Grilli on a one-year, $1.1MM deal for 2012, MLBTR has learned.
  • The Rockies agreed to terms with Kevin Slowey on a one-year deal, the team announced (on Twitter). Slowey obtains $2.75MM from the Rockies, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link). MLBTR had projected a $2.7MM salary.
  • The Blue Jays agreed to sign Jeff Mathis to one-year deal that guarantees the backstop $1.5MM in 2012, MLBTR has learned. The Blue Jays have since confirmed the move.
  • The Blue Jays have avoided arbitration with Jesse Litsch (one-year, $975K) and Dustin McGowan (one-year, $600K) according to a team press release.
  • The Dodgers have signed outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. to a two-year deal.
  • The A's announced that they agreed to terms with Landon Powell, Daric Barton and Adam Rosales on one-year deals for 2012. The A's aren't non-tendering any arbitration eligible players this offseason. Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group hears Barton will earn $1.1MM in 2012 (Twitter link). Rosales will earn $600K and Powell will earn $620K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Marlins signed Donnie Murphy to a contract for 2012, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). He'll earn $560K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Brewers announced that they signed George Kottaras to a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration. He'll earn $700K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Astros avoided arbitration with Humberto Quintero, signing him to a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to the team. MLBTR had projected a $1.2MM salary for Quintero.
  • The Angels agreed to terms with right-hander Jerome Williams on a one-year deal, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times (on Twitter). Williams agreed to sign for $820K with $120K in incentives, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (on Twitter).
  • Skip Schumaker is nearing a two-year deal with the Cardinals.

Rockies Notes: Cuddyer, Hernandez, Spilborghs

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It's been a busy day for the Rockies, who agreed to terms with Kevin Slowey on a 2012 contract, non-tendered Ryan Spilborghs and Cole Garner and officially announced their deal with Ramon Hernandez. Here are more details on the team:

  • GM Dan O’Dowd told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that the Rockies have not made Michael Cuddyer an official offer (Twitter link). The Rockies appeared to be pushing for the versatile free agent earlier today. They expect they'll have to surpass the Twins’ three-year, $25MM offer to obtain him, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports (on Twitter).
  • Hernandez will earn $3.2MM in 2012 and the same amount in 2013, Renck tweets. The contract doesn’t include a signing bonus, but does have “standard” incentive clauses.
  • O'Dowd has interest in re-signing Spilborghs for less than he would have made through arbitration, according to Renck (Twitter link). MLBTR had projected a $2MM salary for the outfielder.

Brewers, Pirates Swap Veras For McGehee

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The Brewers acquired right-handed reliever Jose Veras from the Pirates for infielder Casey McGehee, the teams announced. The Brewers agreed to terms with Aramis Ramirez today, which lessens their need for corner infielders. The Pirates, on the other hand, can use the depth at first and third.

“Casey McGehee adds a quality option for us at both corner infield positions and adds depth to our position player group,” Pirates GM Neal Huntington said.

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez has struggled to hit lefties in his career (.620 OPS), while McGehee's production against southpaws has been solid (.743 career OPS). The Pirates, who don't have an established first baseman at this point, could also use McGehee at first. Meanwhile, Veras provides Milwaukee with depth in a bullpen that has become quite right-handed.

Both players are arbitration eligible this offseason. Veras projects to earn $2.5MM in 2011, while McGehee projects to earn $3.1MM. Veras, 31, posted a 3.80 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 71 innings for the Pirates in 2011. McGehee, 29, posted a .223/.280/.346 line with 13 home runs in 600 plate appearances.

Dodgers, Tony Gwynn Jr. Sign Two-Year Deal

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The Dodgers announced that they signed outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. to a two-year deal. Gwynn will earn $850K in 2012 and $1.15MM in 2013 for a total of $2MM, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter).

Gwynn, 29, posted a .256/.308/.353 line in 340 plate appearances this past season, playing all three outfield positions. The non-tender candidate had been projected to earn $1.1MM through arbitration in 2012. Gwynn is a Legacy Sports client.

Phillies, Dontrelle Willis Nearing Deal

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The Phillies are nearing a one-year deal with Dontrelle Willis, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The contract would be worth approximately $1MM and would include performance bonuses for Willis, a Sosnick Cobbe client.

Willis pitched 75 2/3 innings for the Reds in 2011 — his highest total since 2007. He posted a 5.00 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 54.5% ground ball rate in 13 second half starts with Cincinnati this past season. However, stats such as xFIP (4.08) and SIERA (4.29) suggest Willis' ERA may have been inflated. Willis, who turns 30 next month, signed a minor league contract last offseason.

This post was first published on December 13th, 2011.

Rays Acquire Burke Badenhop

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The Rays acquired right-hander Burke Badenhop from the Marlins for minor league catcher Jake Jefferies, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. MLBTR projects Badenhop, 28, would earn approximately $1.1MM through the arbitration process as a first-time eligible player.

Badenhop posted a 4.10 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 63 2/3 innings in 2011. His 58.5% ground ball rate ranked tenth in MLB among pitchers with at least 60 innings this past season. Badenhop has a 4.34 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in parts of four seasons with the Marlins.

The Rays selected Jefferies in the third round of the 2008 draft. The 24-year-old posted a .238/.282/.327 line in 242 plate appearances for two of Tampa Bay's minor league affiliates in 2011 and has a career line of .254/.318/.343 as a professional.

Twins Nearing Deal With Josh Willingham

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5:25pm: Phil Mackey and Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN hear that Willingham is expected to make his decision before the end of the day on Wednesday. Terms are unknown. Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com says (on Twitter) that Willingham became an option for the Twins once they had trouble bridging the money gap with Cuddyer.

4:47pm: The Twins are nearing a deal with free agent outfielder Josh Willingham, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The move would likely mean free agents Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel are moving on from Minnesota and it could facilitate a deal between Cuddyer and the Rockies.

Willingham, a Sosnick Cobbe Sports client, had narrowed his choices down to three teams. The Twins would not have to surrender a draft pick to sign him, but the Athletics would obtain two top selections for him, since they offered arbitration earlier in the offseason.

This post was originally published on December 13th.

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