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Red Sox Sign Shane Victorino

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The Red Sox remodeling project continued today, as they announced they have signed Shane Victorino to a three-year contract.  The 32-year-old, a client of John Boggs & Associates, slipped this year to a .255/.321/.383 line for the Phillies and Dodgers, but still did well in free agency, obtaining a $39MM guarantee.

Uspw_6630672 Victorino will play right field for the Red Sox, who previously signed Mike Napoli to play mostly first base, Jonny Gomes to play left field, and David Ross to help behind the plate.  With Jacoby Ellsbury returning to play center field, Boston's outfield appears set, so the door is likely closed on free agents Cody Ross, Nick Swisher, and Josh Hamilton.  As Speier explains, Victorino "fits the profile that the team seeks of an above-average defensive outfielder capable of playing both right and center at Fenway Park."

As MLBTR's free agent tracker shows, the Red Sox have already committed $120.2MM to four free agents.

The Indians, Cubs, and Yankees reportedly had some degree of interest in Victorino, MLBTR's #12 free agent.  The Tribe offered four years and $44MM, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

WEEI's Alex Speier first reported the agreement; Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe previously labeled the Red Sox the frontrunner; Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports pegged the dollar amount.  Photo courtesy of U.S. Presswire.

Giants Re-Sign Marco Scutaro

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The Giants are bringing back the NLCS MVP, having agreed to re-sign second baseman Marco Scutaro to a three-year, $20MM deal.  The World Champion Giants are keeping their team mostly intact, having signed Angel Pagan yesterday and Jeremy Affeldt in November for a total commitment of $78MM for the trio.  Scutaro is represented by Praver/Shapiro.

Uspw_6669518Three years is a sizeable commitment for Scutaro, who turned 37 in October.  The second baseman was greatly aided by a strong finish, as he hit .362/.385/.473 in 268 regular season plate appearances with the Giants after coming over in a July trade with the Rockies.  Scutaro further helped his cause with a 1.140 OPS during San Francisco's seven-game win over St. Louis in the NLCS.  As Dave Cameron of FanGraphs notes, Scutaro's high contact style looks good when the hits drop in, though his Giants performance is unsustainable.  

The Cardinals had also been in the mix for Scutaro this offseason.  With Scutaro and Jeff Keppinger off the board, the free agent market for second basemen includes Kelly Johnson as a potential starter.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link) was the first to break the news of the signing.  Photo courtesy of U.S. Presswire.

Four Teams Interested In Dee Gordon

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FRIDAY: The Braves and Phillies also asked about Gordon, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports (Twitter links). It appears that every team except the Dodgers would try Gordon as an outfielder. However, the Dodgers told clubs that they aren't open to moving him now.

WEDNESDAY: The Indians are discussing Gordon with the Dodgers, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, eyeing him as a potential replacement if they trade shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

TUESDAY: The Dodgers are fielding tons of inquiries on shortstop Dee Gordon, tweets Scott Miller of CBS Sports, though they're not looking to deal him.  The Mariners are among the teams hitting the Dodgers hard on Gordon, tweets Miller.

Gordon, 25 in April, hit .228/.280/.281 in 330 plate appearances this year.  He missed significant time due to thumb surgery.  Prior to the 2011 season, Baseball America ranked Gordon the 26th best prospect in baseball, citing the potential for four plus tools.

Braves To Sign Reed Johnson

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FRIDAY: Johnson obtains a $1.75MM guarantee plus $150K in incentives, Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports (on Twitter).  The deal also includes a club option for 2014 with a $1.6MM salary and a $150K buyout.  Johnson will earn a base salary of $1.6MM in 2013.

THURSDAY: The Braves agreed to a one-year deal with outfielder Reed Johnson, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  Johnson is represented by Wasserman Media Group.

Johnson, 36 on Saturday, hit .290/.337/.398 in 288 plate appearances for the Cubs and Braves this year.  He joined the Braves in the July Paul Maholm trade.  A right-handed hitter, Johnson has a .306/.339/.457 line against southpaws over the past three seasons.

Free Fantasy Football Contest – $400 In Cash Prizes

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If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a new way to play fantasy football that turns the season-long grind into quick-hitting one week leagues. And the best part is that you can win cash every single week. You draft a team for one week and get paid out when the Monday Night Football game ends. DraftStreet.com is at the forefront of this new trend in the fantasy world and is giving us a great promotion for week 14: a free one-week fantasy league with $400 in prizes exclusively for MLBTR readers.

This free contest will be salary-cap style drafting where everyone tries to assemble the best team out of the available players. You will have a $100,000 budget to build a team of 2 QBs, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 2 FLEX, and 1 Defense. Each NFL player has been assigned a price based on their expected fantasy performance. For example, Aaron Rodgers costs $18,755 whereas Andy Dalton only costs $14,325.  Here's a screenshot of my team:

Screen Shot 2012-12-04 at 7.31.18 PM

You can adjust your roster up until the contest starts on Sunday December 9th at 1:00pm ET at which time your rosters will lock and the Live Scoreboard will be available.

Click here to sign up for free and join the MLBTR $400 Freeroll on DraftStreet.com.

This post is sponsored by DraftStreet.

Latest On The Royals

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The latest on the Royals, who continue to seek a front-rotation starting pitcher…

  • The Royals are exploring a group of free agent starters that includes Brett Myers, Kevin Correia, and Jair Jurrjens, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, which could be a backup plan if they fail to acquire a No. 1.  Dutton has heard differently, saying he's been told the Royals have no intention for now of pursuing any pitcher who wouldn't front their rotation.
  • The Royals' payroll pinch is tighter than initially believed, explains Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  In fact, the team appears to already be over budget.  Regarding the Shields talks, a Royals official told Dutton, "It’s not like we’re going to bend over backward,” one club official said. “We’re not going to do that. We want to make a trade to get another starter, be it Shields or someone else, but we don’t feel we have to make a trade."  The Rays are likely to wait to move Shields until Zack Greinke signs, writes Dutton.

Earlier updates:

Astros Claim Mickey Storey

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The Astros claimed righty Mickey Storey off waivers from the Yankees, according to the team.  The Yanks had claimed Storey off waivers from Houston on November 20th, but designated him for assignment five days ago.  Now, Storey is back with Houston.

Storey, 26, posted a 3.86 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.59 HR/9, and 37.5% groundball rate in 30 1/3 relief innings this year, his rookie season.  He was successful at Triple-A as well.

Latest On Jack Hannahan

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MLBTR projected a $1.5MM salary for third baseman Jack Hannahan if he'd gone through the arbitration process in 2013.  The Indians elected to cut the defensive-minded 32-year-old loose instead.  Suddenly, with Eric Chavez and Jeff Keppinger signing at the Winter Meetings, Hannahan has become a relatively hot commodity in a weak third base free agent market.  The latest:

Reds Continue Waiting For Ludwick

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The Reds' two-year offer to left fielder Ryan Ludwick remains on the table, reports MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.  According to GM Walt Jocketty, "The agent said he spoke to Ryan last night and he’s still contemplating some things I guess."  Ludwick could get as much as $3MM more over two years elsewhere, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, which explains why he's taking his time.

Ludwick, 34, bounced back from a rough 2011 to hit .275/.346/.531 with 26 home runs in 472 plate appearances for the Reds this year.  Of the remaining free agents, only A.J. Pierzynski and Adam LaRoche hit more home runs in 2012.

Minor Trades: Red Sox, Padres

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A few minor trades completed today…

  • The Red Sox acquired righty Kyle Kaminska from the Pirates to complete the Zach Stewart trade, the team announced.  Kaminska, 24, posted a 4.19 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 1.2 BB/9, and 1.21 HR/9 in 81 2/3 innings across High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A for the Pirates and Marlins.
  • The Padres acquired righty Wilfredo Boscan from the Rangers to complete the Cory Burns trade, according to the team.  Boscan, 23, posted a 3.75 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and 0.92 HR/9 in 98 1/3 innings for the Rangers' Double-A affiliate this year.

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