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Royals Avoid Arb With Brian Bannister

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Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Royals have agreed to terms with Brain Bannister on a one-year, $1.7MM contract.

Bannister can earn another $25K if he reaches 200 innings or makes the All-Star team.  The 27-year-old right-hander asked for $2MM when arbitration figures were due and the Royals countered with $1.45MM.  It seems they’ve found a middle ground.  Bannister went 9-16 last season with a 5.76 ERA.

Orioles Close To Deal With Cubs For Hill

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9:41pm: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has more on the Orioles trading for Cubs pitcher Rich Hill.

The deal would be for a player to be named later, Zrebiec writes, and it could be announced as early as Monday.

Hill will be reunited with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn, who worked with him in the Cubs’ organization, Zrebiec notes.

Hill is out of options, so he’ll have to make the Orioles’ Opening Day roster or they could lose him. … Hill will be given an opportunity to win a spot in the rotation, which currently has three vacancies behind Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara.

6:12pm: Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun believes the Baltimore Orioles will complete a trade for Cubs left-handed pitcher Rich Hill by Tuesday — if the Orioles will do the deal at all.

Schmuck writes that now other organizations are aware that Hill could be made available, additional teams — including the Royals and Mariners — could make an offer.

Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail might be waiting to see if he can sign free agent right-handed pitcher Braden Looper, Schmuck adds.

They might be willing to acquire both pitchers, but there is the small matter of moving players off the 40-man roster to make room, so maybe Andy is just going to take one or the other.

Hill, 29 in March, is 18-17 in 57 starts with a 4.37 ERA during a short four-season career. He spend much of 2008 in Triple-A.

Looper, 34, went 12-14 in 33 starts with a 4.16 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

Odds and Ends: Mets Payroll, Reds, Rangers

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Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone. Some Odds & Ends:

Stark On Greinke, Manny, Dunn, Swisher

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The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…

  • The Cubs’ ownership situation is not close to the finish line, which is one reason the team won’t be acquiring Jake Peavy anytime soon.
  • One source of Stark’s suggested Zack Greinke nearly left his current agent John Courtright of SFX for Scott Boras, a whisper I’d heard as well.  But now Greinke is happy with his contract and agent.
  • Free agents such as Manny Ramirez and Ivan Rodriguez could reasonably wait until March to sign.  Not a bad thing for this website!
  • Adam Dunn would like Manny to sign earlier, as he’s waiting to see what the Dodgers (his preferred team) do.  The Nationals have been Dunn’s most aggressive suitor, the Orioles have mild interest, and the Braves have backed off.
  • Stark questions the idea of talks for Manny heating up lately, since the Mets, Yankees, and Angels are out and the Giants are only conditionally interested.
  • When Alex Rodriguez was a free agent last winter, Joe Torre advised the Dodgers against signing him.
  • The Phillies would like to move Geoff Jenkins for a right-handed hitting outfielder, but Jenkins is paid too much.  Jay Payton and Emil Brown are not on the Phillies’ radar; they still like Nomar Garciaparra.
  • The Yankees are apparently "softening to the idea of trading Nick Swisher," with the Braves the top suitor.

Odds and Ends: Sherrill, Kubel, Teahen

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Links for Wednesday…

Royals Ink Villarreal To Minor League Deal

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According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, the Royals have signed right-hander Oscar Villarreal to a minor league contract.

The deal is worth $400K and includes an invitation to spring training.  Villarreal, 27, posted a 5.02 ERA in 37 2/3 innings for the Astros last season.  He can request his release if he’s not on the Royals’ 25-man roster by May 15 or June 1.

Odds and Ends: Lohse, Reyes, Greinke, Howard

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Links for Tuesday…

  • Chat today, 2pm CST.
  • Rangers president Nolan Ryan called the Winter Meetings "a big waste of money and time."
  • Nationals GM Jim Bowden implied that a Tom Glavine signing is unlikely.
  • Kyle Lohse feels the pain of all the unsigned free agents; he didn’t sign until March 14th last year.  Lohse said he "put a lot of pressure on all parties" to get his four-year, $41MM extension done on September 29th.  Given that it wasn’t on the open market, Scott Boras did well for Lohse.
  • The Dodgers prefer Dennys Reyes over Luis Ayala, says Ken Gurnick.
  • Joe Posnanski loves the Zack Greinke signing.  Sam Mellinger says the Royals and fans are no longer allowed to complain about baseball’s financial structure.
  • Maury Brown leans slightly toward Ryan Howard winning his arbitration case.  I think the Phillies will prevail.
  • Brandon Lyon turned down more lucrative offers for a chance to close in Detroit.  ESPN’s Keith Law likes the Tigers’ signing, in part due to Jim Leyland’s track record with relievers.
  • The Marlins seem to prefer the trade market, if they are to add a catcher.
  • Joe Nathan knows his $47MM extension signed in March of ’08 is looking pretty good right now.

Rosenthal On Manny, Garcia, Greinke

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column…

  • Rosenthal speculates that the Giants may not be the right fit for Manny Ramirez, given a challenging ballpark and questionable supporting cast of hitters.  Rosenthal suggests a contract that might work for Manny and the Dodgers: two years with a third-year player option, with no-trade protection covering only the first two years.
  • Many remaining free agents – Adam Dunn for example – may prefer a one-year deal because it will increase their options and allow them to re-enter the market after the season.
  • The White Sox found the price for Freddy Garcia to be too high ($1.5MM plus $6.5MM in incentives).  Rosenthal deems Oliver Perez a bad fit for the Sox in part because he’s a flyball pitcher.  Also there’s the whole Scott Boras thing.
  • Among the right-handed hitters the Phillies are mulling, Rosenthal feels that Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia make the most sense.
  • The Angels may go to Spring Training with their current club.
  • Zack Greinke received "very minor" no-trade protection in the first two years of his new deal, with seemingly no protection when his salary shoots up to $13.5MM in 2011.

Royals Sign Zack Greinke To Extension

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4:00pm: The AP has the yearly salaries.

1:49pm: Danny Knobler says Greinke’s deal is worth $38MM.

12:04pm: According to Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City, the Royals signed starter Zack Greinke to a four-year extension.  The deal buys out two arbitration years (2009-10) and two free agent years (2011-12).  Here’s the press release from the Royals.  This will probably end up being Dayton Moore’s most important move of the offseason.  Craig Brown offers instant commentary and a guess at the terms.

Odds and Ends: Arb, Royals, Compensation

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Links for Tuesday…

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