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Brewers Acquire Burke Badenhop

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The Brewers have acquired right-hander Burke Badenhop from the Rays for Raul Mondesi Jr., the team announced. Milwaukee has made finding bullpen help a priority this offseason.

Badenhop, 29, pitched to a 3.03 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 62 1/3 innings for the Rays this season. He excels at generating ground balls (52.9%) and keeping right-handed batters in check (.239/.260/.350 this year), though lefties give him a tough time (.300/.356/.488). Badenhop is arbitration-eligible for the third time this offseason, and Matt Swartz projects a $1.6MM salary for next year.

Mondesi, 20, is the son of the former big leaguer by the same name. The outfielder hit .231/.282/.374 with five homers and eight steals in 298 plate appearances down in Rookie ball this summer. Baseball America did not rank him as one of the Brewers' top 30 prospects before the season in their 2012 Prospect Handbook.

Olney’s Latest: Price, Dickey, Mariners, Kazmir

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In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney says David Price is available right now for the right offer. Rival executives are convinced the reigning Cy Young Award winner will be traded in the next 13 months as his salary through arbitration becomes prohibitive for the Rays. Here are the rest of Buster's rumors…

  • The Rays and Price are not close to working out a long-term contract extension.
  • The Mets increased their offer to R.A. Dickey, but it's unclear how close the two sides are to a deal.
  • Olney speculates that the non-tendered Nate Schierholtz could be a fit for the Yankees, who are looking for a right fielder to replace Nick Swisher.
  • The Mariners have money to spend, but it appears they will have to overpay to land any premium free agents.
  • Last night we learned the Phillies are pursuing Angel Pagan, and Olney clarifies (on Twitter) that the two sides have been talking for weeks.
  • If the Giants don't re-sign Pagan, Olney says (on Twitter) they would seriously consider signing Shane Victorino.
  • Scott Kazmir is pitching in winter ball and teams have already started to show interest in the 28-year-old left-hander, tweets Olney.
  • The Tigers continue to say they are not in the market for a closer, tweets Olney.

American League Non-Tenders

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Here are today’s American League non-tenders. All decisions must be in by 11pm CT tonight. Be sure to track all tender decisions using MLBTR's Non-Tender Tracker. Related resources include our list of non-tender candidates, our projected arbitration salaries and our arbitration eligibles series.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

NL East Notes: Wright, Upton, Raburn, Lannan

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Zack Greinke turned down a potential trade to the Nationals two years ago when he was a member of the Royals, but now that the Nats are the defending NL East champs and have added Denard Span as their latest upgrade, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal thinks that Greinke (or any free agent) would see Washington as a prime destination.  The Nationals have been mentioned as one of Greinke's top suitors this winter, along with the Dodgers, Angels and Rangers, so there's a possibility the right-hander could yet end up in D.C. two years later.

Here are some items from around the division…

  • David Wright may wait under after the Winter Meetings to decide on the Mets' seven-year, $124MM extension offer, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post.  A Mets source speculates that Wright and his representatives may wait due to their unhappiness that negotiations were made public.  Wright and agent Seth Levinson told MLBTR earlier this week that rumors about the contract talks were inaccurate.
  • The Phillies' best offer to B.J. Upton was a five-year, $55MM contract, tweets MLB.com's Mark Bowman.  Upton agreed to a five-year, $75.25MM pact with the Braves yesterday.
  • The Braves and Marlins are two of a half-dozen teams interested in free agent utilityman Ryan Raburn, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark (Twitter link).  The Rays and Rangers are two of the other known teams.
  • The Nationals still have a minor league option remaining on left-hander John Lannan, reports Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider.  Washington could keep Lannan at Triple-A as rotation insurance again, though MLBTR's Tim Dierkes thinks Lannan will be non-tendered rather than earn a projected $5MM in his third year of arbitration eligibility.
  • Shane Victorino "might actually represent the best value on the market," writes David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, though Murphy doesn't think the Phillies will look for a reunion with their former outfielder.  The Phils haven't been linked to Victorino this offseason, though at least seven teams are known to be interested in the Hawaiian.

Contract Details: Madson, Hunter, Longoria

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Here are some details on three recently-signed contracts…

  • Ryan Madson's one-year contract with Angels will pay him $500k each for 45, 90, 135, and 180 days on the roster as long as he is not on the DL with a right arm injury, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He will also receive $250K each for 35, 40, 45, and 50 games finished.
  • Torii Hunter's two-year, $26MM contract with the Tigers is slightly backloaded, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck. He'll earn $12MM in 2013 and $14MM in 2014, plus $100K bonuses for each All-Star selection, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, LCS MVP, and World Series MVP he wins.
  • Evan Longoria's salary for 2013 has been reduced from $6MM to $2MM as part of his new contract with the Rays, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. The remaining $4MM was converted into a signing bonus. Topkin also has information on the deferments and escalator clauses in the deal.
  • The players' union values Longoria's new contract with the Rays at ten years and $131MM according to Rosenthal (on Twitter). The present day value ($136.6MM) has been reduced due to deferred money.

Rays Sign Mike Fontenot

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The Rays have signed infielder Mike Fontenot to a minor league contract, reports Baseball America's Matt Eddy (on Twitter). The team also re-signed outfielder Rich Thompson to a minor league deal.

Fontenot, 32, hit .289/.343/.340 in 105 plate appearances for the Phillies this year. He also hit .308/.368/.481 in 58 plate appearances with their Triple-A squad. Thompson, 33, had two hits in 22 plate appearances for Tampa last year, doing most of his work as a pinch-runner. It was his first appearance in the big leagues since 2004.

Quick Hits: Liriano, Napoli, Wright, Royals

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The Twins have had conversations with Francisco Liriano's representatives, a source with knowledge of the talks tells LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune.  The two sides are expected to meet next week during the winter meetings but General Manager Terry Ryan is keeping mum on potential targets for the club.  Here's more Tuesday night linkage..

  • The Rangers did not meet with Mike Napoli today, despite previous reports to the contrary, according to Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram.  However, the club is set to meet with the catcher tomorrow.  Earlier today it was reported that Napoli appears to be the Red Sox's top free agent target.
  • Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (Twitter links) reached out to David Wright after his comments earlier tonight to MLBTradeRumors.  The third baseman indicated that he was displeased with the public nature of his contract negotiations.  "I wish I could elaborate but it was important to me from the very beginning that these negotiations remain confidential and private. I plan on sticking to that. Sorry I can't comment any further," said Wright.
  • The Royals have discussed Wil Myers in trades for Rays right-hander James Shields and Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports points out that the two hurlers aren't exactly equal.  The two are owed similar money through 2014 ($24.625MM for Lester and $21MM for Shields) but Shields has been much stronger in recent years.

Quick Hits: Keppinger, Soriano, Dodgers, Orioles

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The latest links from around MLB…

  • The Cubs, Diamondbacks and Rays are bidding for free agent infielder Jeff Keppinger even though he broke his leg, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (Twitter links). The 32-year-old recently broke his right fibula, but hopes to be ready for action by mid-January. Clubs don’t consider the injury serious enough to stop pursuing Keppinger.
  • MLB Network analyst Peter Gammons said on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show that Tigers owner Mike Ilitch spoke with agent Scott Boras about free agent closer Rafael Soriano yesterday (hat tip: Ken Rosenthal on Twitter).
  • The Dodgers confirmed the promotions of several front office members, including Logan White and De Jon Watson, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports. White and Watson had been assistant GMs and are now vice presidents. They are both considered GM candidates within the industry.
  • The Orioles aren’t expected to offer Mark Reynolds arbitration, but they’re trying to work out a new deal by Friday’s deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently examined Reynolds as a non-tender candidate.
  • Jair Jurrjens is expected to be non-tendered and Peter Moylan’s status as a non-tender candidate remains unclear, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (on Twitter).

Royals Interested In Shields, Lester

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8:51pm: A Major League source confirmed to WEEI's Rob Bradford that the two teams have indeed discusseda trade that would center around Lester and Myers. According to Bradford, the talks also included the possibility of Boston sending outfield help to Kansas City with some pitching heading back to the Red Sox. He echoes that nothing is close.

6:55pm: The Royals have already added Ervin Santana to their rotation and brought back Jeremy Guthrie this offseason, but Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes that general manager Dayton Moore would like to add one more impact arm to his rotation. According to Dutton, Moore's preference is to acquire that arm by dealing prospects rather than Major League talent, and there have been discussions about using top prospect Wil Myers to acquire James Shields or Jon Lester.

Dutton writes that the Royals are currently weighing whether or not six years of Myers is worth two years of either Lester or Shields. One Royals source told Dutton that it's easy to project Myers as a 30-homer bat at the Major League level within the next two-to-three seasons. At the moment, the Royals, Red Sox and Rays are all said to be hesitant, and no deal is close.

Beyond the debate of which commodity is worth more, the Royals also need to consider their 2013 payroll. Barring a significant increase, the team would have to clear money in order to acquire either contract for next season. That, writes Dutton, could mean moving Bruce Chen's contract and/or taking a "hard look" at Luke Hochevar and Felipe Paulino. Both are due significant raises in arbitration, as Matt Swartz recently projected for MLBTR.

Myers ranks as the Royals' top prospect according to Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. The 22-year-old batted .314/.387/.600 with 37 homers between Double-A and Triple-A last season, cementing himself as one of the game's most coveted minor leaguers.

Jeff Francoeur currently projects as Kansas City's right fielder but is coming off a dreadful season in which he hit just .235/.287/.378. The Royals would need to be confident that Francoeur could return to his 2011 numbers if they were to trade Myers, and even still would have a hole in right field beyond 2013.

Seven Teams Interested In Victorino

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B.J. Upton's name has dominated the conversation regarding free agent center fielders lately, but Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that the Indians, Rangers, Yankees, Giants, Rays, Red Sox and Reds all have interest in another free agent center fielder — Shane Victorino.

Several teams, according to Heyman, are willing to offer three years to Victorino in spite of his slow finish to the 2012 season. Victorino is willing to move to a corner outfield spot, though he has a track record of solid defense in center field.

Victorino stole a career-high 39 bases in 2012 (with a brilliant 87-percent success rate), but his 11 homers were his lowest total since 2009. He slumped at the plate following a trade to the Dodgers and finished the season with a .255/.321/.383 batting line, which will likely prevent him from securing the five-year contract he sought prior to the 2012 season.

In a recent Free Agent Faceoff, Victorino came up just short to fellow center fielder Angel Pagan when roughly 56 percent of readers voted that they preferred Pagan to Victorino.

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