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Just one of the top ten finishers in this year’s NL MVP balloting joined his team via the free agent market. Eight were drafted by their 2011 teams and one was acquired in a blockbuster trade. Here's a look at how teams around the National League originally acquired the top ten finishers in the 2011 NL MVP voting (some have since signed extensions):

• Ryan Braun – Draft – The Brewers selected Braun fifth overall in the 2005 draft and extended him on a five-year, $105MM deal this year.
• Matt Kemp – Draft- Dodgers scouting director Logan White selected Kemp in the sixth round of the 2003 draft. The Dodgers recently locked him up to an eight-year, $160MM extension. 
• Prince Fielder – Draft – Fielder is a Jack Zduriencik selection, like Braun. The seventh overall selection (2002) already has three top-five finishes in the MVP voting.
• Justin Upton – Draft – Upton, the first overall selection in 2005, reached the Major Leagues as a teenager and put together his best season yet in 2011. 
• Albert Pujols – Draft – The Cardinals selected Pujols, a three-time MVP, in the 13th round of the 1999 draft. He has ten top-ten finishes in MVP balloting after 11 MLB seasons. Pujols and Fielder are the only two current free agents on this list.
• Joey Votto – Draft – The Reds selected last year's MVP in the second round of the 2002 draft.
• Lance Berkman – Free Agency – Berkman, the lone player on this list to join his current team via free agency, signed a one-year, $8MM deal with the Cardinals before the season and has since signed an extension that will keep him in St. Louis through 2012.
• Troy Tulowitzki – Draft – The Rockies selected Tulowitzki with the seventh overall selection in 2005 and he has blossomed into one of baseball's top shortstops.
• Roy Halladay – Trade - The Phillies obtained Halladay for Travis d'Arnaud, Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor in December, 2009 before signing him to an extension.
• Ryan Howard – Draft – Howard, a fifth round selection in 2001, won the NL MVP in 2006 and has finished in the top ten for the award in every season since.
• Here's a look at how American League teams acquired this year's top vote getters.

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None of the top ten finishers in this year’s AL MVP balloting joined their teams via the free agent market. Five were obtained in trades, four others were drafted and one was signed as an international free agent. Here's a look at how teams around the American League originally acquired the top ten finishers in the 2011 AL MVP voting (some have since signed extensions):

• Justin Verlander – Draft – The Tigers selected Verlander with the second overall pick in 2004 and signed him to a five-year extension before the 2010 season.
• Jacoby Ellsbury – Draft – The Red Sox selected Ellsbury with the 23rd overall pick in the 2005 draft and held onto him after a lost 2010 season despite trade interest from other clubs.
• Jose Bautista – Trade -The Blue Jays acquired Bautista from the Pirates for Robinzon Diaz in 2008. Before the Blue Jays acquired him, Bautista suited up for the Pirates, Royals, Devil Rays and Orioles.
• Curtis Granderson – Trade – The Yankees acquired Granderson from the Tigers in the three-team trade that sent Ian Kennedy to Arizona and Austin Jackson and Max Scherzer to Detroit. The Tigers originally selected Granderson in the third round of the 2002 draft.
• Miguel Cabrera – Trade - The Tigers acquired Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins for a group of players led by Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin.
• Robinson Cano – International Signing - The Yankees signed Cano out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur free agent in 2001. 
• Adrian Gonzalez – Trade – The Red Sox surrendered a trio of top prospects to obtain Gonzalez from the Padres a year ago.
• Michael Young – Trade – The Rangers, then under GM Doug Melvin, acquired Young from the Blue Jays for Esteban Loaiza in the summer of 2000.
• Dustin Pedroia – Draft – The Red Sox selected Pedroia, the 2008 MVP, in the second round of the 2004 draft.
• Evan Longoria – Draft - Tampa Bay selected Longoria with the third overall pick of the 2006 draft and he's been playing at an elite level since his 2008 rookie season.

Here's a look back at what's been a busy week at MLBTR:

• Lots of news regarding the CBA and the future structure of baseball. The owners and players agreed on a new five-year deal that they hope to announce on Tuesday. The minimum salary will increase to $480K, the number of Super Twos will increase, and HGH testing will be implemented.
• Teams that sign the remaining Type A relievers won't be required to forfeit a draft pick, but the Phillies will still have to because they signed Jonathan Papelbon prior to this decision. Type B compensation will remain for now, however.
• MLB will also add two wild card teams, and Bud Selig is hopeful it'll happen in the 2012 season.
• MLB owners also approved the sale of the Astros to Jim Crane, and Selig confirmed the team will move to the AL West in 2013.
• Matt Kemp signed the seventh-largest contract in MLB history, agreeing to an eight-year, $160MM extension with the Dodgers.
• Cuban center fielder Yoenis Cespedes may be looking for more than $60MM on an eight-year deal as a free agent.
• The Diamondbacks and Aaron Hill agreed to a new two-year deal worth $11MM, but the team's extension talks with Miguel Montero are at an impasse.
• The Dodgers picked up Mark Ellis on a two-year deal worth $8.75MM and also signed Matt Treanor to a one-year deal worth $1MM.
• Ryan Doumit turned down a one-year offer from the Dodgers that was believed to be worth around $3MM, then signed roughly the same deal (one year, $3MM) with the Twins later in the week.
• Gerald Laird agreed to a second stint with the Tigers, signing a one-year deal worth $1MM to back up Alex Avila.
• The Phillies retained their backup backstop of the past few seasons, re-upping with Brian Schneider on a one-year deal worth $800K that includes $200K in incentives.
• The Rays are close to signing a backup catcher of their own, as they near a one-year deal with AL East veteran Jose Molina.
• Mark Kotsay will return to the Padres on a one-year deal worth $1.25MM. Kotsay spent the 2001-2003 seasons calling San Diego his home.
• The Pirates are closing in on a two-year, $10.5MM deal with Clint Barmes.
• The Indians are in "serious discussions" to bring back Grady Sizemore on a one-year deal. Sizemore has spent his whole career in Cleveland.
• The Cardinals re-engaged contract discussions with Albert Pujols for the first time since last February.
• The Marlins made legitimate offers to Pujols and Jose Reyes, but we learned this week that their offer to Pujols was for less than $200MM over nine years. Their offer to Reyes was for $90MM over six years.
• The Cubs named Dale Sveum their new manager. Sveum was also thought to be high on the list of managerial candidates for the Red Sox.
• The Cardinals, meanwhile, made former catcher Mike Matheny their new manager last Sunday.
• Yu Darvish's father said this week that it's "about 50-50" as to whether or not his son will be posted for MLB teams to bid on.
• Korean right-hander Suk-min Yoon will not be posted this offseason, as many had speculated when he hired Scott Boras as his agent.
• Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, however, will be posted. The 29-year-old hit .297/.354/.433 last season and cracked 16 homers.
• The Brewers will explore contract extensions with both of the starters they acquired last offseason: Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum.
• The Giants find themselves in a similar situation, as they're trying to lock up Matt Cain before he reaches free agency next winter. San Francisco reportedly prefers a four-year deal.
• Mark Buehrle has said he's open to playing anywhere in the right situation, and that's a good thing for him because he's up to a reported thirteen suitors as a free agent.
• The Cubs are willing to listen to trade offers on any of their players under new president Theo Epstein and new GM Jed Hoyer.
• The Angels have "serious" interest in C.J. Wilson, but it doesn't appear that the market's top American pitcher will sign anytime soon.
• With the Rule 5 Draft coming, there were enough players added to teams' 40-man rosters to make your head spin. Here's the list.

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If you're interested, sign up and create a roster prior to Sunday's games (1:00pm eastern time).  It's quick, easy, fun, and the MLBTR league gives you a free chance to win some of the $400 prize pool.  If you enjoy the competition you can try other leagues (college football, for example) for free and earn credits, or deposit real money.

Commissioner Bud Selig announced that MLB will add two Wild Card teams — one in each league — for a total of ten playoff teams. Selig remains hopeful that the change will occur in 2012. 

"People can be critical. I understand that," said Selig to reporters (including Danny Knobler of CBS Sports and MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, both Twitter links). "It will be dramatic." 

Selig also confirmed that the creation of two 15-team leagues means there will be interleague play "from Opening Day on," but he doesn't believe it will water down the World Series according to Andy Martino of The New York Daily News and Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentintel (Twitter links). Designated hitter rules will remain the same, and it would take a "catalytic event" for them to change reports Knobler (on Twitter).

The two Wild Card clubs are expected to meet in a one-game playoff prior to the League Division Series round, which increases the importance of winning the division.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

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Meetings scheduled for the Players Association this week have been postponed in order to focus on the negotiations toward a new collective bargaining agreement, league sources told Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.  Agents were set to meet Tuesday in Los Angeles and Wednesday in Chicago but instead, the sessions have been put on hold.

The postponement is due in part to a lack of manpower for the MLBPA.  MLBPA leadership also didn’t want to go before player agents without being able to share the terms of the new basic agreement before it's established.

One source with close knowledge of the CBA talks said the two parties remain hopeful that a deal can be struck this week.  In recent days, the players and owners reached near agreement on amateur draft spending which is one of the most significant hurdles to reaching a new deal.

The collective bargaining agreement talks are at the ten-yard line, a source tells ESPN's Buster Olney. The latest…

• There will be no agreement this week, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  Look for a deal around Thanksgiving, tweets Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.
• One idea discussed is a ceiling for draft bonuses based on slot recommendations for the first ten rounds, reports Olney.  There would be no need to adhere to slot for individual picks, but if a team exceeded the recommended ten-round total they'd be taxed the first time and would "lose a top pick" the second time.
• Negotiations are in progress for first-round draft pick compensation to disappear, according to Olney.  I take this to mean that a team signing a Type A free agent would never have to surrender its first round pick.

By my count, 195 players are currently arbitration eligible.  More than 50 of those can be considered non-tender candidates.  The deadline for teams to decide is December 12th.  Non-tendering a player makes him a free agent.  Below is my subjective list of non-tender candidates.  Please note that not all of them will actually be non-tendered.  Click here for MLBTR's projected salaries for these players, if they are tendered contracts.

Position Players

John Baker
Daric Barton
Emmanuel Burriss
Jesus Flores
Mike Fontenot
Chris Getz
Alberto Gonzalez
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Jeremy Hermida
Koyie Hill
Paul Janish
George Kottaras
James Loney
Jeff Mathis
Donnie Murphy
Angel Pagan
Ronny Paulino
Brayan Pena
Landon Powell
Adam Rosales
Skip Schumaker
Luke Scott
Ryan Spilborghs
Ian Stewart
Ryan Theriot
Andres Torres
Wilson Valdez
Eli Whiteside

Pitchers

Matt Albers
Brad Bergesen
Taylor Buchholz
Dana Eveland
Willie Eyre
Tom Gorzelanny
Clay Hensley
Rich Hill
J.P. Howell
Hong-Chih Kuo
Jose Mijares
Andrew Miller
Peter Moylan
Ross Ohlendorf
Juan Carlos Oviedo
Micah Owings
Manny Parra
Mike Pelfrey
Jo-Jo Reyes
Joe Saunders
Doug Slaten
Kevin Slowey
Andy Sonnanstine
Joe Thatcher
Chris Volstad
Jerome Williams