Braves reach deals with 5 players, Prado unsigned

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Braves avoided arbitration with five players Friday, including outfielder Jason Heyward, starting pitcher Kris Medlen and reliever Eric O'Flaherty.

Heyward agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.65 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility, a big increase from the $565,000 he made last season while batting .269 with 27 homers, 82 RBIs and 21 stolen bases.

Medlen, also up for arbitration for the first time, settled for one year at $2.6 million after earning $490,000 last season. He became the team's most dominant starter over the second half, finishing 10-1 with a 1.57 ERA. The right-hander also started the wild-card playoff for the Braves, pitching well in a season-ending loss to the Cardinals.

O'Flaherty, the main setup reliever for closer Craig Kimbrel, received a $4.32 million deal. The lefty made $2.49 million last season, going 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA.

Also agreeing to one-year deals were relievers Jonny Venters ($1.625 million) and Cristhian Martinez ($749,750).

The Braves failed to reach an agreement with Martin Prado by the arbitration deadline. Prado is asking for $7.05 million, while the team countered with an offer of $6.65 million.

Prado made $4.75 million last season, when he batted a team-leading .301 with 10 homers, 70 RBIs and 17 stolen bases as the left fielder. He's expected to move to third base to replace the retired Chipper Jones.

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Rafael Soriano: Signs With Nationals

Update: Soriano agreed to a two-year, $28 million contract with the Nationals on Tuesday, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports. The contract also includes a third-year option that vests if Soriano finishes 120 games over the next two seasons.

Recommendation: The 33-year-old pitched well in 69 games for the Yankees last season, posting a 2.26 ERA along with 42 saves in 67.2 innings. The Nationals have yet to publicly announce Soriano's expected role, but given the value of the contract, he is likely to enter the season as the team's closer.

Angels re-sign Jerome Williams

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Right-hander Jerome Williams has avoided arbitration with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, agreeing to a one-year deal.

The veteran went 6-8 with a 4.58 ERA for the Angels last season, making 15 starts and spending long stretches in the bullpen.

Williams likely will start the season as a long reliever for Los Angeles this spring, with Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson and new arrivals Tommy Hanson, Joe Blanton and Jason Vargas in the Angels' rotation.

Williams revitalized his career with the Angels in 2011 after four years out of the majors, earning a job as a starter for last season. An illness coinciding with a stretch of poor pitching knocked him out of the No. 5 rotation spot midway through the season, but he returned with strong relief performances.

5 Milwaukee Brewers Poised to Take a Step Forward in 2013

COMMENTARY | Of the six regulars who pitched in the Milwaukee Brewers' bullpen last season, only two remain - John Axford and Jim Henderson. Believe it or not, the reliever who finished with the best WAR and second-lowest ERA among those six was Jose Veras, and he was designated for assignment by Milwaukee, latching on with the Houston Astros in December.

But the Brewers won't miss Veras' putrid 5.37 BB/9 IP ratio, nor will they miss Francisco Rodriguez's seven blown saves, Manny Parra's 1.65 WHIP or Kameron Loe's 4.61 ERA. It remains to be determined who exactly will take their places, but needless to say, these four players cannot have a bounce-back season for Milwaukee this year.

For the most part, we'll be venturing elsewhere on the roster to find the 5 Brewers poised to take a step forward in 2013, including the team's illustrious offense and inexperienced starting rotation.

1. SS - Jean Segura

That Zack Greinke trade is only beginning to take the form of highway robbery, and we still haven't seen Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena pitch at the Major League level. The third piece of that trade, Jean Segura, was instantly thrown into the equation because of Milwaukee's dire situation at shortstop, essentially becoming the team's full-time shortstop for the remaining two months of the season.

Segura instantly became the Brewers' top prospect after being acquired, and the 22-year-old hit .264 and drove in 14 runs in 44 games with Milwaukee. It's nothing to call home about, but considering Segura's age and limited experience in the Bigs, the production could have been worse, especially coming from the 8-hole in the lineup.

Because of how many threats the Brewers have in Ron Roenicke's starting nine, Segura will benefit from hitting in front of the pitcher for an entire season in 2013, and his glove will also impress as Segura gets set to turn some heads in Milwaukee.

2. SP - Wily Peralta

Only two of the five starting pitchers on Milwaukee's 2012 opening day roster remained at season's end - Yovani Gallardo and Shaun Marcum. Since then, Marcum has tested the free agent waters and a battle for three spots on the rotation erupted. Along with Gallardo and Marco Estrada, 23-year-oldWily Peralta looks to have a leg up on the competition heading into spring training barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Peralta has the way he pitched to close out the 2012 season to thank for that. In his five September starts, Peralta went 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA and didn't allow a home run in 29 IP. One of the top prospects in the Brewers' system over the past few seasons, just making the starting rotation will be a step forward for Peralta, but if he can continue his ascension and build on his finish to 2012, he could be an x-factor for Milwaukee next season.

3. OF - Carlos Gomez

There might not be anyone in the game who puts forth more effort on a daily basis than Carlos Gomez. The Brewers' center fielder is in the final year of his deal and coming off a career season in which he hit .260 with 19 HRs and 51 RBIs while sporting the fourth-best WAR among everyday players on the team.

Gomez's production hinges on his approach at the plate and staying healthy. He may be one of the fastest and top defensive outfielders in baseball, but his reckless abandon is what often leads to injury - he missed time last season with a hamstring strain and quad contusion.

He's only 27 despite being in the league since 2007, and as long as Gomez can stay relatively healthy in 2013, a contract year and new-found confidence at the plate should motivate him to have yet another career season.

4. RP - John Axford

We've seen the best and worst of John Axford in his two-plus years as a Brewer, and all Milwaukee and its fans are hoping for is that they don't have another Derrick Turnbow situation on their hands with the Ax Man.

Axford converted below 80 percent of his save opportunities last season, and it was so bad at one point that he actually got pulled from the closer's role. But after reprising his role on Aug. 21, Axford converted 17 of his 18 save opportunities and lowered his ERA from 5.22 to 4.67. Overall, his numbers weren't pretty, but obviously, something clicked for Axford late in the season that returned him to his 2011 form when he saved 46 games and had a sub-2.00 ERA.

5. 2B - Rickie Weeks

Brewers' fans rejoice - Rickie Weeks is going to hit above .230 this season. There isn't any scientific data to back up that claim, but throughout Weeks' 8-year career in Milwaukee, he has never hit lower than .230, and considering he should be entering the 2013 season healthy, we could see the Rickie Weeks that hit .269 with 29 HRs and 83 RBIs in 2010.

Last season, Weeks was still looking to get back into form after suffering a squeamish ankle injury near the end of the 2011 season. He failed to break the .200 mark until July 26, but following that, Weeks hit .269, and it's no coincidence that after that date, the Brewers went 38-25 to close out the season.

When Weeks is on, the Brewers' offense is that much more dangerous, and while it won't take much for him to take a step forward next season, that step forward means yet another legitimate threat in one of the best lineups in Major League Baseball.

Baseball beefs up drug testing

Major League Baseball reached a deal with its players' association to expand the drug-testing program to include in-season blood-testing for human growth hormone and a new test intended to detect players using testosterone,.

The testing increase vaults baseball's program ahead of the NFL's protocol, which doesn't include testing for HGH and doesn't have a similar testosterone test. The plan will further Commissioner Bud Selig's claims that his sport has the toughest testing program of any professional sport in North America.

The timing of the agreement comes a day after the announcement that first-time candidates Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, along with returnees Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire, were denied entrance to the Hall of Fame. All five have been linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, though only McGwire has confessed to knowingly using banned substances.

The new agreement establishes a new testing protocol for testosterone, a preferred substance because it quickly leaves a player's system after being used. Since July 2010, MLB has conducted random blood testing for HGH among minor-league players. As a part of the 2012-16 Basic Agreement, the sides agreed to blood testing for HGH during 2012 spring training, the offseason, and for reasonable cause. All of those aspects remain in place with the addition of in-season, unannounced, random blood testing.

--The Colorado Rockies signed Manny Corpas to a minor-league deal that included an invitation to spring training. The right-hander was the team's closer in 2007 during its World Series run. Corpas, 30, made 48 appearances for the Chicago Cubs last season, posting a 5.01 ERA in 46 2/3 innings.

--Right-hander Chris Resop and the Oakland A's agreed to a one-year, $1.35 million deal, avoiding arbitration. Oakland acquired Resop, 30, from the Pittsburgh Pirates in November in exchange for minor league right-hander Zach Thornton. In 2012, Resop earned $850,000 while going 1-4 with one save and a 3.91 ERA in 61 appearances.

Dodger Stadium gets $100 million facelift

The Los Angeles Dodgers' roster isn't the only thing getting a multi-million-dollar makeover under new ownership.

Fifty-one-year-old Dodger Stadium is undergoing an offseason renovation that will include new video boards over the left and right field pavilions (returning to the old-style hexagonal look), wider concourses, improved cell phone and wifi reception, a new home clubhouse as well as improved weight room and batting cage facilities for the home and visiting teams. This winter's extensive work will cost approximately $100 million -- a figure Dodgers chief executive officer Stan Kasten used for now because "I don't have the final bills yet."

"This is a very ambitious project we're undertaking," Kasten said. "We're doing about 100 things, and that left out another 100 things we want to do because we only had the 24, 25 weeks (of the offseason) to get it all done by Opening Day."

The Dodgers hired Janet Marie Smith as senior vice president for planning and development in August, and Smith is overseeing this winter's work. She previously oversaw construction or renovation projects at Boston's Fenway Park, Atlanta's Turner Field and Baltimore's Camden Yards.

"This project has one notable difference, and that is the emphasis on putting fans first," said Smith, who described the agenda given to her by Dodgers ownership as, "Do as much as you can as fast as you can."

Among major league stadiums, only Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are older than Dodger Stadium, and the outdated nature of much of its infrastructure and player facilities has kept the park from being seriously considered to host the All-Star Game since it last did in 1980. This winter's work should change that, Kasten said, and he plans to talk with commissioner Bud Selig about the possibility of having Los Angeles host a future All-Star Game.