Tim Hudson agreed to a $28 million, three-year contract with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, giving the team a wealth of starting pitching and setting up a likely trade to bolster the offense.
Hudson could have returned to the Braves under a $12 million option, but the sides focused on a longer deal after the right-hander showed he had overcome major elbow surgery.
His new deal calls for salaries of $9 million in each of the next three seasons, and the Braves get a $9 million club option for 2013 with a $1 million buyout. If Hudson pitches at least 600 innings over the next three seasons, he would receive a $500,000 bonus after the 2012 season.
The Braves now have six starters under contract for next season: Hudson, Javier Vazquez , Jair Jurrjens , Tommy Hanson , Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami .
Jurrjens (14-10, 2.60 ERA) and Hanson (11-4, 2.89), both 23, are the long-term cornerstones of the staff and Vazquez is coming off one of the best seasons (15-10, 2.87) of his career.
Vazquez, who is heading into the final year of his contract, might be the most attractive pitcher in a trade since Lowe (15-10, 4.67) and Kawakami (7-12, 3.86) are both in the middle of expensive, long-term deals.
"We felt like the strength of our ballclub was the starting rotation, and we wanted to continue to have that as our strength," general manager Frank Wren said. "Now we have the ability to go out and continue to mold our ballclub. Quite frankly, I don't know what it's going to look like on Opening Day, but it's starting to take form. This is the first step."
NATIONALS: Are sticking with Jim Riggleman after promoting him from bench coach midway through last season, announcing at a news conference that he'll be their manager in 2010.
Riggleman replaced fired skipper Manny Acta in July on an interim basis. The Nationals were 26-61 (a .299 winning percentage) at the time and went 33-42 (.440) under Riggleman, finishing with a majors-worst record of 59-103.
In addition to a brief stint in Seattle, Riggleman managed in the majors with the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He has a .444 career winning percentage across 10 seasons, with only one finish as high as second place.
Riggleman's best season came with the 1998 Cubs, who were led by NL MVP Sammy Sosa 's 66 homers and went 90-73 to make the playoffs as a wild card. But Chicago went 67-95 to finish last in 1999, Riggleman's final year there.
ROYALS: Have agreed to terms with infielder Wilson Betemit , a 28-year-old infielder who spent last season in the Chicago White Sox organization.
The Royals signed the switch-hitting Betemit, a former Atlanta Brave, to a minor league deal.
COURTS: Lawyers for Roger Clemens filed a motion in Brooklyn federal court to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by the pitcher's former trainer, claiming statements that accused Brian McNamee of trying to shake down Clemens were not serious.
Joe Roden , one of the attorneys representing Clemens, said the seven-time Cy Young award winner, lawyer Rusty Hardin and others were not serious when they questioned McNamee's mental state and accused him of manufacturing evidence, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.
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