before a game against Washington. Santana will

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Atlanta Braves agreed Wednesday on a $14.1 million, one-year contract with Ervin Santana, bolstering their injury plagued starting rotation. The 33-year-old right-hander went 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA in 32 starts for the Kansas City Royals last season and should make a huge impact with the battered Braves, who are facing the prospect of losing Kris Medlen for the season and opening with Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor on the disabled list. Medlen, who had been announced as Atlantas opening-day starter, left a spring training outing Sunday after grabbing his right elbow. Initial tests showed ligament damage, and he will undergo further examination to determine if he needs surgery for the second time in less than four years. Medlen said hes already preparing himself to miss the entire season. Beachy left a start Monday because of continuing problems with his right elbow, and Minor has yet to pitch this spring because of a sore shoulder. "In light of what has happened over the past few days with our pitching staff, we felt it was incumbent on us to do everything we could to strengthen our starting pitching," Braves general manager Frank Wren told reporters before a game against Washington. Santana will be pitching in the NL for the first time in his 10-year career. He spent eight seasons with the Los Angeles Angels before being traded to the Royals in 2013, helping Kansas City post an 86-76 record, their best since 1989. But Santana, who made $13 million in the final year of his contract, turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Royals and became a free agent. Given his hefty contract demands, he remained unsigned as spring training began, despite putting up some impressive career numbers. "This guy makes our rotation a lot better than where we are at now," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said, praising Wren. "We lost Medlen and Beachy in a matter of 2 1/2 days and he went out there and got the best pitcher available for us." Santana threw a bullpen at the Braves spring training complex on Wednesday, which Gonzalez said went well. Despite his late entrance to camp, Santana could be ready for the start of the season. "It will be close," Gonzalez said. "We are kind of keeping our fingers crossed that we can get him enough innings where he can start for us." Santana was an AL All-Star in 2008, tossed a no-hitter in 2011, and has reached double-figure wins five times, going a career-best 17-10 in 2010 and twice winning 16 games. Overall, he is 105-90 with a 4.19 ERA. Santanas agent, Jay Alou, said he initially received a text from Wren on Sunday, then got another call Tuesday night while negotiating with other clubs. It didnt take long to reach an agreement with Atlanta, a deal that includes award bonuses. Its easy to see why the Braves felt a sense of desperation. Medlen went a team-leading 15-12 with a 3.11 ERA last season, while Minor was 13-9 with a 3.21 ERA. The team also was counting on a full recovery for Beachy, who was one of the NLs most effective pitchers in 2012 before he underwent season-ending elbow surgery. Beachy has been limited to a total of 18 starts over the past two seasons, enduring several setbacks in his attempt to come back. After his latest problem, he will miss his next scheduled spring start and faces another trip to the DL. Minor, who underwent urinary tract surgery on Dec. 31, hopes to pitch within the next week but also seems likely to start the season on the DL while he builds his arm strength. Given all the health issues, the Braves got to the go-ahead from corporate owner Liberty Media to bump the payroll well above the projected $100 million limit. Wren called it "an incredible decision by the organization." With opening day less than three weeks away, the only healthy members of the Braves possible rotation are second-year pitchers Julio Teheran (14-8 last season) and Alex Wood, rookie David Hale and non-roster invitee Freddy Garcia. Hale and Garcia have both struggled this spring. Atlanta also signed veteran Gavin Floyd, but he is coming off Tommy John surgery and wont be ready to pitch until at least May. Now, add Santana to the list, though it will likely be mid-April before he is prepared to join the rotation. He has been throwing on the side and could make his spring training debut next week. "We want to take the right amount of caution to get him ready right, and be ready for the long haul," Wren said. By signing Santana, the Braves forfeited their first-round pick in Junes amateur draft, No. 26 overall, and the Royals will receive a compensation-round selection, the 28th overall. Atlantas first pick is now 32nd overall, as compensation for losing free agent catcher Brian McCann, who signed with the New York Yankees. Santanas signing leaves only two free agents -- Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales -- available from the 13 players who turned down qualifying offers. If they agree to one-year contracts after opening day, they wouldnt be subject to qualifying offers this November. If they wait until after the draft to reach agreements, clubs that sign them wont lose selections. Among the 22 qualifying offers in the two years of the new labour contract, none have been accepted. "Frankly, the players havent adjusted to the change," New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. "To blame the system versus the marketplace and blame the system versus a misunderstanding of the marketplace I think is a little one-sided. From a management standpoint, Id say, Hey, Im surprised if you guys havent taken a qualifying offer. Maybe they should have." 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The football club recently announced an increase in season ticket prices in five of the seven categories at Investors Group Field for 2014. While most increases are in the two to three per cent range, the clubs most affordable season tickets will jump from $199 to $250 — a 26 per cent leap.Every day pretty well, I check out the Blue Jays minor league stats to see whos trending upwards and whos tailing off. Saturday, the boxscore for Double A New Hampshire really caught my eye. Bostons farm club, the Portland Sea Dogs throttled the Fisher Cats right in their own ballpark. It was the most lopsided defeat in franchise history and the biggest shutout loss. That wasnt the biggest story though. It was the young man who started that game for New Hampshire, Aaron Sanchez. Regarded by many as the Blue Jays top pitching prospect, Sanchez didnt get out of the first inning. In fact he didnt even record an out. My first though was that maybe he was injured, but I called the Fisher Cats early Monday morning and was assured Aaron is alright. He just struggled mightily with his command. Sanchezs line was pretty ugly. He faced only six batters, walked four and a hit another, and the only batter to make contact reached on an error by first baseman Mike McDade. Though he didnt give up a single hit, Sanchez was charged with six runs, though only three were earned. Sanchezs entire season so far has been rife with growing pains. Hes 1-3 with a fairly respectable 3.54 ERA. However in just 48.1 innings, hes walked 34 men while hitting another seven versus 41 strikeouts. Its hardly time for the Blue Jays to panic. Sanchez looked great at spring training this year and wont turn 22 until July 1. Still, I wouldnt be looking for a quick call-up to the "Big Club", if any of the Jays starters falter or get hurt. Sanchez still has a ways to go on the developmental curve. On the flip side of that coin is right hander Deck McGuire. The Jays drafted him number 11 overall in 2010 out of Georgia Tech. In 2012, at Double A, he seemed to hit a wall and had a terrible season. Last year, again at Double A with New Hampshire, he had a bounce-back season and has continued to grow this year with the Fisher Cats. On Saturday after two strong starts with the Fisher Cats, McGuire was promoted to Triple A Buffalo. While not as highly regarded a prospect as Sanchez or Marcus Stroman, the Jays may yet get something out of McGuire, who turns 25 on June 3. After detailing Kyle Drabeks struggles over the past two columns, its only fair to mention how good he was last Thursday at Louisville. He pitched eight shutout innings, striking out five and walking only two in what became a 4-2 victory for the Bisons. Ricky Romero, whose struggles have been epic this season at Buffalo, was due to rejoin the club Monday after spending a few days in California to attend his brothers collegge graduation.dddddddddddd Ricky is pencilled in to start the Memorial weekend holiday Monday game at Indianappolis. The Blue Jays Mark Buehrle is well on his way to a 14th straight season of pitching 200 or more innings. As things stand right now, only three other pitchers have put together a string like that of 15 years or longer. The trio includes Gaylord Perry (15 years), knuckleballer Phil Niekro (15), and lefty Warren Spahn (17). All three are Hall of Famers. They also won over 300 games each. Buehrle (8-1) on the season has 194 wins at age 35. With their recent spurt, including six straight wins, the Blue Jays only have to go 62-49 the rest of the way to finish with 91 victories. Thats a number that should put them in the post-season for the first time since 1993. Around the Majors What in the name of Bobby Valentine has gone wrong with the Red Sox? The defending World Series champs, making like Valentines team of two years ago, have dropped 10 in a row and have been swept in consecutive series by Detroit and the Blue Jays at home and Tampa Bay on the road. Theyre in last place in the AL East, eight games back of the Blue Jays and six games out of the second Wild Card position. On the plus side, Bostons farm system is reputed to be strong, especially at Double A Portland. The Sea Dogs second baseman, Mookie Betts, is a sparkplug speedster who because of the presence of Dustin Pedroia may ultimately wind up in Bostons outfielder sooner rather than later. From the "go figure" file, the Texas Rangers have used a Major League-high 39 players so far this season and have utilized the disabled list 17 times. Yet in the same week they found out that Prince Fielder and Jurickson Profar were gone for the season, the Rangers went into Comerica Park in Detroit and took three out of four from the powerhouse Tigers, outscoring them 35-15. Houstons rookie right fielder George Springer has had his moments defensively, but he is really picking it up at the plate. Hes slugged four homers in the last three games, including two on Sunday to give him seven on the season to go with 22 runs batted in. The Astros though still have the worst record in the Majors at 19-32. Until the other day, I did not know that in his pitching days Babe Ruth threw sidearm. In his relatively brief time on the mound as a full-time starter, he was regarded as the best lefty in the Majors. The best pitcher period, in those days, was Walter Johnson. "The Big Train" also threw sidearm. Makes you wonder why that style barely exists in the Majors today. ' ' '