Ike Davis must prove himself.

The Milwaukee Brewers reached a minor league agreement with Mark Reynolds this morning. Milwaukee has been searching for a first baseman all winter long, and it appears they’re looking towards Reynolds as their solution.

The Brewers have flirted with the Mets this offseason regarding a trade for Ike Davis. The Mets wanted RHP Tyler Thornburg, a top pitching prospect whom the Brewers have penciled into their fifth starting slot going into Spring Training. Milwaukee deemed that price too high.

According to Brittany Ghiroli, the Cleveland Indians have signed Mark Reynolds to a one-year contract.

Not that the Mets were ever interested, though the Yankees might have been.

In other news, the Dodgers signed another pitcher — Korean lefthander Hyun-Jin Ryu (or is it Ryu Hyun-jin? I’m not sure). The 25-year-old (he’ll be 26 by Opening Day) is inked for 6 years, $36M. According to reports, he throws a fastball in the low 90s and uses his change-up as his out pitch. I guess that makes him the lefthanded Mario Soto.

Gee, I wonder if this signing means the Mets have a shot at reacquiring Chris Capuano?

The $36M is on top of the $27.5M posting fee that the Dodgers paid for the rights to negotiate with Ryu.

By the way, the Dodgers’ payroll for 2013 will be at least $225M — a new MLB record. LA ownership obviously has deeper pockets than we’ve ever seen before, and laughs in the face of Bud Selig’s “competitive balance” tax. In case you weren’t aware, any MLB team whose payroll is in excess of $178M by the end of the 2013 season is subject to a 17% tax. Assuming the Dodgers are around $225M, they’ll have to put about $38M into the kitty. It seems they don’t care; perhaps they see it as the cost of doing business. I wonder, is the ghost of George Steinbrenner among their board of directors?

The Arizona Diamondbacks had a busy day in Disney, trading slugging third baseman Mark Reynolds to the Orioles, signing former Met Melvin Mora to take his place at the hot corner, and also agreeing to terms with another former Met, J.J. Putz.

In return for Reynolds, Baltimore sent right-handed relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio back to Arizona. I don’t know much about either of those youngsters; though I swear I saw Hernandez on American Idol a few years ago.

I’m kind of sad to see Reynolds move to the Adulterated League, as I enjoyed watching his hard-nosed play, inspired defense, and moon shots. Though he blasted 32 four-baggers last year, he struck out 211 times and hit just below the Mendoza Line – .198.

Reportedly, Mora signed a one-year deal for $2M. Putz agreed to a two-year, $10M contract, though it hasn’t yet been officially announced.