As Sunday afternoon crawls along at a slower-than-usual pace, we'll take a look back at the past week here on MLBTR:
- We saw one trade this week, as the Diamondbacks acquired Aaron Heilman in exchange for minor leaguers Scott Maine and Ryne White. We saw several reactions to the trade shortly after; personally, I feel like getting anything for Heilman is a solid move, as he was a likely non-tender candidate.
- The Cubs made more headlines this week, signing John Grabow to a two-year, $7.5MM extension. This move left me scratching my head, as there will likely be better options on the market, for better prices. It's hard to see Grabow fetching $7.5MM elsewhere. While he posted a solid ERA for the Cubs, his walk rate of nearly 5.0 per nine innings for the season should be a red flag.
- Sticking within the division for now, the Reds also extended a veteran, inking Ramon Hernandez to a one-year, $3MM deal with a vesting option for $3.25MM. As Tim pointed out in the post, it's a bit surprising, considering we've heard the Reds are trying to slash payroll in the past.
- Updates on the Roy Halladay sweepstakes: The Blue Jays are willing to grant teams a window to discuss a contract extension for their ace in order to increase his value. This week, we've heard that they've contacted the Cubs and that they're talking with the Dodgers. The Dodgers interest in Halladay is clear, though they're reportedly not pursuing John Lackey.
- Not surprisingly, Jason Bay rejected his initial extension offer from the Red Sox. Bay will hit the open market as one of the most highly-demanded players this offseason, and will likely listen to offers from multiple teams before deciding. Boston had offered four years and roughly $60MM for the outfielder's services.
- One team that will likely make a bid for Bay is the Angels, who consider Bay an option but have bluntly declared that top free agent Matt Holliday "will not be an Angel."
- Bad news for Marlins fans this week, as it looks like extension talks for ace Josh Johnson have failed. Johnson has stated he'd like to remain with Florida, but is that the best move at this point? The Marlins could hold onto Johnson, who's under team control for two more seasons, until the deadline or until next offseason before looking to move him for prospects. What's the best play?
- The Royals made several minor league signings this week, including contracts to Brad Thompson, Jorge Campillo, and Vance Wilson. Nice moves to add some depth to the organization, with some upside in Thompson and Campillo.
- Fresh off the heels of a fantastic 74-42 run in the NL West, the Rockies extended manager Jim Tracy for three seasons this week. It's certainly been a good couple of weeks for the NL Manager of the Year.
- MLBTR's list of the Top 50 Free Agents has been out for awhile now, and if you'd like a second opinion, check out Keith Law's list, which was released earlier in the week.
- Tim covered the Cardinals in his Offseason Outlook series this week, while Ben added to the Trades of the Decade series by revisiting the deal that sent Mark Teixeira to Atlanta. The other series update this week was the trade market for lefty relievers.
