A Look Back At The Second Week Of 2009

Let's take a look back at the hot stove happenings from January 8-14th, 2009.  So much changes in a year…

• The Mets signed Tim Redding and were preparing an offer for Randy Wolf.  I wonder where Oliver Perez would've gone had the Mets signed Wolf. 
• The Braves signed Kenshin Kawakami to a three-year deal and Derek Lowe for four years.  Those moves led to this winter's Javier Vazquez trade.
• Scott Boras got Willie Bloomquist a two-year deal from the Royals.
• Orlando Cabrera, Juan Cruz, Jason Varitek, Ben Sheets, and others languished in compensation-pick purgatory as Type A free agents who had been offered arbitration.  Currently only Jose Valverde still has this problem.
• The Brewers agreed to terms with Trevor Hoffman on a $6MM deal.  Hoffman leaving San Diego was one of the offseason's biggest surprises.  Another one: the Red Sox signing John Smoltz. The Sox also added Takashi Saito.
• Cliff Lee was open to an extension with the Indians.  Instead, he was traded twice in the year that followed.
• A reminder how quickly a surplus can disappear: the Yankees discussed trading Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady.
• Upon being asked to move to third base, Michael Young requested a trade from the Rangers.
• Adam Dunn was still looking for four years and $56MM.  He settled on two years, $20MM from the Nationals in February.
• Paul Byrd decided to sit out the first half of the season.  Pedro Martinez was weighing possibilities, but ultimately sat out as well.  I'm curious to see who this year's midseason mercenaries will be. 
• The Dodgers prepared to release Andruw Jones.