Week In Review: 10/25/09 – 10/31-09

Baseball's hot stove season begins after the World Series, but we still had action during the last week of October.

• Manny Acta was hired to manage the Indians, which led to the Astros hiring Brad Mills.  Tony La Russa's extension with the Cardinals was announced; it's a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2011.  La Russa is bringing Mark McGwire with him as the Cards' new hitting coach.
• Jed Hoyer was announced as the Padres' new GM; he replaced Kevin Towers.  Hoyer signed a four-year contract with a club option for 2014.  Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd and manager Jim Tracy are close to three-year agreements.
• Catcher Kenji Johjima opted out of his Mariners contract on October 19th, leaving $16MM on the table.  On Tuesday he reached an agreement with the Hanshin Tigers for four years and around $21MM.
• The Rays re-signed outfielder Gabe Kapler to a one-year, $1.05MM deal, a slight raise on last year's salary.  The Astros re-upped infielder Geoff Blum for one year and $1.5MM, with a mutual option for 2011.  The biggest signing of the week goes to the Giants, who inked Freddy Sanchez to a two-year, $12MM extension.  Sanchez is off the market, but remaining free agent second basemen include Akinori Iwamura (club option), Mark DeRosa, Orlando Hudson, Adam Kennedy, Felipe Lopez, Ronnie Belliard, Placido Polanco, and Juan Uribe.
• Righty Tim Hudson was expected to sign a three-year extension worth around $27MM by the end of the week.  If an agreement was reached, the Braves are keeping it under wraps.  Perhaps they're still hammering out details.
• Several players became free agents, including Tyler Yates, Chris Coste, Noah Lowry, Edgar Gonzalez, and Jack Taschner.  View our full 2010 MLB free agents list here.
• Alex Anthopoulos' first move as Blue Jays' GM was a quiet one: he claimed pitcher Sean Henn off waivers from the Orioles.
• The Orioles declined two options: third baseman Melvin Mora for $8MM and catcher Chad Moeller for $850K.  Moeller is still expected to return.  The Astros declined their $2.85MM option on reliever Doug Brocail.
• Gary Matthews Jr. wants to be traded and does not realize how undesirable he is.  Speaking of bad contracts, we listed a slew of them here.
• We summed up the Aroldis Chapman sweepstakes.  Chapman visited with the Red Sox and Orioles this week, while the Tigers and Mariners were added to the list of suitors.
• SI's Jon Heyman reported that Manny Ramirez is "planning to exercise" his $20MM player option for 2010.
• Albert Pujols told 101 ESPN in St. Louis that he wants to be a Cardinal for life.  Pujols is basically under contract through 2011 already.
• Free agent left fielder Jason Bay chatted with fans at WEEI.com, and said he wouldn't be limited by geography.
• We analyzed the trade market for all five infield positions: catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, and third base.
• We did Offseason Outlooks for the Braves, Tigers, and Mariners.
• Ben Nicholson-Smith's Trades of the Decade series included famous deals involving Bartolo Colon, Scott Kazmir, and Ken Griffey Jr.