Time once again for a look back at the highlights from the past seven days here at MLBTR. Let's take a look:
- The Mariners inked Jack Wilson to a two-year, $10MM deal this week. Wilson's glove alone is worth that money; Jack Zduriencik is putting together a terrific defensive team. For what it's worth, Wilson seems to absolutely love it in Seattle. The Mariners also reached an agreement this week with Ken Griffey Jr. for a $2MM base salary plus incentives. Griffey's numbers took a sharp decline in 2009, but he says he's looking forward to helping out in whatever role he's given in 2010. One Mariner isn't quite ready to return though; Russell Branyan rejected Seattle's initial one-year offer, stating that he wants two years guaranteed.
- Despite missing nearly all of 2009, Tim Hudson signed a three-year, $27MM extension with an option for a fourth year. If Hudson is healthy, this gives the Braves a tremendous amount of pitching depth to deal from to fill other holes. Hudson threw 42.1 innings at the end of the season to the tune of a 3.61 ERA, though his .295 opponent average could be a caution flag. The Braves may not stop with Hudson either. Talks of an extension for Javier Vazquez surfaced this week as well.
- Tim Wakefield also received an extension, signing for two years and $5MM. Wakefield's average annual salary will take a hit, but he's guaranteed another two years right now, which must be nice at the age of 43.
- Several new (and in some cases, surprising) names emerged on the trade market. The Tigers have announced that they'll listen on both Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson, while the Pirates would be open to dealing Ryan Doumit, and the Nationals are getting a lot of calls about Josh Willingham.
- Speaking of the Nationals, they announced this week that interim manager Jim Riggleman will take over the job as the club's official manager for 2010.
- We saw a lot of options picked up or declined this week. The Red Sox picked up Victor Martinez's $7.1MM option for 2010, while the Rays picked up their $10MM option on Carl Crawford but declined to bring back Gregg Zaun or Brian Shouse. The Brewers wisely declined their $6.5MM option on Braden Looper, and the Rockies did the same with Rafael Betancourt's $5.4MM option. And after much drama, Jason Varitek exercised his $3MM player option with the Red Sox.
- Tim released his list of the Top 50 Free Agents this offseason, as well as his predictions for where each will land.
- In his Trades of the Decade series, Ben takes a look at the deal that sent Hanley Ramirez to Florida and Josh Beckett to Boston.
- If you're wondering who's available on the trade market, Tim's got you covered. This week's posts in the trade market series include starting pitchers, closers, and designated hitters.
- Offseason Outlook updates this week include the Rangers and Giants.
- And in case you missed it, the 2009 Elias Rankings have been officially released.
