Week In Review: 5/6/12 – 5/12/12

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there reading this (including my own)! Let's take a look back at the week that was here on MLBTR…

• The Brewers officially announced extensions for both GM Doug Melvin and manager Ron Roenicke. Melvin will be promoted to president of baseball operations, and his contract runs through 2015. Roenicke's new deal runs through 2014 and contains a club option for 2015.
• The Blue Jays signed Vladimir Guerrero to a minor league contract. Vlad will earn the pro-rated portion of $1.3MM if he plays with the big league club, but will report to extended Spring Training for now.
• Elsewhere in the AL East, the Orioles also signed a former AL MVP of their own, inking Miguel Tejada to a minor league deal. Like Guerrero, he reported to extended Spring Training.
• The Rangers are still working to extend Josh Hamilton, who had one of the best weeks you'll ever see out of a Major League hitter. Hamilton clubbed nine homers, including four in one game.
• The Diamondbacks are open to discussing a contract extension with Miguel Montero during the season, though GM Kevin Towers said the talks would be confidential.
• Starlin Castro, on the other hand, will not discuss an extension with the Cubs during the season. Ditto for Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.
• The Red Sox acquired Scott Podsednik from the Phillies in exchange for cash and assigned him to Triple-A. The BoSox are currently starved for outfield depth thanks to a slew of injuries.
• The Pirates acquired Jeff Larish from the Red Sox, also for cash. Just as the Sox did with Podsednik, the Buccos assigned Larish to Triple-A.
• The Orioles acquired minor league left-hander Mike Belfiore to the Diamondbacks to complete the Josh Bell trade.
• The Yankees claimed lefty reliever Justin Thomas off waivers from the Red Sox.
• Peter Bourjos has seen his playing time disappear after a slow start and the arrival of Mike Trout, but the Angels aren't actively shopping the defensive wizard.
• The Blue Jays contacted the Phillies in regards to Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino. The Phils reportedly called around the league saying they'd entertain offers for the pair of stars.
• Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said the team will consider every possibility when it comes to trades of veteran players this summer. Presently, however, he's not in a rush to move players like Brett Myers, Carlos Lee, Wandy Rodriguez, and Brandon Lyon.
• Dontrelle Willis has dropped his grievance against the Orioles.
• Brad Penny was released by the Softbank Hawks after just one start. Penny is weighing options from Major League teams, some as a reliever and some as a starter.
• After appearing in parts of 13 Major League seasons, Casey Blake has decided to retire. Congratulations on a nice career, Casey.