• The Pedro Alvarez drama may finally be behind us. The Pirates’ first-round pick agreed to terms with the organization on a new four-year, $6.355MM major league contract. Jim Callis and Dejan Kovacevic have some more insight to offer on the signing here. The contract was officially signed later in the week, and the grievance was resolved. Royals fans and Eric Hosmer are also both relieved that this is over I’m sure.
• The Blue Jays began talking extension with A.J. Burnett this week. Later on, we learned that the Jays would offer a two-year, $30MM extension onto the remaining two years of his contract, bringing the total remaining value to four years, $54MM. Burnett seemed pleasantly surprised with the amount of money the Jays were said to offer. He expected they’d offer less. You’re always going to be wondering just how many innings he can give you in a season, but in a world where Carlos Silva makes $12MM per season, if Burnett is healthy he’d be a steal at this price.
• Lots of question marks for another AL East team’s rotation, with the Yankees trying to figure out just what exactly Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina are planning for 2009. Pettitte has said that he’ll play for the Yankees or retire. Bringing Pettitte back only makes sense if he’s willing to take a much smaller contract. I think around $10MM would make sense; someone also suggested a $7-8MM deal with incentives. That seems fair as well. As for Mussina, he initially said that he didn’t think he’d pitch in 2009, but later at least discussed the possibility of pitching for 300 wins. His first preference would be to pitch for the Yankees again. Congrats to Moose on picking up win number 20 today, by the way. Another milestone in a great career.
• Erik Bedard’s injury and operation weren’t as serious as thought, and the Mariners now face more of a decision on bringing him back. If he’s healthy enough to pitch, I can’t see a reason not to bring him back. Maybe they can at least get a few months of the pitcher they initially thought they were getting, and get something in return in July.
• Curious about what it will take for your club to reel in that free agent you’re craving? Buster Olney took a look at the market earlier this week that might shed some light on the issue.
• One player who will be in that free agent pool is Orlando Cabrera. He openly criticized his teammates, saying that none of them wanted to win enough, and that "they were the problem," not him. Cabera’s hitting a very weak shortstop market; he should draw a lot of interest from numerous clubs. Interestingly, that article suggests Chicago’s biggest rival – Minnesota – as a possible landing place for Cabrera.
• Two players officially called it quits this week. Todd Jones retired, notching 319 saves in his career. Elsewhere, J.T. Snow signed a one-day contract with San Francisco, so he could officially retire as a Giant.
• Tim updated the Offseason Outlook series with entries for the Reds, Rockies, and Rangers.
• Has anyone seen Brad Penny recently? No? Apparently, neither have the Dodgers.

Jones is a free agent this winter.  He earned $7MM for 41.2 innings of 4.97 ball, walking more batters than he struck out.  Despite the poor season he’ll surely find interest on the market.

• Perrotto lists off several people which he believes are the most likely to be made available if and when they clear waivers. While the list is comprised of a lot of the usual suspects this August (Greg Maddux, Jarrod Washburn, Paul Byrd, Randy Winn), Perrotto lists some other names that we haven’t seen as much: Francisco Cordero, Tyler Walker, Todd Jones, Jose Bautista, and Doug Mientkiewicz. Perrotto also says that he feels Aubrey Huff has the best chance to be traded of any impact bat available.
• Perrotto states that the Rockies would like to sign both Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday long-term. If unsuccessful, they will both be on the trading block this offseason.
• The Pirates would like to sign Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit long-term as well, buying out their arbitration years.
• Perrotto lists the Yankees as the front-runners to sign Freddy Garcia. The Mets and Rays are also suitors for Garcia, though I personally don’t think Garcia makes sense for the Rays.
• The Yankees have "little interest" in pursuing Manny Ramirez this offseason, despite possible reports that Manny would like to play for them.
• The Twins would still like to add a late-inning reliever this season to boost their bullpen as the AL Central race winds down.
• The Braves’ top priority this offseason is pursuing a front-line starter, Perrotto says. He lists possible candidates as: C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Ryan Dempster, Derek Lowe, and Jon Garland. Seems a bit odd to consider the last three "front-line," though Dempster has certainly been impressive this season.

Options remain plentiful for teams in search of a closer – check out the updated list here.  The Orioles, Rays, Rangers, Astros, Brewers, and Giants may all be in the hunt for a closer this winter.

• Frank Wren publicly admitted that the Braves would like to add Tom Glavine to their rotation for 2008.  They’re hoping for a hometown discount, which he may be amenable to based on this report.  At the minimum, the Braves will have competition from the Nationals, Cardinals, Astros, and possibly the Mets.
• Wren also stated that the Braves will look outside the organization for their center fielder.  David O’Brien (linked above) indicates that the Braves won’t make offers to Torii Hunter, Aaron Rowand, or Mike Cameron due to the size of the likely commitments.  Since Cameron would seemingly only take two years, it’s surprising the Braves will pass.  O’Brien says David DeJesus is a reasonable option even though he’s signed for three years, since he’s cheap and trade-able.  A Coco Crisp acquisition would use similar logic.
• Unless he comes at a discount, it sounds like the Braves will pass on Todd Jones.  Jones had expressed interest in pitching for his hometown team, but Wren stated yesterday that he will not pursue a free agent closer.  There had been speculation yesterday that the Braves were interested in Japanese closer Masahide Kobayashi.  They could still add him as a set-up man.
• Though the Braves declined his $5.5MM option, Octavio Dotel could still be in the picture.  Most likely, he’ll seek more money and the opportunity to close elsewhere.  It was a mutual option so Dotel would’ve declined it on his end anyway. 

• The Tigers want to bring Kenny Rogers back, who has said Detroit is the only place he’ll play if he doesn’t retire. 
• The team will finally go with Joel Zumaya in the closer role next year, but they’d like Todd Jones around as a backup.  Jones’ first pick is Atlanta but it’s not known if they’re interested.  The mustachioed closer earned $5MM this year.
• Henning indicates that the acquisition of Edgar Renteria will allow the Tigers to be content with a Marcus Thames/Timo Perez/Ryan Raburn combo in left field, instead of signing Geoff Jenkins.  Maybe the Tigers don’t want to appear too desperate for Jenkins, or maybe they’re serious.

Kenny Rogers – 90%
Todd Jones – 80%
Geoff Jenkins – 75%
Edgar Renteria – 50%
Jack Wilson – 30%
Francisco Cordero – 5%
Alex Rodriguez – 3%
Mariano Rivera – 3%
Raul Ibanez – 0.5%
Torii Hunter – 0%
Andruw Jones – 0%

• Henning believes Jenkins is quite likely to become a Tiger on a two-year deal.  He only costs money, as the Brewers won’t be offering him arbitration if they decline his option.  The Twins may be in the mix for him as well.
• Henning notes that new Braves GM Frank Wren and current Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski have a connection and could easily work together on a Renteria trade.  Pitching would be the requirement.  Jeremy Bonderman seems like too much; Nate Robertson perhaps too little.
• The Tigers badly want to bring Rogers back; that seems very likely.
• Henning expects Jones back unless he receives an offer from the Braves, located somewhat near his home.  That’s not expected.