The first day of the offseason is in the books, and many teams were quick with their decisions on who to bring back for 2015.
One player whose throwing arm has been blown to smithereens had his 2015 option exercised on Thursday while another will have to settle for much less money than he would've made had his option not been declined.
Daniel Hudson will make $800,000 in 2015 for the Diamondbacks, who decided to bring back the oft-injured right-hander for next season. Hudson is coming off of two Tommy John surgeries and now has a future in relief, which is unfortunate considering he posted a 3.01 ERA during his first two seasons in the desert.
Meanwhile, the Padresdeclined to payJosh Johnson $4 million to presumably sit on the disabled list next season and will instead attempt to work out a lesser deal. Johnson missed the entire 2014 season, and of his nine years in the big leagues, he has eclipsed 100 innings in only four. That said, Johnson is nothing less than solid when healthy; the 30-year-old right-hander owns a career 124 ERA+ and has struck out 8.3 batters per nine innings.
Red Sox extend Uehara
Koji Uehara is about to be one of the best-paid 40-year-old dudes who only works 64 days a year in the world. Boston's closer received a two-year, $18 million contract on Thursday to keep him off the open market. Uehara's not getting any younger, but that's not stopping him from being a dominant reliever; the Japanese right-hander doesn't walk anybody and has whiffed 10 or more batters per nine innings in each of his five seasons since being shifted into a bullpen role.
Nationals exercise Span, decline LaRoche
Denard Span was one of the more underrated players in the league in 2014, so it makes sense that the Nationals decided keep him around in 2015 for $9 million on Thursday. Span hit .302/.355/.416 while playing well above-average defense for the NL East champions.
The team also decided to make Ryan Zimmerman its first baseman, pretty much, by declining Adam LaRoche's option. LaRoche, 34, hit 26 home runs and ended the season with a 124 OPS+, but he was due $15 million in 2015 had the Nationals picked up the option. Rafael Soriano also had his optioned declined after posting a 3.19 ERA with 32 saves. Soriano fell 14 games short of the 120 that he was required to finish in 2013 and 2014 for his $14 million option to be automatically exercised. Matt Williams is a shrewd accountant.
Other option decisions
Exercised: Bruce Chen and Darren O'Day (Orioles), Matt Reynolds (Diamondbacks), Dan Haren (Dodgers -- player option), John Lackey (Cardinals), Yovani Gallardo (Brewers), Hisashi Iwakuma (Mariners -- vested), Huston Street (Angels)
Declined: Nick Markakis and Nick Hundley (Orioles), Felipe Paulino (White Sox), Kyuji Fujikawa (Cubs), Sean Burnett (Angels), Mike Adams (Phillies)