Matt Holliday and Milton Bradley will dominate the NL Central headlines this offseason, but there are other things going on. No earth-shakers just yet, but here is some of the action over the past few days:

- Both LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde are free agents, so the Astros are facing some decisions with the back of their bullpen. They've expressed interest in both, but retaining Valverde has to be at the top of their wish list. They have some nice pieces in the rotation and a few good veteran bats, so resigning one of the best closers in the baseball cements them as a divisional contender in my mind, considering it will be a weaker division in 2010. However, this quote from Astros GM Ed Wade makes me giddy:

"I think Hawk has really established himself since arriving on the scene here as a guy we can count on late in games, whether it's the eighth or the ninth inning," Wade said. "I know there's a magic to the ninth inning and there's no walking past that. He does have ninth-inning experience."

Does the past not teach the Astros anything? Money is probably a factor here, but it will baffle me if they think his solid set up numbers from last year justify him being the closer. It wouldn't surprise me of Billy Wagner gets a feel good deal from the Astros and a chance to compete for a spot in the bullpen. Given his age and last few years, I'd say that is something Cubs fan should cheer for.

- Ramon Hernandez will be a Red next season and this doesn't surprise me at all because he couldn't have endeared himself anymore to their fearless leader Dusty Baker. Why (in his mind) Dusty can win with him:

• Dude knows how to get it done, he's 33.
• Ramon can pick it at first and can catch, dude.
  
• Ramon doesn't clog the bases dude (.333 OBP in NL).
• Only other options we have to catch are young kids dude, can't win with them.

Hernadez will reportedly make $3 million next rather than the $8.5 million he could have made and for that money he actually may worth it as a veteran catcher. Ryan Hanigan is young, but he slugged .331 in 2009, so it can't hurt to have Hernandez around.

- Via mlbtraderumors, Foxsports.com's John Paul Morosi is reporting that the Angels, Red Sox and Yankees are the true contenders for Matt Holliday. Neither of the three are the Cardinals and neither are in the NL, so that article couldn't make me happier when it comes to Holliday. From a money sense it clearly is logical for Holliday to go to one of those teams. It was reported that the Cardinals made a 6 year/$96 million offer to Holliday. Anything not involving a "100" in it won't be good enough to land Holliday. I'm sure the Cardinals could make a deal like that if they absolutely wanted to, but I'm also sure they are smart enough not to lock themselves into that.

From a team perspective that trio makes sense as well. The Yankees obviously won the World Series, and the other two could easily win with Holliday on their roster in 2010. However, from a personal playing perspective, going back to the AL might not be the best decision for Holliday. He played well with the A's, but his numbers skyrocketed when he got to St. Louis. Now that could easily be because he was on a better team and hitting behind the best player in the game, but he is an established star in the NL.

The bottomline is, all three of these news pieces seem to bode well for the Cubs. Hooray.

Photo courtesy chron.com.

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