Free agent predictions review

With everyone headed home from the meetings and a quiet night likely, it seemed like a good time to revisit some of the predictions from my Free Agency Preview columns. Here’s a list of the 18 signed free agents to receive guesses in those columns: Ramon Hernandez Guess: Reds - one year, $4 million Result: Reds - one year, $3 million Ivan Rodriguez Guess: Rangers - one year, $1.5 million Result: Nationals - two years, $6 million Others will point to Brandon Lyon, but this is the real mindblower of the offseason to date for me. He’s certainly no better of a bet now than he was last winter, when he went unsigned into March and settled for $1.5 million. Placido Polanco Guess: Dodgers - two years, $12 million Result: Phillies - three years, $18 million Chone Figgins Guess: Cubs - four years, $48 million Result: Mariners - four years, $36 million + vesting option I was guessing new ownership meant new money, but the Cubs aren’t shaping up as real spenders this winter. I’m still surprised no one stepped up and offered Figgins at least $10 million per year. Pedro Feliz Guess: Astros - one year, $2.5 million Result: Astros - one year, $4.5 million Marco Scutaro Guess: Red Sox - three years, $18 million Result: Red Sox - two years, $12.5 million + mutual option Alex Gonzalez Guess: Blue Jays - one year, $2.5 million Result: Blue Jays - one year, $2.5 million Randy Wolf Guess: Mariners - three years, $36 million Result: Brewers - three years, $29.5 million The market for Wolf clearly wasn’t what I thought it’d be. If he had been offered arbitration by the Dodgers, he’d probably still be on the market looking for a three-year offer. The Brewers were more inclined to give him one because they didn’t have to surrender a draft pick. Rich Harden Guess: Orioles - two years, $18 million Result: Rangers - one year, $7.5 million + mutual option The fun thing about this prediction is that the Rangers could only sign Harden after dumping Kevin Millwood’s contract on the Orioles. Andy Pettitte Guess: Yankees - one year, $10 million plus incentives Result: Yankees - one year, $11.75 million Brad Penny Guess: Brewers - two years, $16 million Result: Cardinals - one year, $7.5 million Carl Pavano Guess: Diamondbacks - one year, $7 million Result: Accepted arbitration Rafael Soriano Guess: Rays - two years, $14 million Result: Accepted arbitration Definitely the better result for the Rays. They’ll have Soriano at around $7 million for one year, and they were able to hold on to their first-round pick. Billy Wagner Guess: Orioles - one year, $7.5 million Result: Braves - one year, $7.5 million + vesting option LaTroy Hawkins Guess: Astros - two years, $9 million Result: Brewers - two years, $7.5 million Brandon Lyon Guess: Phillies - two years, $8 million Result: Astros - three years, $15 million The Astros could have had Hawkins for $7 million-$8 million over two years. Lyon isn’t deserving of the scorn some are dishing out right now, but Hawkins at his price surely seemed like the more attractive option. Takashi Saito Guess: Diamondbacks - one year, $4 million Result: Braves - one year, $3.2 million plus incentives Rafael Betancourt Guess: Rockies - one year, $4 million Result: Accepted arbitration