On the heels of a 99 loss ’04 campaign, the Mariners have responded by committing themselves fo $114 million in future salary, following the free agent signing of 1B Richie Sexson with he acquisition of 3B/MVP candidate Adrian Beltret. That sound you just heard was Carlos Delgado’s price going up.

If Beltre’s departure wasn’t bad enough news for the Dodgers, they learned today that A’s ace Tim Hudson, whom they hotly pursued during the winter meetings, had instead been traded to the Braves in exchange for lefty Dan Meyer, RHP Juan Cruz and OF Charles Thomas. It wouldn’t be an understatement to claim that the Braves’ move takes some of the gloss off the Mets’ signing of the 4 years older Pedro Martinez.