For one year and $3.8 million, plus $4.6 million in incentives. We'll see how reachable the incentives are, but jeez--Hudson has to be the free agent market's biggest loser so far. He was hoping for a multiyear deal at around $10 million per season, and as a second baseman who plays good defense and has topped an .800 OPS three years in a row, he probably would have gotten it if not for the rotten economy and Elias' silly player rankings, which require the Dodgers to give their first-round draft pick to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Hudson's services. I'm not good at feeling sympathy for multimillionaire ballplayers, but Hudson must feel frustrated, and the Orioles' signing of Brian Roberts, a similar player in many ways, to a $40 million extension today has to make it sting even more.
For L.A., Hudson fills the void left by the retirement of Jeff Kent, and he should be a big upgrade over Blake DeWitt, who'd been penciled in there. Still, it can't feel right to have to give your top draft pick to your main divisional rival.