After interviewing 7 potential managers, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has selected Oakland’s bench coach Don Wakamatsu. Wakamatsu was on the coaching staff of the Texas Rangers prior to his stint as Bob Geren’s bench coach for the A’s.

Wakamatsu does have four years of managerial experience with most of that coming at the single A level.

As everyone knows, the Mariners were the first team to spend over $100 million on a team that lost 100 games. I don’t know if that means that the talent is there there just needed to be a change in leadership, or if the previous front office just grossly overpaid for a horrible team. I think it’s probably somewhere in the middle. Zduriencik has made it obvious that he plans on setting up the Mariners with a top shelf farm system that can feed the Major League club as well as develop players to deal to other teams.

Now a major piece of Zduriencik’s vision is in place in the form of the Mariner’s new skipper Don Wakamatsu.

The Chicago Cubs signed free agent Ryan Dempster to a 4 year deal worth $52 million. The fourth year of the deal is a player option. Dempster is 31 years old right now and has battled some injuries in the past. Dempster was 17-6 last season with an ERA of 2.96. During the regular season he was 10-0 at home. 2008 was a career year for Dempster. His timing couldn’t have been better.

I have mixed feelings about the length of this deal. Given his age, this is a risky move. If the Cubs didn’t give him the 4 year deal, he probably would have gone somewhere else. I think Jim Hendry did a good job of balancing the investment in Ryan Dempster. Lately it has been the older pitchers in the league that have been dominant, so 35 isn’t too old. Dempster also has spent a lot of time in the bullpen so he doesn’t have a ton of innings logged. In his 11 year career he’s only averaged 157.3 innings per year. Other players who debuted in 1998 like Dempster have considerably more innings pitched per year (Roy Halladay – 229.3, Javier Vasquez – 218.0, Jarrod Washburn 206.3).

Will Dempster continue to be a vital top of the rotation pitcher for 4 more years? I doubt it, but I think the cost of losing him would have been even greater than $52 million.

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The Cubs agreed to trade for a pitcher Thursday, but it wasn’t Jake Peavy. The Cubs send minor-league reliever Jose Ceda to the Florida Marlins for their closer Kevin Gregg. The acquisition of Gregg lowers the likelihood that the Cubs will re-sign Kerry Wood. I’m not too broken up about that. I love Woody, and think that he has been a great Cub over the years. He’s going to be a high-priced closer that the Cubs just don’t need at his price tag.

Gregg was 62 saves with an ERA of 4.00 in 271 appearances. And that was for the Marlins. I think his tenure with the Cubs will be more successful. I’m not a huge fan of getting rid of a promising prospect, but Gregg has a proven track record in the majors.

As of right now, it looks like the Braves will land the Cy Young winning right-hander. The Cubs probably don’t have enough down on the farm to entice the Padres. Word is that Peavy would prefer to come to the Cubs over the Braves. And I don’t blame him. The Cubs are close, the Braves, not so much.

The deal that apparently is on the table is Pie/Cedeno/Marshall. If that is in fact the deal, I say do it, yesterday. I’ve also heard reports that Ryan Theriot is on the list instead of Cedeno. I have a little hesitation about that one, but still would want to do it.

All that being said, trading for Jake Peavy should not be the most important thing this offseason. They definitely need to shore up their rotation. Either Peavy, Dempster, Derek Lowe or AJ Burnett would be great. More important this offseason is a left-handed bat. A lefty right fielder needs to be a priority for Jim Hendry.

Amid much speculation and a lot of unrest on Rocky Top, Philip Fulmer will “resign” from his head coaching position at the University of Tennessee. This isn’t a surprise, but I do think it’s a bad move. Fulmer has been a solid coach over his 15 years atop the Volunteer football program. He led the Vols to the National Championship in 1998. His teams have consistently vied for the SEC title.

The Volunteer football program has definitely fallen on some hard times lately and I can see why fans in the college football crazy SEC would be calling for his head. Fulmer has only endured one losing season in his tenure at Tennessee (2005) and has lead the Vols to 14 bowls in his 15 seasons.

Fulmer is thought of as one of the best recruiters in college football. So that begs the question where will he end up next? Will he take another head coaching position? I’d love to see it. And I’d love to see him bring a cellar-dwelling team into prominence. It would be a great story and great for college football.