With the National League MVP award being bestowed today to Albert Pujols (what, you thought it was going to Yorvit Torrealba?), the Baseball Writers Association of America yearly awards are now done.

However, the BBWAA is about to spring into action in its other significant awards duty, which is to select Hall of Famers. The ballot for the Cooperstown class of 2010 will be mailed out tomorrow (Wednesday), and it must be returned by a Dec. 31 postmark. The results will be announced Jan. 6.

In other words, in less than 12 hours, Edgar Martinez will be on the clock. Edgar has had his requisite five-year waiting period, and for the first time will be on the ballot. Other first-timers include Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin and Fred McGriff, all of whom, like Edgar, have a Hall of Fame case that can be made for them but are far from automatic first-ballot choices.*

A couple of items for your perusal. With talks between the Mariners and Tigers on the Curtis Granderson/Edwin Jackson front said to be stalled and a deal "pretty doubtful" (according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick's sources), a new Tigers name is now said to be on the trading block: Miguel Cabrera, he of the one MVP vote that didn't go to Joe Mauer. (FYI, Albert Pujols WAS unanimous for National League MVP today, and rightly so).

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News has all the details, and Buster Olney of ESPN, in a ranking of teams that could bid on Cabrera, lists the Mariners (after the Red Sox, Angels, Mets, White Sox and Giants...but before the Braves).

Update 10:21 a.m.: Courtesy of Gregg Bell of Associated Press, here are the precise breakdowns of Griffey's incentives:

Once he reaches 350 plate appearances, he receives $100,000 if the Mariners draw 2.3 million fans to Safeco Field. He gets another $100,000 for 2.35 million fans. The bump goes to an additional $150,000 for 2.4 million in attendance and 400 plate appearances, $150,000 more for 2.45 million fans and $150,000 extra for 2.5 million.

Associated Press has obtained Ken Griffey Jr.'s conract figures for 2010, as they are known to do, and it's pretty close to what has been reported.

Griffey can earn nearly $4 million in 2010 after making $3.15 million last year. His maximum earnings in 2009, if he had hit all his incentives, was $5 million.

Griffey's contract still requires that he take his physical examination before it becomes guaranteed. But relax, this deal isn't going to unravel. The two sides decided it wasn't prudent to do the exam when he reached contract agreement on Feb. 19, because he was still healing from his recent knee surgery. Griffey is expected to take his physical in January, and neither side expects him to have any problem passing. The Mariners' medical people were encouraged by the report they got from Timothy Kremchek, the Cincinnati Reds doctor who performed the arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. If and when Griffey passes his physical, finalizing the contract would be a mere formality. No one I've talked to expects any issues that would provent the contract from becoming official.

(bham husky, turn your head).

I know anticipation is at a fever pitch (a very mild fever) to learn which act of epic auto absent-mindedness was committed by your loyal correspondent -- locking his (or her) keys in the car with the motor running, and the car in drive, or beginning to drive away with the gas nozzle still in the tank.

Unbelievably, 2,091 people (at last look) had responded to the poll, with 72 percent voting for the key incident as the most bone-headed, and 28 percent voting for the gas nozzle.

As Jack Zduriencik continues to put his imprint on the Mariners, the club announced today the hiring of three new pro scouts -- John Stearns and Todd Greene, both former major-league catchers, and Bill Masse.

The three will report to Carmen Fusco, the M's director of pro scouting.

"These new additions to the professional scouting department are excellent baseball minds who have a very unique understanding of the game," Zduriencik said in a press release. "They all have an incredible passion for the game and a continued desire to learn and improve. They bring a sense of confidence and a work ethic that will not be matched."

*Update, 12:21 p.m.: As Big Ebu pointed out, the Miguel Cabrera vote came from the Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America -- Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News. He and I had the two votes from Seattle. I like and respect Keizo -- he's been covering the Mariners and major-league baseball for nine years, and knows his stuff as well as anyone around. He's entitled to his opinion; I just disagree.

I'm only half joking. I thought for certain that Joe Mauer and prohibitive NL favorite Albert Pujols would both be unanimous. I have a hard time figuring out how someone could not vote for the guy who led the American League in batting (.365), slugging and on-base percentage, won a Gold Glove, and helped lead his team to the division title.

Here's the vote. Mauer got 27 out of 28 first-place votes (including mine). The other one went to Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers -- the same Miguel Cabrera who was drunk between two key games in October (three times above the legal limit, according to police) and also was taken to the police station that night after an altercation with his wife. Cabrera had a great season, no doubt about it, but that incident at such a key time was not an MVP move. But even if that had never happened, it was an absolute no-brainer for Mauer.

Aroldis Chapman is the 21-year-old Cuban refugee who throws 100 mph and has been called the left-handed Stephen Strasburg. He is a free agent and is coveted by many teams -- including the Mariners. I wrote a column about him a few weeks ago. The Mariners had some serious interest at one point, but it seemed as though all progress on Chapman had halted in the last three weeks.

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Chris Jakubauskas, whose story of moving from independent ball to the majors was one of the captivating tales of 2009, has been claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to a Pirates' press release.

Jakubauskas, 30, appeared in 35 games for the Mariners -- including eight starts -- and went 6-7 with a 5.32 earned-run-average. Pitcher Jeff Karstens was designated for assignment by the Pirates to clear roster space.

(Geoff Baker has some quotes from Jakubauskas on his latest blog post, in which he analyzes a potential Mariner-Tiger trade.)