We all knew it was going to happen, but yesterday Ryan Ludwick made it official. He declined his option for next year and became a free agent.

Had he elected to take the option, he would have had another year and $5 million. On the open market he can probably get a 2-year deal and somewhat more millions, having hit .275 with 26 home runs in 125 games.

General Manager Walt Jocketty says that the team is looking to bring him back, which is cool. If you were going to complain about anyone in the outfield, it wouldn’t have been him. And if they didn’t bring Ludwick back, they’d had to go find someone new, since there isn’t an obvious left fielder waiting in the wings to take over.

I didn’t realize this, but Jocketty is also looking to bring back Ryan Madson. Remember Madson? The guy who got freakishly injured in spring training and then missed the whole season with surgery? Apparently he declined his option, which seems surprising to me. Can his just-missed-a-whole-year self command more than $11 million on the open market? Or, since it was a mutual option, did he just decline it to prevent being declined himself?

Either way, Madson really seemed promising in those early days this year. It might not be so bad to find out what we were missing. If they do bring him back, though, I bet they’ll get insurance on his contract this time.