Adrian Beltre

Rumor has it that the Orioles have emerged as the front-runners for third-baseman Mark Reynolds.

Buster Olney reported the whispers this morning, confirming what Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman suspected last night.

So far, the only real pieces being discussed in a possible trade are Chris Tillman and David Hernandez, who has been linked to more teams this off-season than Adam Dunn.

The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy recently entertained the idea the Red Sox would make a serious run to sign free agent shortstop Derek Jeter.

Let’s get one thing clear, the Red Sox cannot find replacements for Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre, and improve offensively. Martinez batted .400 against lefties, Beltre was the best player on the team. Good luck finding that level of production on the trade market.

As far as replacing Victor Martinez, there is one thing everyone should remember: The Red Sox have Jarrod Saltalamacchia right now. It would not take much to be an improvement.

The 2010 Free Agent class for hitters is similar to many Free Agent classes of the past.  It contains many aging sluggers nearing the end of their careers, players coming off outstanding years; or terrible ones, and then the three guys that every team wants to have suit up for them.  Everyone knows the headliners of this years class, the speedy Carl Crawford, the shaggy power threat Jayson Werth, and the talented slugger Adam Dunn.

One of the few bright spots of the Red Sox' 2010 season was Adrian Beltre's triumphant return to stardom.

In 154 games with Boston, Beltre hit .321 with 28 homers, 102 RBI and a .919 OPS. He combined his newly rediscovered offensive prowess with his Gold Glove defense for a whopping 7.1 Wins Above Replacement. It's not an exaggeration to say that the Red Sox might have finished below .500 without him.

It's funny how an athlete seems to do his job to the best of his ability when there are question marks surrounding his future payment. Although, you can't really blame them because we are all guilty of doing it.

If you were given four years of guaranteed money, would you find yourself working harder than you did the previous year to get that money, or just enough to not get fired?

I bet during that fourth year, right before your evaluation, your work would suddenly bumped up on your priority list.

Every year, managers, coaches and writers from around Major League Baseball award honors and trophies to the players. And every year, they screw up.

Every year, members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America fulfill their duties by voting for the Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards. And every year, they find new ways to screw up.

Remember when Justin Morneau was named AL MVP in 2006? Or when Bartolo Colon took home the AL Cy Young in 2005? Just last year, a majority of voters chose Adam Wainwright over one or both of Chris Carpenter and Tim Lincecum for the NL Cy Young, therefore implicitly declaring that wins are somehow the most important pitching statistic.

What do the years 2001, 2003 and 2010 all have in common? They all involve deep playoff runs and subsequent disappointing playoff exits for the New York Yankees.

Following the 2001 and 2003 seasons, the Yankees acquired a dynamic hitter and veteran pitcher in each offseason, Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina after '01 and Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Brown following '03, and now it is very possible 2010 will also share that distinct similarity.

Call it a transition year. Call it an unlucky year. Call it whatever you want, but the 2010 Boston Red Sox simply failed to meet the expectations of management, fans, and baseball pundits across the country.

There are a handful of factors worthy of blame here, including general manager Theo Epstein's reluctance to part with prospects to shore up the bullpen or acquire a top-flight pitcher like Cliff Lee. But pointing fingers is no way to win a World Series.