AL East

As you may, scratch that, ALREADY have heard, the talks between the New York Yankees and Derek Jeter have "gotten heated".  Insults have been said, and other things each side wishes they hadn't done has been released in the press. 

Now that catcher Victor Martinez is gone, where do Red Sox fans turn?

Who is going to be behind the plate next season. Will it be Varitek, Saltalamacchia....Kevin Cash?

These (okay, so hopefully not Kevin Cash) are all possible choices for the Red Sox in 2011. One thing has to be said, though: the market is incredibly short for catchers. If you want a grade A catcher, he's got to come up through the farm system, plain and simple.

I humbly present five possible catching scenarios that could happen for the '11 Sox.

The future location of free agent outfielder Carl Crawford has been a hot topic this off-season and interest continues to grow in the star player since his contract ended with the Rays this past season.

Although many teams might not be able to afford his large contract requests(some say he is looking for $100 million), he could still be an early Christmas present for any team that bids the right price for him.

As it pertains to J-E-T-E-R

I really hate this kind of stuff. Both the Yankees and Derek Jeter seem to be bordering on the unreasonable as they dicker over a new contract.

Typically, I am not one to preach the use of stopgap players to make a bad team slightly better. It's a waste of money and almost always doesn't work.

But for the 2011 Baltimore Orioles, stopgap players are the way to go.

Considering this offseason's free agent market is so thin, that's almost the only option. That, or unloading the farm system for a big-name player, something we all know isn't likely to happen.

If you’re going to write anything this month about Derek Jeter and his current negotiations with the New York Yankees, you need to begin by weighing in.  So, for what it’s worth:  No, Derek Jeter is not worth six years at $25 million a year.  It is also fair to say that he is worth more than three years at $15 million per season.

Baseball is a unique sport for a lot of different reasons.

One of them is payroll. Unlike the NBA, NFL and NHL, there isn't a salary cap in MLB.

That's the main reason the Yankees and Red Sox are able to compete every year while the Pirates are close to 20 years of consecutive losing seasons.

Traditional big spenders like the Angels and the Tigers are going to have some money to blow. But there are some traditionally cheap teams looking to dish out some dough as well. Don't sleep on the Orioles, Nationals and A's to make a splash in free agency.

The tension between the New York Yankees organization and Derek Jeter is palpable.

The Yankees have offered the 36 year old shortstop a three year deal worth 45 million dollars. This is a significant pay cut from his last contract which paid him 189 million dollars over 10 seasons. At the time Jeter signed the contract he was the second highest paid player in Major League Baseball trailing only Alex Rodriguez.

Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees have been going back and forth in negotiations that don't look like they are going to end anytime soon.

There doesn't appear to be a large market for a shortstop that will turn 37 years old next season. The Yankees are still by far the most probable team that Derek will play for next season.

However, since he is a free agent, anything is possible. If Derek Jeter is not in Yankee pinstripes next season, what uniform could he be wearing?

Maybe that of the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the 2009 MLB draft, the New York Yankees selected Slade Heathcott in the first round, 29th overall.

It was not surprising to some as the Yankee were known to like the toolsy outfielder.

And in the recent Baseball America (BA) Top 10 New York Yankee prospects, Heathcott ranked No. 9. BA also projects future lineups and Slade was projected to be the starting center fielder in 2014.