Opinion

The Detroit Tigers are about to sign free agent Victor Martinez to a four-year deal worth $50 million. Martinez is listed as a catcher, but will primarily earn his keep via the designated hitter position.

The New York Yankees have officially told Derek Jeter what they think of him at this point in his career. By declining to offer Jeter arbitration, the Yankees have basically said to Jeter, "Go fish."  The Yankees and Jeter are in the middle of the first free-agent period in Jeter's career.

The New York Mets will reportedly offer reliever Pedro Feliciano arbitration, which puts the Mets in a very tricky situation.

If Feliciano accepts the Mets' offer, the Mets would have to sign him to a one-year contract for an unknown amount of money, somewhere around $4 million, most likely.

The Detroit Tigers have signed free agent catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez to a four-year, $50 million deal.

Martinez spent last season as a Boston Red Sox and had a productive year swinging the bat. He hit .302 with 20 home runs and finished with 79 RBI in 127 games.

Detroit had high expectations heading into the season, but they didn't pan out, as the Tigers finished third in the AL Central with an 81-81 mark.

Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers (at least for now) is the prized free agent pitcher heading into the 2011 season.

And perhaps the biggest prize of all free agents.

Where will he wind up and, presumably, pitch for the next five or so years? It appears to be a two-horse race between the Rangers and the favored New York Yankees.

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.

The 2010 season was just one more in a string of disappointments for the New York Mets. They finished the season 79-83 and 10 games under .500 within their own division.

The Mets have already begun to revamp their ball club, beginning with the front office and the hiring of Sandy Alderson as general manager and culminating with Terry Collins being appointed manager.

Now the Mets can turn their attention to their roster and begin to address the multitude of questions surrounding it.

The New York Yankees spend huge amounts of money to be the best baseball team in MLB, translating the dollars into World Series Championships.

For the last 16 seasons, shortstop Derek Jeter has been the face of the franchise.

With the Jeter and the Yankees having trouble getting a contract worked out, will it really hurt the dynasty? 

While in his tenure with the Yankees, Jeter has helped lead the team to five World Series Titles.  

Jeter, the 11 time All-Star, seems to still be going strong, but do the Yankees really need Jeter to succeed?

Making a Hall of Fame case for the legendary player, manager and world series champion

By Howard G. Ruben

For most hardcore Dodgers fans, the ongoing melodrama between Jamie and Frank McCourt has more than frayed our collective nerves, worn our patience and bored us to tears. 

For the first time in his big league career, Derek Jeter is a free agent. For the time being, he has remained one.

The Yankees captain is looking negotiate a new deal with the only team he has ever known and played for.

This past week, the Yankees submitted their first offer for three years and $45 million, which would earn Jeter $15 million per season.

For a typical 36-year-old shortstop who has had some decline, that would be considered overpaying for the player. But Jeter is not the typical shortstop.