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The New York Yankees have reportedly offered former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin a one-year contract, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

Martin had an awful 2010 season, serving as one of the major disappointments for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Martin played in just 97 games, hitting .248 with five HR, 26 RBI and six SB.

Martin has declined over the past few seasons.

His batting average has steadily declined each year since 2007. He hit .293 in 2007, .280 in 2008 and .250 in 2009. The Yankees will hope Martin can turn the clock back to his 2007 career year, which was just his second in the majors. Martin hit .293 with 19 HR, 87 RBI, 21 SB and 32 doubles

A one-year offer to the catcher is a smart move for the Yankees. Without any long term attachment to Martin, the Yankees have nothing to lose. If Martin performs poorly, he’ll be gone after the season and they aren’t forced to play him.

The offer seems to be a proactive move to prevent the Boston Red Sox from gaining a quality catcher. The Red Sox changed the landscape of the MLB when they acquired two of the best players in the league. They traded for Adrian Gonzalez and signed Carl Crawford.

These two additions join a lineup already boasting David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury. With this stacked lineup ready to demolish opposing pitchers, the Red Sox have one of the strongest teams heading into the 2011 season.

It seems the World Series is set to run through Beantown once again as the Red Sox appear perched above the New York Yankees in the AL East at the moment.

The Yankees are reportedly set to offer Cliff Lee a monstrous contract that he may be forced to accept. However, the offer to Russell Martin now positions themselves for the possibility Lee doesn’t join the club.

New York Yankees catcher Jesus Montero is one of the top prospects in any farm system. They would love to see him battle Jorge Posada, and possibly now Russell Martin, for the starting catcher job.

If the Yankees don’t land Cliff Lee, they may be forced to trade their top prospect to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Zack Greinke. The Yankees would feel compelled to upgrade their pitching staff to contend with the Boston lineup.

The only thing we know for sure is that the Yankees appear ready to do whatever they can to match Boston.

Rightfully so.

They’re in a position they never want to be in now: Looking up at the Boston Red Sox.

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Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that the New York Yankees will now take an aggressive approach in signing free agent catcher Russell Martin. 

The Red Sox were originally favored to land Martin, but after the Carl Crawford deal the Yankees have stepped up their efforts to try and sign him.

Martin would see plenty of playing time in New York, as Jorge Posada would likely play more DH and young talent Jesus Montero would remain in the minors.

The Yankees have already watched the Boston Red Sox trade for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and sign the aforementioned Crawford; they are not going to sit back and let their rivals improve even more.

The Red Sox have been in need of a catcher since losing Victor Martinez to free agency, so this would be a smart move for the Yankees to improve their roster and keep Martin away from Boston.

Martin spent five years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he batted .272 with 54 home runs and 300 RBI. Last season he batted .248 with five home runs and 26 RBI in 97 games.

The Toronto Blue Jays are also in the mix for Martin, along with another unidentified team.

A decision on Martin is expected within the next few days.

Source: Buster Olney on Twitter

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MLB Rumors: Russell Martin is done in Los Angeles, but he appears to have plenty of options on the open market.

Marc Carig of the Star Ledger tweeted that Martin has received offers from four teams, three of which are in baseball’s power division, the AL East.

The New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox have reportedly offered Martin a one-year contract while an unidentified fourth team has offered a multi-year deal.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the favorites right now are…the Red Sox.

Yep, with Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez already in Boston, the team is the frontrunner for Martin’s services.

The fourt team in the mix is reportedly the Colorado Rockies, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse.

Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com also notes that Martin would serve as a catcher for the Red Sox rather than as a utility player.

It does appear, however, that Martin would prefer to go to an East Coast team.

MLB Rumors: Edgar Renteria was a member of the San Francisco Giants when they won the World Series last season.

But he’s now stuck in no-man’s land, seemingly unsure of what his future entails.

According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have offered Renteria a one-year deal to but that’s to serve as a utility infielder.

Not to mention the deal is for $1 million, which is a huge decrease from his previous two-year $18.5 million deal with the team.

Renteria has gone on record in saying that he wants to finish his career with the Florida Marlins or St. Louis Cardinals, but the Marlins don’t seem to be a fit for him right now and there’s no word on him ending up in St. Louis.

There is speculation right now that Renteria will wind up back in San Francisco because of his friendship with Miguel Tejada, who recently signed with the team.

However, the Giants would have to restructure their infield if Renteria does re-sign.

Take a look at the Giants’ offseason outlook. 

MLB Rumors: Cliff Lee holds the key to the MLB free agency puzzle.

Whenever and wherever he signs, Lee is expected to have a ripple effect throughout all of baseball.

And perhaps no one’s future will rely on Lee’s signing more than Kansas City Royals pitcher ZackGreinke.

According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, the market for Greinke will heat up once Lee is off the market.

The reported asking price for Greinke?

Dutton says the Royals wants”two high-impact prospects, preferably a starting pitcher and either a middle infielder or center fielder, and two players capable of supporting roles.”

Damn, that sounds like a lot.

Greinke is coming off a so-so season, and it’s unclear how many teams would be willing to part with that much talent to acquire a pitcher who’s not a surefire ace.

FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal notes that the Marlins have been in touch with the Royals aboutGreinke’s services but nothing is on the horizon.

So where would Greinke fit? Check out 10 possible destinations for the star pitcher.

MLB Rumors: The Boston Red Sox have stolen all the headlines early on in the MLB offseason.

They pried Adrian Gonzalez away from the San Diego Padres and signed Carl Crawford to one of the richest contracts in baseball history.

But now all the attention is on Cliff Lee.

The most coveted prize of this year’s free agent market has been linked to only a few teams, most notably the Texas Rangers—who he helped get to the World Series last season—and the New York Yankees.

When it’s all said and done, Lee will probably return to Texas or be wearing pinstripes next season.

But what will it be?

Well, I’m here to keep you updated on the latest news concerning the left-handed ace who will soon crush a team’s dreams or make them come true.

I’ll also talk about some of the latest news coming out of baseball’s winter meetings.

There’s no need to refresh this page. It’ll update every few minutes.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the latest MLB rumors.

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The Blue Jays are among four teams that are seriously interested in catcher Russell Martin, and will more than likely offer him a contract in the coming days.

However, the competition is expected to be hot from three teams, most notably the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and a “mystery team” according to Star Ledger reporter Marc Carig. That team I suspect is the New York Mets, but it’s only a guess on my part since they will more than likely be losing catcher Rod Barajas via free agency.

That mystery team is expected to offer a contract to Martin soon, but supposedly the Red Sox are the front-runners according to reports.

The Red Sox, having lost C/1B Victor Martinez to the Detroit Tigers via free agency, the Red Sox are in some need for a catcher. The Sox had great interest in signing former Jays catcher John Buck earlier this offseason, but he opted for a three-year deal worth $18 million with the Florida Marlins, thus ending the speculation.

Boston, having already signed catcher Jason Varitek to a new contract for the upcoming season, will more than likely see a bit more playing time this season, as opposed to last season when “V-Mart” took over the catching duties.

Will having Varitek already there, along with the Sox’s ability to just spend as they please, deter Martin from signing there? That’s a question that’s up for debate. With the Yankees’ Jorge Posada and superstar in training Jesus Montero on the Yankees already, I truly believe Martin should think twice about signing there.

Lastly, with the “mystery team” set to make an offer, I truly believe that this team may pose the greatest threat to Toronto’s pursuit to land Martin. They’re unknown for the time being, and to tell you the truth, the unknown is far scarier than the known as I always say.

Martin’s numbers the last three years have been on a steady decline since the breakout 2007 campaign when the Canadian slugged 19 home runs, added 87 RBI and an amazing 21 stolen bases as a catcher while averaging .293.

Since then he’s had 13, seven and five home run seasons and the power threat he once was, has faded into the abyss, only at the age of 27, when you’re expected to be starting the prime of your career.

Last season was an injury-plagued year for Martin as he finally gave in to his hip injury and opted for hip surgery in August and ended his season.

You ask, “Why Do the Jays even want Martin with JP Arencibia nearly ready to take over as the organizational catcher for the next few years?” The answer to that is simple—Martin has versatility. Having the ability to play third base, and even first base, Martin’s versatility lends itself perfectly to fit in with the Jays lineup.

The Jays, who have already added one Canadian, when the club dealt staff No. 1 starter Shaun Marcum to Milwaukee for prospect Brett Lawrie, look like they have their sights set on yet another Canadian for the upcoming season. If he will accept the offer remains to be seen.

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The Boston Red Sox are reportedly involved in talks with free agent catcher Russell Martin, a former All-Star and Los Angeles Dodger.

The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have also reportedly been in on Martin.

The specific parameters of the offer are not yet known, although it’s likely a multi-year (most likely two) offer would be required to reign in the former top prospect.

Martin provides a bit of an enigma for the Red Sox or any other team who chooses to pursue him. Defensively, he’s not a great option, and his offensive skills have eroded over each of the last four seasons. Injuries limited him to just 89 starts and 97 total appearances last year.

On the flip side, Martin is still just 27, and a clean bill of health could, along with a change of scenery, possibly mean an upward trend in production.

If the Red Sox were to acquire Martin, it would likely mean that catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia would open the season in the minor leagues. He still has minor league options left, while Martin does not.

This would give the Red Sox an extended evaluational period to judge what Saltalamacchia would need to improve on. Salty appeared in just 19 combined games at all levels within the Red Sox organization, after they acquired him from the Texas Rangers at the trading deadline.

Worst case scenario? Martin plays horrifically, gets released, and the Red Sox are left with the same catching situation they have now in a Varitek/Saltalamacchia platoon.

Only this time around, Saltalamacchia has gotten a no-pressure start in the minor leagues and would likely face little criticism from the media, as anything would be seen as an upgrade over Martin. Not exactly a selling point, but food for thought.

Martin likely won’t be very expensive, and judging by the Carl Crawford contract and eventual Gonzalez extension, they aren’t hurting for dough.

Martin has at least shown he can do it in the majors on a consistent, albeit disappointing, level.

The newly added offensive prowess doesn’t hurt either, as it basically allows the Red Sox to experiment with whoever they like and find who has the best chemistry with the staff. 

This writer doesn’t see much harm in it, especially considering the fluidity of the Red Sox’s current catching situation. 

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It appears that the Red Sox are not finished capping off one of their most notable winter meeting sessions to date. Evidently Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford were not enough. Now the Boston faithful are learning that Theo Epstein has his sights set on two-time all-star catcher Russell Martin.

Martin was non-tendered last week by the Los Angeles Dodgers. It seems that LA didn’t want to pay Martin a guaranteed sum of $5 million, what with the torn labrum in his hip and the messy ownership divorce and all.

So that opens the door for John Henry and the boys to further solidify the Fenway squad with an all-star catcher who has had a couple of rough seasons and therefore might be gotten on the cheap.

I say might because much like every other acquisition in the game of baseball there are always more sharks than bait fish, and it seems that a few great whites are circling Mr. Martin. It appears that they are all AL East sharks at that.

Seems that the Yankees and Blue Jays are making a run at Martin as well. But who would want to go to Toronto? Let’s examine where Russell would fit best.

In looking at the Yankees they already have two solid catchers. Jorge Posada and Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli, born in 1986, has a lot of good years left in him, and he seems to be playing rather well when spelling Jorge who is pushing 40.

I can’t believe that Russell Martin would be brought in to replace Posada, but nor can I see Martin being brought in as a back-up when they already have a more than capable answer who already knows the rotation in Cervelli. Could it be to DH? I am stumped.

As for the Red Sox, I thought that Theo Epstein was very happy with starter Jarrod Saltalamacchia and back-up Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek. Could it be that Salty is not quite what they were looking for? or is this their way of telling Tek that he has just this next year as a player with the Sox organization because after that it will be Salty and Martin behind the dish?

The Blue Jays have a great up-and-coming catcher in J.P. Arencibia who with Triple-A Las Vegas hit .301 had 33 home runs and 85 RBI, winning the Pacific Coast League MVP.

Jose Molina is their veteran catcher and current starter. Martin is still young and has proved himself to be a great player at a tough position, so maybe the Jays are signaling to Jose that his time is fast approaching.

I have no idea folks. I am baffled here as well. In either organization I cannot see Martin solidifying himself as a starter over the current catchers, with the possible exception of the Blue Jays. Maybe Toronto wouldn’t be such a bad fit; after all, he is Canadian.

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The MLB winter meetings will take place this week in Florida, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have a lot of work to do. Despite a flurry of moves that brought Juan Uribe, Jon Garland and Rod Barajas to LA, the Dodgers have holes to fill in left field and in the bullpen. They also need to address the somewhat unsteady production they got from first baseman James Loney and center fielder Matt Kemp in 2010.

General manager Ned Colletti has plenty to do, as the Dodgers are still not ready to usurp the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants yet. The team’s ability to challenge San Francisco and Colorado for NL West supremacy may hinge on how well Colletti does this week. Read on for five moves the Dodgers need to make, or at least explore, in order to become favorites in the West in 2011.

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