Russell Martin

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lake Buena Vista, FL. (2:35 PM): With the Jayson Werth deal being signed, sealed and delivered, and the Adrian Gonzalez trade done with the extension to be announced later, the entire baseball world is wondering where Cliff Lee will sign.

Lee's agent Darek Braunecker today met with the various teams interested in Lee. Braunecker met with New York Yankee and Texas Ranger officials. There was even talk the Boston Red Sox met briefly with Lee's agent, probably just to keep tabs on what the Yankees are up to.

The Yankees nearly made a trade for a catcher this week.

According to the New York Times' Michael S. Schmidt, the Yankees and Dodgers nearly had a deal worked out that would have sent Francisco Cervelli to Los Angeles for Russell Martin.

The Dodgers did just non-tender Martin, making him a free agent, so now the Yankees wouldn't have to give up anybody if they wanted to pursue Martin to be their next catcher.

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.

Unless something dramatic occurs at the McCourt divorce trial, it's very safe to say that Frank McCourt will maintain control of the Los Angeles Dodgers heading into 2011. Even if Jamie finds herself on the winning end of Judge Scott Gordon's decision, it's quite possible that the appeals process could take up to several years, which would leave Frank in control indefinitely.

Preface: This article is not just the best players at each position, no matter the circumstances (payroll, player preferences, owners, etc). The criteria used for the article includes all of the before mentioned attributes and they are factored in to each position.

The 2010 season is over for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Faithful fans are still watching, but the Boys in Blue are really only mathematically in it, not realistically.

While the Dodgers' season appears to be slowly fading into a dismal abyss of disappointments and shortcomings, a welcomed break to the negativity is...well...the hot significant others of current and former Dodgers. 

While the Dodgers may be in disarray, one thing they have going for them is gorgeous women by their side cheering them up. Check out these shots of Dodgers wives, girlfriends, and ex's past and present.

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