I keep thinking to myself that Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has something up his sleeve. I keep thinking to myself there has to be a reason why he just Victor Martinez go without much of a fight.

As a fan of the Atlanta Braves, we have had much to complain about for the past few years.  However, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I believe we should also consider a few things that we can give thanks for as fans of this great franchise.

The fact is that 2010 was just a starting point for what should be a nice few years of success in Atlanta.  I do predict the Braves should be very competitive in 2011 and battle the Phillies again for the NL East title.  I honestly think this year the Braves should win the division as long as there are no major injuries.

With Trevor Hoffman ticketed out of Milwaukee via free agency, it would appear that John Axford is primed to assume the full-time closing duties. 

Obviously, if that is the case, he is going to be viable in all fantasy formats.  The question, however, is if he is a closer we should target on draft day.

When Hoffman struggled, Axford stepped in and did a solid job as the closer, posting the following line: 8 W, 24 SV, 58.0 IP, 2.48 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 76 K (11.8 K/9), 27 BB (4.2 BB/9), .319 BABIP.

No one suspected that New York Yankee captain Derek Jeter’s contract negotiations would start to resemble a page out of the Alex Rodriguez biography.

The new Yankee regime sans “the Boss” has made it very clear that this is a business decision and not a personal one. The rumored offer made was somewhere in $45-$50 million range for a period of three years.

Small-market stars are few and far between in today's modern MLB. Sure there are plenty of players who come up with the league's have-nots: Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Milwaukee.

But they don't seem to stay there for very long. Do we really expect Prince Fielder to stay in Milwaukee forever? Or Zack Grienke in Kansas City? We just saw Dan Uggla shipped to Atlanta for very little in return, partly because the Marlins didn't want to pay him a huge, long-term deal.

General Manager Andy MacPhail has made it public that he will be aggressive in trying to sign players in an attempt to improve an Orioles team that actually impressed people over the final two months of the season.

That being said, very little is being said about the players that were on the roster last season that are currently free agents and whether or not to sign them.

Here is the list of the seven major free agents the Orioles will be at risk to lose and whether or not they should be in Baltimore next season.

Even though Derek Jeter didn’t have his best year from a hitting perspective, he still brought the same thing that he brings every year: team, heart and intuition.  His qualities assert him as the top shortstop in the game, even with the average not speaking to volume in the regular season.

It is always nice to get recognized for something you put your heart into, so I was thrilled when Ballhyped.com wanted to feature Lady Loves Pinstripes as a favorite female sports site during Women’s Week. It is an honor for women to be getting acknowledged in the sports world.

Derek Jeter isn't budging on his contract demands, and the New York Yankees don't appear to be willing to cave anytime soon.

It's no surprise that the "Captain's" contract talks have gone public, but few expected negotiations to go public this early in the process.

Despite coming off the worst season of his career, Jeter still has more value than any other shortstop that the Yankees would be able to land in the offseason.

But does Hank Steinbrenner really want to break the bank to retain a player on the downside of his career?

Apparently not.

Though the "decision" did not have as much hype as that of LeBron James' over the summer, it's official: Terry Collins is the 20th manager in New York Mets team history.

As a fan, I find myself cautiously optimistic about this hiring. To be honest, I had no true preference among the four candidates for manager. Each one brought interesting qualifications to the table, but also had some drawbacks.