FanHouse Red Sox

To no one's surprise, Jason Bay has decided to see what the 29 other teams in the big leagues have to offer before deciding whether or not he wants to return to the Red Sox. Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that Bay turned down a four-year contract offer worth approximately $60 million just before free agency officially kicks off a minute past midnight on Friday morning.

It would have been quite a surprise if Bay had decided to skip the free agency process, something that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein admitted to Heyman.

"It's not a surprise that a player that's gone this far wants to see what's out there."

Bay, who hit 36 home runs and posted a 921 OPS in 2009, figures to draw a lot of interest on the open market. The Red Sox offer was decent, but the paucity of other strong bats on the free agent landscape would suggest that he could get either more years or more money once several bidders are in the mix.

On the free-agent market, all the focus has been on John Lackey. On the trade market, the talk has been about Roy Halladay. The consolation prize for teams seeking a top-flight arm may come out of Atlanta.

The Braves have two of their top starters on the block, Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez, and there's little doubt that at least one of those two pitchers will be moved, according to multiple major league sources. With strong resumes for both, there should be teams lined up for their services.

One source said that the Braves intend to move one of the two pitchers, and who goes will depend on the offers they receive.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

It's been quite a decade for the Red Sox, who flipped an 86-year-old script in 2004 by winning a World Series and a second in 2007, but they enter this offseason behind a very familiar eight ball.

Yes, Boston made the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons in 2009, but after getting swept by the Angels in the American League Division Series and watching the Yankees win their 27th World Series just weeks later, it is once again the chaser.

The Red Sox have redefined success at Fenway Park over the last few years. Now the trick is to keep duplicating it, a task that's harder than ever with their more monied rivals to the south apparently rejuvenated.

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Editor's Note: FanHouse's Jeff Fletcher contributed to this report

CHICAGO -- The Reds' need to slash payroll, according to a major league source, could lead them to explore trading second baseman Brandon Phillips as well as right-handers Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang.

Cincinnati's 2009 payroll was about $71 million. General manager Walt Jocketty said during a break Tuesday at the GM Meetings that he "might" have to move some high-salaried players to meet the 2010 goal.

"We're going to probably have less to spend this year than we have in the past," Jocketty told FanHouse. "It just depends on how [ticket] sales go this offseason."

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CHICAGO -- Matt Holliday's performance in Oakland last year might have given some American League general managers a reason to be reluctant before ponying up the big bucks for him, but Scott Boras is ready with the answers.

Of course, Holliday's agent has to take that approach, because the two biggest suitors on the market -- the Yankees and Red Sox -- play in the American League.

Boras said the slow start had less to do with Oakland or the American League than it did with Holliday's own swing.

The Red Sox made a flurry of contract decisions on Monday as they hurtle headlong into the Hot Stove season. Boston picked up its 2010 option on Victor Martinez, and declined options on longtime catcher and captain Jason Varitek and knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield, renegotiating a two-year extension with Wakefield at a low average annual value.

There's little surprise about Martinez or Varitek.

The former, a catcher/first baseman who will make $7 million next year, was acquired at great cost in talent from the Indians at the trading deadline this year, and he excelled in the Boston pressure cooker, hitting .336 with 41 RBI in 56 games. The latter, a New England fixture and the heart and soul of two championship teams, has seen his production dip over the last few seasons.

The Red Sox declined a $5 million team option on Varitek, but he can still return in 2010 if he picks up his $3 million player option, and there are indications that he will.

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down offseason moves from a scouting perspective.

It hasn't taken long for the Hot Stove to get heated up as we roll past the World Series. Some key players have already been locked up and some high upside trades have already gone down. What do these moves mean for each club involved and how will the players dealt respond to their new homes? Just as significant, how important will the prospects dealt turn out to be?

From Mark Teahen headed to Chicago, to the Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy swap, to Bobby Abreu's new deal with the Angels, each move had a distinct impact. Perhaps the most interesting of these, however, was Jeremy Hermida being shipped to Boston. For the price of a pair of young lefties, the Red Sox took a gamble that may prove very worthy.

The Boston Red Sox have declined their $6 million option on shortstop Alex Gonzalez for next season, according to the Boston Globe, once again leaving the team without a reliable everyday player at the position heading into offseason.

It's been a revolving door at shortstop in Boston since the team dealt Nomar Garciaparra at the trading deadline in 2004, with general manager Theo Epstein unable to find a suitable long-term replacement.

Four different players -- Gonzalez, Nick Green, Julio Lugo and Jed Lowrie -- played at least 21 games at the position this season. Between Garciaparra's departure and this season, Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Gonzalez (in 2006), Lugo and Lowrie have manned the position, with the Red Sox doling out $76 million in contracts to Renteria and Lugo alone.

With the conclusion of the World Series, it appears Major League Baseball isn't wasting any time thrusting us directly into Hot Stove season. In the midst of Mark Teahen rumors, we have been served our first actual trade. The Boston Red Sox have acquired 25-year-old outfielder Jeremy Hermida from the Florida Marlins for pitchers Jose Alvarez and Hunter Jones.

Thus far in his career, Hermida has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that come for someone with his natural abilities. A former first-rounder once said to have five-tool potential, Hermida has hit .265 with a barely above average OPS through just over 3 1/2 seasons in the bigs. Of course, some circumstances should be considered.

The Red Sox have a storied history of long-term, very popular left fielders patrolling the grounds in front of the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

Ted Williams spent 16 years in left field for Boston, Carl Yastrzemski lasted 11 and Jim Rice played 12 years. If you add the eight years of Mike Greenwell's tenure and seven from Manny Ramirez, those five players have spent 54 of the 69 years since Williams' first year in 1940 playing left field for the Red Sox.

Now, that's job security.