Beltre officially declines option for 2011  —  Not that this will come as any surprise, but a Major League source told the Globe that Adrian Beltre officially informed the Red Sox he has declined his $10 million option for 2011.  —  By virtue of reaching 640 plate appearances (he finished with 641) …

Offseason, free agency could deliver more surprises … Many of baseball's best young players are locked up early in their career nowadays, limiting free-agent lists to lesser lights in some recent years.  But at least this year's free-agent market still contains a trio of players …

ESPN's Rubin Plays Games With Backman's Career  —  For the last 14 years, I have traveled inside, outside and around the many worlds of journalism.  Writing for the Associated Press for eight of them, working in terrestrial radio for three of them, and writing for magazines, the Internet as well.

Reds exercise options on Arroyo, Gomes; decline Cabrera, Harang  —  The Reds announced today that they exercised contract options for 2011 on Bronson Arroyo and Jonny Gomes, and did not exercise the options for Orlando Cabrera and Aaron Harang.  —  Right-hander Arroyo will get $11 million next season.

Coco Crisp's option is being picked up by the A's  —  Behold the future of baseball reporting: Coco Crisp tweets his own contract status, telling the world that the A's are picking up his option.  He says he's happy about it.  Of course, in the very next tweet he says he's happy …

Aramis Ramirez will return to Cubs  —  Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez informed the team on Wednesday that he has declined the option in his contract to become a free agent and will return to the Cubs in 2011.  —  Ramirez, who will be playing in the final year of a five-year …

Giants won World Series despite draft failures  —  The San Francisco Giants have their own stupidity to thank for their first World Series title.  —  It's true.  If the Giants didn't run their organization in such boneheaded fashion in the early part of this century, they wouldn't have pig-piled …

Albert Pujols: Hall of Fame bound  —  TOWER GROVE - Now that he's gotten that pesky 10-year requirement for service time out of the way, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols can go about the rest of his career followed everywhere with the adjective “Hall of Fame-bound” or some such derivative thereof.

Carton: Moss In NJ Tuesday; Reports Say No Claim Made  —  NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) - According to WFAN's Craig Carton, Randy Moss was in New Jersey Tuesday meeting with members of the Jets.  —  “Randy Moss, I've learned, was in Boston Monday, and was in New Jersey yesterday.

Mets reduce ticket prices for 2011  —  Full Range of Adjustments Includes Average Price Decrease of 14% from 2010  —  Season Ticket Holders to Receive 10% Discount Off of Lower 2011 Prices, Increased Exclusive Benefits and Services, Unique Experiences  —  The New York Mets today announced …

Former Major League Manager Clyde King Dies  —  GOLDSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Clyde King, whose baseball career as a player, coach, manager and front-office man spanned six decades, has died in North Carolina.  He was 86.  —  Wayne Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Amy Cain said King died Tuesday in Goldsboro …

Manufactured Runs  —  Replacing Replacement  —  This is something of a culmination of work I've been doing over the past few months—taking a menagerie of stats available here at Baseball Prospectus and merging them together under the heading of “Wins Above Replacement Level.”

Titans, Rams interested in landing Moss … Where's Waldo has nothing on the new guessing game that's burning up the back channels of the NFL on this Wednesday afternoon: Whither Randy?  As in which teams might have claimed or intend to claim ex-Vikings receiver Randy Moss on waivers …

Peers choose Jocketty as MLB's top executive  —  CINCINNATI — The architect of the Reds' first playoff berth in 15 years and their first winning season in a decade, general manager Walt Jocketty was recognized Wednesday as the 2010 Sporting News MLB Executive of the Year.

Your introduction to the Hardball Times Annual  —  The Hardball Times Annual 2011 has been put to bed, which means that it's been sent to the printer and will start shipping soon.  I'm pretty excited about this year's book, and I'll be posting about it for the next couple of weeks.