The New Jersey Nets have lost 14 games in a row and starting to get a little too close for comfort to the league record for most losses to start a season. That record of 17 is shared by the 1988 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.

It would be easy to blame coach Lawrence Frank or the injuries the club has suffered, but former Net Kenyon Martin is apparently thinking there is one person who should accept what he's done, according to the New York Daily News: current owner Bruce Ratner.

Martin, who plays for the Denver Nuggets now, is saying Ratner started the team on a downward spiral right after the team made the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. "When you let people who have never played the game of basketball make decisions, that's what you get," said Martin. "Bruce Ratner came in and made decisions and it affected everything from that point on. The blame for that has to go somewhere. It can't always be on the players."

Perhaps Martin is still bumming that Ratner wouldn't give him the money he wanted for a long-term deal six years ago just after Ratner came aboard. "It's been six years now but it still pops up, just 'What if they would have made the right decision?' " Martin said. "It just seems like when I left it was just downhill from there, and we had something good."

Source: New York Daily News

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels are supposedly talking to the folks with the Toronto Blue Jays about what it would take to bring ace Roy Hallday to their clubs. But it appears that the Boston Red Sox are coming after Halladay hard if you believe a source to the New York Daily News.

The source said that the Sox are "putting on a full-court press" to get Halladay and would love to get the deal done before the winter meetings. While that timeline seems unlikely, the world is full of surprises. Clay Buchholz(notes) and No. 1 prospect Casey Kelly would likely need to be in the package for Halladay, who has one more year on his current contract.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have also asked for the medical records of pitchers Kelvim Escobar(notes) and Rafael Soriano(notes), according to the Boston Herald. The thought is that Boston would like to get Escobar on with a minor-league deal since he has pitched in the majors only once in the last two years.

Source: New York Daily NewsBoston Herald

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay(notes) is soon to be goner, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.

The paper says it is "90 percent" likely that Overbay will be just a name in the history books for the Blue Jays by the time the winter meetings are over in early December. The 32-year-old is scheduled to make $7 million next year, which is pretty good for a guy who only hit .265 with 16 homers and 65 RBIs. The Seattle Mariners supposedly had some interest in Overbay but it isn't clear where he'll end up.

Meanwhile, MLB.com is reporting that the Jays have an interest in free agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba(notes). The San Francisco Giants and Torrealba's former team, the Colorado Rockies, supposedly want him on their rosters as well so this may end up in a bidding war.

The Blue Jays have no pro catcher right now since Rod Barajas(notes) is a free agent.

Source: Globe and MailMLB.com

Young New York Mets outfielder Fernando Martinez(notes) may be one of the team's top prospects but the team is apparently ready to put him up on the trading block, according to the New York Daily News.

The 21-year-old Martinez played only 29 games in his first season in the majors due to surgery on his right that he is still recovering from, hitting one homer and scoring 11 runs. But he got a lot of good publicity before then.

Now he's about to try and prove that he's healthy and worth trading for as he starts winter ball for Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League. The Mets actually held him back from starting winter ball because it was supposedly having trade discussions about him.

Source: New York Daily News

The man at the top of the list in Atlanta is supposedly Billy Wagner(notes), who finished out last season with the Boston Red Sox after spending most of the year as a full-fledged member of the injured New York Mets contingent.

Talks between the Braves and Wagner's rep have reportedly already taken place. Wagner is a Type A free agent but so are Soriano and Gonzalez so the compensation Atlanta would get from any team those two sign with will offset whatever the Braves need to give up for signing Wagner.

The funny thing is that Soriano and Gonzalez are apparently on the list for the Boston Red Sox so this may end up being a trade of sorts.

If Wagner joins the Braves, it will be the third National League East team that he has played for, since also spent time as the closer for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Source: MLB.com