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Gilbert Arenas claims that he brought guns into the Wizards' locker room so he could play a joke on a teammate. The Wizards should claim they were only joking when they gave him that $111 million contract. Carlos Delgado went 2-for-4 with a strikeout last night in the Puerto Rican Winter League. He batted fourth again as the designated hitter. I find it amusing that Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa posted a message on Twitter last week. Times really have changed. We've been trying to drag Dave Trembley into the text era, but he refuses to budge. The Boston Herald reports that third baseman Adrian Beltre turned down three- and four-year offers to sign with the Red Sox, so I wouldn't waste much time lamenting how the Orioles let him get away. Beltre clearly wanted to play for Boston. I'm just surprised that agent Scott Boras allowed it. The deal sets up Beltre to make $14 million over two years, including a $5 million player option for 2011. Or he can hit the free-agent market again if he has a huge season. You could argue that Garrett Atkins made more sense for the Orioles because he agreed to a one-year deal, and he also can play first base if Josh Bell is promoted from Triple-A. But no matter how you feel about Atkins, Beltre wasn't a viable option for the Orioles. He's taking fewer guaranteed years to join the Red Sox. I don't see how the Orioles could have gotten him under terms that made sense to them, even if they were laying in the weeds. That catch phrase easily could be defined as "letting the market play out." Of course, the Orioles are keeping close watch on the Matt Holliday negotiations, just as they're doing with a lot of other players. But their interest in Holliday is predicated on his demands coming down. It would be totally out of character for them to suddenly trump the Cardinals' offer, which stands to be the largest contract in franchise history. Maybe that's laying in the weeds. This whole thing is giving me a rash.