"The Red Sox' success rate in free agency has been poor of late, and even though the best of Carl Crawford is presumably still to come, when the doors of the marketplace opened last week, the Sox did not exactly rush in with a fistful of blank checks.

That should not stop them from at least exploring what it would take to woo shortstop Jose Reyes.

In reality, such an exploration is unlikely, according to a team source. And on the face of it, the move makes little sense, considering the Red Sox just exercised Marco Scutaro's option for 2012 and have Jose Iglesias, a defensive whiz, waiting in the wings in Triple-A Pawtucket."