Rangers drop star Guerrero

NEW YORK - Vladimir Guerrero became a free agent Wednesday when the AL champion Texas Rangers declined his $9 million mutual option, and Adrian Beltre hit the market when he turned down his $10 million player option with the Boston Red Sox.

Teams and players prepared for the start of free-agent negotiations Sunday under the new schedule that shortened the post-World Series "quiet period" from 15 days to five.

"I think there'll be more aggressive behavior," said agent Scott Boras, who represents Beltre and fellow free agent Jayson Werth. "I would say as many as eight to 10 teams are unhappy with what happened to their teams for a variety of reasons. And I believe there are a number of fan bases that expect a great deal more out of their franchises than has been given to date."

Under the new rules, the general managers' meetings could see more activity. GMs meet Nov. 16-17 in Orlando, Fla., with owners meeting there Nov. 17-18. The winter meetings, the usual offseason focal point, are Dec. 6-9 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

"I think it makes the GM meetings vastly more relevant mainly because of the fact that a GM can walk into a room and make a dramatic move, where before he could only talk about it," Boras said. "The free agent airport is very different because now the captain of the plane can take off with passengers where before you could