We’re in the midst of another MLB off-season and once again, the players are being tossed around like baseball cards.

The Yankees picked up their usual collection of superstars, the Athletics lost another former MVP, and the Mets made a few more multimillion-dollar deals that won’t get them any closer to a championship.

Tired of perennially finishing second to the Yankees, the Red Sox took a short break from whining about the size of the Bombers’ payroll and decided to dramatically expand their own. In a Steinbrenner-esque spending spree, the BoSox shelled out millions for aging hurler Curt Schilling and closer Keith Foulke.

Though they couldn’t quite pull off the A-Rod deal that would have involved the two highest-paid players in the game, the Sox managed to stockpile enough talent to put themselves in the unfamiliar position of being favored to dethrone the Yanks as AL East champion.

“Hard as it is to accept (without smelling salts) the AL favorite is clearly the Red Sox,” Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell declared. “Curse or no curse, you can’t get around it. The Red Sox are now the overdogs. They’re so loaded and rich that they might as well wear pinstripes this season.”

But the Red Sox will not wear pinstripes this year, and the thought of Boston wearing the AL East crown is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous, however, is the way the Red Sox have treated some of their greatest players. After setting a precedent by shipping Babe Ruth to the Yankees for a lump of cash, Boston’s front office has continued to disrespect the club’s biggest stars.

Though they already have an all-star quality shortstop in Nomar Garciaparra, who also happens to be a team leader and the most beloved infielder this side of Derek Jeter, the Red Sox went after the most expensive shortstop in the game and made plans to deal Nomar to Chicago for Magglio Ordonez. Apparently the Red Sox do not believe that a player who holds a lifetime batting average of .323, has scored over 100 runs in every full season he has played, and has stayed with the same organization for his entire 8-year career, deserves their respect.

And what about the other player involved in the proposed A-Rod deal? Rather than show Manny a little appreciation after he hit .325 with 37 home runs and 104 RBI last season, Boston put him directly on the trading block. Talk about a slap in the face.

The most disheartening aspect of Boston’s off-season behavior is the fact that the Red Sox are not the only organization to treat players this way. In fact, this kind of player-swapping has become the norm in today’s major league atmosphere. Boston’s lack of respect is a reflection of the modern age of baseball, an age in which money is king and loyalty is dead.

It is an age in which marquee players are passed around like cups at a house party. It is an age in which the Baltimore Orioles can drop Sidney Ponson and pick him up as a free agent in less than one full season. An age in which the Florida Marlins dropped Derrek Lee, Braden Looper and Mark Redman immediately after collecting a World Series title, much like they unloaded Jeff Conine, Moises Alou, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, and Bobby Bonilla after their last World championship.

It is an age in which the Rangers let Juan Gonzalez go, the Astros dropped Billy Wagner, and the Brewers gave up Richie Sexon. It is an age in which Bartolo Colon, who holds a 3.86 career ERA, a 100-62 record, and 1,120 strikeouts, has played for four teams in the past three seasons. If a player of Colon’s caliber cannot command respect, what hope is there for the Enrique Wilson’s of the league?

But let’s not place all of the blame on the front office. In baseball’s modern age, there is a lack of loyalty and plenty of greed on both sides of the bargaining table.

In today’s MLB, Roger Clemens, who has pitched for three AL East rivals during his career, can retire from the Yankees and sign with the Astros in time to report to spring training. Andy Pettitte can walk out on the team that he helped lead to four World Series titles, and No. 2 draft pick J.D. Drew can demand a higher salary from the Phillies before reporting to his first practice.

It was not always like this. There was a time, before the blockbuster trades and the arbitration hearings, when no one talked about “cash considerations” or “players to be named later”. No one wondered if Mickey Mantle was still with the Yankees, or if Ted Williams was still in Boston. It was simply understood that a team would never give up its heroes, and that players would not jump ship as soon as someone offered a few more dollars.

There was a time when even the cellar-dwellers could expect loyalty, when Walter Johnson played his entire career for the Washington Senators and Robin Yount never gave up on the Brewers. Just three years ago, Tony Gwynn retired after 20 years of devotion to the San Diego Padres.

Jeter may finish his career with the Yankees, and Boston may never succeed in running Nomar out of town, but the era of loyalty retired with Gwynn, and unlike Roger Clemens, it may never return.