A-Rod Passed Out During First Childs Birth

In an episode of YES Networks YESterdays series, Cindy Rodriguez the wife of Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez reveals that during the birth of their first child in 2004 A-Rod passed out. “The one nurse had a cold cloth on his head. The other nurse had the blood pressure on his arm. And my mother was like rubbing his back. And he is passed out on a couch. And I am there, in the middle of labor,” Cynthia Rodriguez said. During the interview Cindy called Alex "wimpy" when it comes to being around doctors or medical situations. Shall we thank Mrs. Rodriguez now for what will surely be chanted next time Alex Rodriguez steps to the plate at Fenway? Click here for full story.

Where Does A-Rod Want To Play?

According to reports, Alex Rodriguez is telling friends he wants to play for Boston. That was clear in 2003 when he was willing to lower the value of his contract as part of a trade to the Red Sox, the MLBPA refused to allow him to do that and he was eventually traded to the Yankees. The question now is if he indeed does want to play in Boston, how much will he demand to play here. He reportedly asked the Yankees for #350 Million over the next 10 years. Would he be willing to go less to play in Boston? Say $300 Million over 10 years? The Epstein doesn't seem interested in talking about the matter publicly, but he surely has or will have an initial conversation with Scott Boras before the end of the first day of the GM Meetings that started today.

Alex Rodriguez Exits Stage Left

While the Boston Red Sox were batting in the top of the 8th inning of game 4 of the World Series did Mike Lowell's career in Boston come to a close? It very well may have. During the inning, Ken Rosenthal announced that he had just spoken with Scott Boras and that Alex Rodriguez would be opting out of his contract with the New York Yankees. Boston will be one of the few teams who will be making a run at Rodriguez in the coming weeks and the love affair probably wont be onesided. In the winter of 2003, Boston had a dead done with Texas to aquire Rodriguez, and he himself had agreed to lower the value of his contract. He was willing to give up money to come to Boston and now he has a chance to make the move while making even more money.

Red Sox AM Wrap

Wily Mo Pena Clears Waivers As with several players in August, Wily Mo Pena was placed on trade waivers and cleared them. This means Boston can trade Pena before the end of the month to any team. They can't however option him to the minors, he would have to clear regular waivers for that. Expect Boston to move Pena soon for a player to be named much like the Sox and Orioles did last year with Javy Lopez before finalizing the deal at seasons end when Adam Stern was sent to Baltimore. Moose Season The Seattle Mariners wont discipline the Moose for the incident in Seattle Sunday when he ran into Coco Crisp. No surprise there, the team did apologize to the Red Sox. As I stated before, Major League Baseball needs to step in and ban these kind of events from the field, it creates a dangerous environment for players who teams have millions of dollars invested in. Tough Series In Los Angeles I was expecting another two of three series from the Sox, now I'm hoping for a single win after Boston has lost the first two games of the series. Both games went along well in the early parts only to see Boston lose two games they could have won. Tavarez Days Numbered? Julian Tavarez is the lone weak link in the Sox bullpen. Don't be surprised if Boston designates him before the week is out and replace him on the roster with either Javy Lopez or Clay Buchholz. Drew Front And Center J.D. Drew will make his Sox debut in Center field tonight and his first start their since 2005. Coco Crisp will get the night off. Since Boston elected to put Drew in center that would probably mean Pena will get the start in right field. Had Brandon Moss been getting the start, he likely would have been in center. Barry B*nds Barry Bonds, who has long been wrapped up in a steroids scandal hit home run number 756 of his career last night against the Washington Nationals. Bud Selig was not in attendance for the record breaking home run. Interested in some nice * related merchandise? Check out this site. Let's hope Alex Rodriguez makes this a brief appearance in the record book for Bonds.

The Fun Leading Upto The Trade Deadline

In NASCAR they call it Silly Season and some of the names being tossed around as targets fans want Boston going after before the July 31 trade deadline makes you wonder if MLB should call it the same thing. Torri Hunter? Ichiro Suzuki? Some fans want both of them in the lineup this summer and beyond. Sure that would be great, but we need to think ahead. The Sox only have three outfield positions and JD Drew is locked very expensively into one of them for the foreseeable future. Coco Crisp surely doesn't have a secure job, but who exactly would you rather have roaming center long term, an aging Ichiro, a similarly aging Hunter or the hot prospect in Pawtucket Jacoby Ellsbury? If one single Sox fans says anything other then Ellsbury, smack yourself now because you deserve it. Then of course there's Manny Ramirez. Hunter could be a decent replacement for Boston who should have no problem unloading Ramirez anytime they so feel it is time. However Hunter doesn't strike the fear that Manny does at the plate, he doesn't walk as much as one would like and most importantly his OBP numbers don't meet the standards the Sox front office likes, his career high was .337 last season and he's more likely to finish a season closer to .300 then .350 on any give year. Manny's worst OBP season with Boston was .388 in 2005 and he's more likely to be over .400 then not. Other names we hear are Mark Teixeira the first baseman from Texas, his OBP number more reflect what Boston looks for and his power could help Boston unload Ramirez and go with a lighter hitting outfielder without harming the total offense of the team. If Boston landed Teixeira they would likely move Kevin Youkilis back to third base and that would lead to the end of Mike Lowell's sucessful stay in Boston. Lowell of course is highly sought after by numerous teams looking for a bat at third and a deadline deal is more likely to involve Lowell then any other player on the Sox major league roster. Playing General Manager What moves would I make if I were the General Manager? First as much as I like Mike Lowell I would move him if I could land Teixeira, thats an easy move. Second I would go after Alex Rodriguez in the off season, not to would be the most idiotic move any GM with money to spend could do. Assuming I land Rodriguez and Teixeira I would send Manny packing to offset some of the cost, assuming Rodriguez gets around $24 million per season in his next deal and that it would take $12 million to lock Teixeira up for a few years that would be about a $7 million increase in payroll after deducting Lowell and Ramirez. Curt Schilling becomes the next casualty as I would not re-sign him after this season, that's another $13 million in savings leaving me $6 million under the 2007 payroll. To replace Schilling I go out and find a closer to take over for Jonathan Papelbon in 2008, though if I cant find one its not a big deal as Hideki Okajima can be a very effective bridge until 2009 when Craig Hansen or Manny Delcarmen among others should totally be ready to take the job...that's even more savings. I'm now looking to enter 2008 with a rotation of Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield. The next victim to fall will be Coco Crisp, I will pay someone to take him if I have to though someone surely would take him for a mid level prospect. His stay in Boston thus far has been a huge disappointment. Jacoby Ellsbury is the future in center field and the future is now. At this point most of you are probably pissed demanding to know why I cut Youkilis outta the equation. Don't fear, our favorite speedster is still with us, remember then lighter hitting outfielder I mentioned? Ladies and Gentlemen, your new left fielder... Kevin Youkilis. This leaves us with a Youkilis, Ellsbury, Drew outfield from left to right. A speedster sandwiched with two usually reliable OBP bats. At this point attention is turned to Wily Mo Pena. What to do with him? I love his potential but there's just no room for him and his bat has too big a whole to be an effective pinch hitter, so Pena becomes my latest trade chip. You hope to land a top level prospect for someone like Pena, someone who can be an important part of the team in the future. I would look for pitching, perhaps a middle reliever or a middle infielder who would be ready when Julio Lugo either finishes his contract in Boston or is forced into retirement by a legion of pissed off Sox fans. This leaves Boston in a great position in 2008 assuming some of the kids in Pawtucket are ready to step in the bullpen. If not there's a few spots there that would need to be answered as well, but I wish to assume Delcarmen and Hansen are ready to step in. If Clay Buchholz is ready in 2008 great he can take Wakefields spot sending Wakefield to the pen. If he needs another year in the minors thats fine too.

Dirty!

Alex Rodriguez is up to his old habits. During last night's loss to Boston, Rodriguez going into second trying to break up a double play clearly going well off course to take out Dustin Pedroia with an elbow to the groin. Of course anyone who follows either team knows this is nothing new for the golden boy of Major League Baseball, whom everyone wants to root for if for no other reason then he will someday erase Barry Bonds' controversial rise past Hank Aaron from the record book. If nothing else with his dirty play, Rodriguez maybe limiting the high spenders who will get into a bidding war for him this offseason when he opts out of his Yankees contract. Any negotiations without Boston could easily leave millions on the table.