FENWAY-ROD?: No, the Mets fans haven't yet given up their "Shea-Rod" dreams, but now it's time for another ballpark-pun.
The Alex Rodriguez/Manny Ramirez trade, called all but dead as recently as Saturday, is now, according to Jayson Stark, "coming together," and it's safe to expect it to happen." The trade is "gaining momentum," according to Gordon Edes and Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe, and is "on the verge of being realized." SI.com's Tom Verducci says "insiders expect" the trade to "go down this week," while an unbylined SportsLine report calls it "closer to fruition." The critics are unanimous- it's the best trade of the year!
Not that it matters all that much, but one thing I haven't heard brought up by anyone: Manny Ramirez is headed to the Rangers, who will prove with the trade (as they have before) that they care a great deal more about money than they do about winning. Ramirez, for his part, has made it perfectly clear that the team he wants to play for is the Yankees. Now a Red Sox-Yankees trade is, of course, out of the question, but with Manny headed to the sure-to-be-in-last-place Rangers, is there any doubt that he'll be dealt to the Yankees, likely within the year?