This & That In Major League Baseball

Well, the Sunday baseball news, so to speak, took a little time for me to find, but I managed to search it out. Let's start with the Boston Red Sox, my team. They are sure to try and acquire the services of San Diego first baseman slugger Adrian Gonzalez. Why? A MLB expert recently said this...

“Then you’d have two teams, the Yankees and the Red Sox, that would be impossible to pitch to. Gonzalez would come close to 50 homers if he played half his games at Fenway. I don’t think that’s exaggerating.’’

Last year Adrian hit 40 home runs and drove in 90 runners while playing half his games in San Diego. He is a lefty who loves to go to the opposite field (think Green Monster) and would hit a ton of taters with his swing. He said this about hitting in our cozy and historic ballpark...

“I’ve never played there, but I’m told I would like it.’’

He still has two years left on his contract but the San Diego powers-that-be know which four or so Red Sox players it would take to get the power hitting lefty first baseman with the dependable glove who is just entering his prime at the age of 27. My goodness! Theo and company will be working day and night on this one. DO NOT be surprised if next year you see Gonzalez at first, Youk at third and either of the two DH's, Big Papi or Mikey Lowell, traded to other places, other spaces.

Next up...Boston infielder and jack of all trades Nick Green will have surgery Monday to repair a disc in his back that caused his leg to go what he called "dead." Think Timmy Wakefield. He should be fine for next year.

In non-Sox news, Manny Ramirez excersised his $20 million contract option with the LA Dodgers and will be playing for them and Joe Torre in 2010. Last year he hit .290 with 19 taters and 63RBIs in only 104 regular season games. Enough about him.

Finally, on this still dark Sunday morning, here is the up-to-date list of the current free agents. Eligible players may file through the 19th...

AMERICAN LEAGUE

BALTIMORE (4) -- Danys Baez, rhp; Mark Hendrickson, lhp; Chad Moeller; c; Melvin Mora, 3b.
BOSTON (3) -- Rocco Baldelli, of; Jason Bay, of; Billy Wagner, lhp.
CHICAGO (3) -- Ramon Castro, c; Jermaine Dye, of; Scott Podsednik of.
CLEVELAND (2) -- Jamey Carroll, 2b; Tomo Ohka, rhp.
DETROIT (5) -- Adam Everett, ss; Aubrey Huff, 1b; Placido Polanco, 2b; Fernando Rodney, rhp; Jarrod Washburn, lhp.
KANSAS CITY (3) -- Bruce Chen, lhp; Miguel Olivo, c; Jamey Wright, rhp.
LOS ANGELES (6) -- Kelvim Escobar, rhp; Chone Figgins, 3b; Vladimir Guerrero, dh; John Lackey, rhp; Darren Oliver, lhp; Robb Quinlan, of.
MINNESOTA (4) -- Joe Crede, 3b; Ron Mahay, lhp; Carl Pavano, rhp; Mike Redmond, c.
NEW YORK (0)
OAKLAND (4) -- Bobby Crosby, 1b; Justin Duchscherer, rhp; Nomar Garciaparra, dh; Adam Kennedy, 3b.
SEATTLE (5) -- Miguel Batista, rhp; Erik Bedard, lhp; Adrian Beltre, 3b; Endy Chavez, of; Mike Sweeney, dh.
TAMPA BAY (3) -- Chad Bradford, rhp; Troy Percival, rhp; Russ Springer, rhp.
TEXAS (7) -- Joaquin Benoit, rhp; Hank Blalock, 1b; Marlon Byrd, of; Eddie Guardado, lhp; Andruw Jones, of; Ivan Rodriguez, c; Omar Vizquel, ss.
TORONTO (3) -- John McDonald, ss; Kevin Millar, 1b; Marco Scutaro, ss.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ARIZONA (3) -- Doug Davis, lhp; Scott Schoeneweis, lhp; Chad Tracy, 1b.
ATLANTA (5) -- Garret Anderson, of; Mike Gonzalez, lhp; Adam LaRoche, 1b; Greg Norton, 1b; Rafael Soriano, rhp.
CHICAGO (2) -- Rich Harden, rhp; Reed Johnson, of.
CINCINNATI (0)
COLORADO (4) -- Alan Embree, lhp; Jason Giambi, 1b; Jason Marquis, rhp; Yorvit Torrealba, c.
FLORIDA (3) -- Brendan Donnelly, rhp; Nick Johnson, 1b; Ross Gload, 1b-of.
HOUSTON (6) -- Aaron Boone, 1b; Darin Erstad, of; Mike Hampton, lhp; LaTroy Hawkins, rhp; Jason Michaels, of; Miguel Tejada, ss.
LOS ANGELES (11) -- Brad Ausmus, c; Ronnie Belliard, 2b; Jon Garland, rhp; Orlando Hudson, 2b; Doug Mientkiewicz, 1b; Guillermo Mota, rhp; Eric Milton, lhp; Vicente Padilla, rhp; Jim Thome, 1b; Jeff Weaver, rhp; Randy Wolf, lhp.
MILWAUKEE (5) -- Mike Cameron, of; Frank Catalanotto, of; Jason Kendall, c; Felipe Lopez, 2b; Corey Patterson, of.
NEW YORK (5) -- Alex Cora, ss; Carlos Delgado, 1b; Ramon Martinez, ss; J.J. Putz, rhp; Brian Schneider, c.
PHILADELPHIA (3) -- Miguel Cairo, 2b; Pedro Martinez, rhp; Brett Myers, rhp.
ST. LOUIS (8) -- Rick Ankiel, of; Mark De Rosa, 3b; Troy Glaus, 3b; Khalil Greene, ss; Matt Holliday, of; Jason LaRue, c; Joel Pineiro, rhp; John Smoltz, rhp.
SAN DIEGO (2) -- Henry Blanco, c; Brian Giles, of.
SAN FRANCISCO (5) -- Bobby Howry, rhp; Bengie Molina, c; Brad Penny, rhp; Juan Uribe, 2b; Randy Winn, of.
WASHINGTON (5) -- Josh Bard, c; Livan Hernandez, rhp; Austin Kearns, of; Ron Villone, lhp; Dmitri Young, 1b.

That's it for this Sunday. Enjoy your day and as always, BE WELL. Leave a comment if you have time and just have a totally terrific day. I'll see you tomorrow if not sooner.