Alex Rodriguez

I have been enormously confused by reports emenating from the local media about trading Alex Rodriguez. At the time that the Boston Red Sox put Manny Ramirez up for irrevocable waivers, stories started to come out that it was all about freeing up some money so that they could do a trade and acquire Alex. I understand that the trade in question would have included Nomar Garciaparra and either prospects or other players. Within this particular scenario the downgrade at SS would have been negligable and the salary commitment for the Rangers would have eased significantly. It would have been foolish for the Rangers to not have listened to the Red Sox if they had been contacted with such a proposal.

The problem is that the media then turned that single possibility into a sweeping decision on the Rangers behalf that they were actively shopping Alex. This is patently not true. Alex has veto rights on any trade at this point. He does not want to move to the National League and in the American League there are very few teams with the money or gumption to compile a trade that would be worthwhile.

FIC Spin: Do not expect to see Alex Rodriguez leave the Texas Rangers during the Winter. If by any slight chance it did happen it would have to be with a team that would deplete their prospects to such a degree that they would only hurt themselves in the near future.

Alex Rodriguez is the cornerstone of a very exciting and dynamic, young Infield. His contributions to the Rangers, as significant as they've been here to fore, will be increasing as he reaches his prime. The Pitching Staff is slowly going to improve and before very long Buck Showalter will have the Rangers back in the playoffs and we are all hoping here that we might be in the World Series very soon.