I think if I were the Boston Red Sox I would sign A-Rod for some amount of money that would make even other rich teams throw up in their mouths. I'd try to re-sign Mike Lowell for two years, then move Rodriguez back to third in 2010. But I wouldn't worry too much about that part of the equation.
How much would it be worth to the Sox to beat the Yankees with Rodriguez hitting home runs? Just for the chance at that, I'd dig pretty deep. And of course, the Red Sox can dig pretty deep. And every fan who was chanting, "Don't sign A-Rod!" this week at the World Series would be in hog heaven every time Rodriguez so much as fielded a grounder against the Bombers.
I don't care who you root for or against, A-Rod to Boston would be a whole lot more fun than A-Rod to anywhere else.
If I had to bet on who's going to sign him, I'd say the Angels, with the Red Sox second and the Tigers third.
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Schilling shares about free agency [PERMALINK]
Speaking of free agency and the hot stove, keep an eye on Curt Schilling's blog, 38Pitches.
Schilling is a free agent for the first time in his career at the age of 40, and if his first posting on the subject, Free Agency? Weird," is any indication, he plans to use the blog to chronicle the experience.
That should be pretty good. He's already used the blog to list the teams he'd consider if he's not able to come to an agreement with his top choice, the Red Sox: "Cleveland, Detroit, Anaheim, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A., S.D., Arizona, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Milwaukee."
He writes that these are "pretty much teams in cities we [he and his family] agree would be ok for our last year, and teams I think have a legitimate shot at being in the post season and/or World Series." He adds, "There are a million little things that go into this from stadiums to school districts to travel to spring training to etc."
Not knowing anything about that calculus, it looks a little strange to me that he includes the Cubs and not the White Sox. They had a down year in '07, but is it fair to write them off for '08 already?
About the writer
King Kaufman is a senior writer for Salon. Visit his column archive. You can e-mail him at king at salon dot com or visit his Facebook page.
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