Red Sox and Dodgers Near Blockbuster Trade

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine talks with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for what may be one of their last times together. (Jim Rogash)

Sources have revealed major trade discussion between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Red Sox are almost certainly out of contention for a playoff spot. They have already begun to make moves to help them rebuild for the future. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are pushing hard to win the NL West over their rival San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers are under new ownership and not afraid to spend money to improve.

According to reports, the Red Sox would trade star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, starting pitcher Josh Beckett, left fielder Carl Crawford, and infielder Nick Punto to the Dodgers. In return, the Dodgers will send first baseman James Loney and three prospects, pitcher Allen Webster, infielder Ivan de Jesus, and outfielder Jerry Sands. There are still some hoops the teams have to get through to finalize the trade. One example of this would be that Beckett has the right to veto a trade.

Another significant factor of this trade is the money being exchanged. If the trade goes through, the Dodgers will have to pay the vast majority of the $261 million remaining on the contracts of Gonzalez (six years), Beckett (two years), and Crawford (five years). Dodgers ownership has seemed to be willing to spend that kind of money, especially when you consider who they have acquired this season.

The Red Sox willingness to depart with Gonzalez is really difficult to believe. After all, they dealt two of their top prospects, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and pitcher Casey Kelly to bring in Gonzalez in the first place. Then, the Red Sox convinced him to sign a seven-year, $154 million extension in April 2011. Gonzalez leads the Red Sox in hits (145), batting average (.300), RBIs (86), and on-base percentage (.343). So the Red Sox aren't trading him because of a lack of production, but rather a change in team direction.

The trade appears to be a beneficial one for both sides. The Red Sox are able to wipe their slates clean and start fresh. Their willingness to include Adrian Gonzalez in the trade did surprise me. Most teams that are traditionally contenders don't look to trade away their best hitter. That is exactly what the Sox would be doing here. Poor clubhouse culture and connectivity appeared to be two of the biggest problems with the current Red Sox team. My concern becomes whether or not that will continue with whomever joins next season's ball club.

The Dodgers did quite well in this trade as well. Gonzalez is one of the best hitters in baseball. He should thrive with the return to hitting in the NL West. If Beckett and Crawford are even able to regain some of their former form, they could greatly affect this team as they push for the playoffs. The question for the Dodgers now becomes how their players and coaches will come together to play excellent baseball. For example, they now have seven new players in their daily lineups.The development of a winning chemistry is crucial to the success of the team. It will be interesting to see if this trade does indeed happen and which team will benefit the most down the road.

Barcelona Beats Real Madrid in First Leg of Supercopa

Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez celebrates with his teammates what proved to be the winning goal. (Andres Kudacki)

European football (soccer) is just getting underway into a new season. One of the most anticipated matchups throughout every season is El Clasico. This is any matchup between Spain's biggest club rivals, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. The first match between both these sides occurred yesterday. They were facing off in the first leg of two in the Supercopa.

The home side, FC Barcelona, came out strong at Camp Nou early. They controlled possession, tempo, and had multiple opportunities to score in the first half. Two of the best scoring chances came at the feet of Lionel Messi. Both times, he accomplished the difficult part of cutting through the Real Madrid defense to free himself for a shot in the box. Both shots though went begging just outside the respective posts. The sides went into the intermission still level at 0-0.

When the better team fails to put one in the net, it often seems to be that the team that is playing worse strikes first. That happened right away in the second half. In the 55th minute, Real Madrid earned a corner kick. Mesut Ozil sent the cross into the box, where Cristiano Ronaldo headed home the ball. Just like that, FC Barcelona, who had outplayed Real Madrid, trailed in the second half. That didn't stay that way for long. Under a minute later, Barcelona's Javier Mascherano played a beautiful ball over the top to Pedro, who buried it past Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas. All was level 1-1.

Both defenses began to get stretched as the match wore on. Real Madrid's defenders had been lucky not to get called for penalty kicks earlier in the game. Their luck ran out in the 70th minute when Madrid's Sergio Ramos took down Barca's Andres Iniesta in the box. Messi smoked home the penalty to put the home side up 2-1. In the 78th minute, FC Barcelona sealed the deal with little bit of their fabulous magic. Iniesta dribbled through three Real Madrid challenges to play a through ball to Xavi Hernandez, who played it by Casillas for the goal.

Now trailing 3-1, Real Madrid pushed the accelerator to try to get at least a goal back in the waning moments of the first leg. On the counterattack, Barcelona's Messi first had a chance to all but seal up the championship. His point-blank attempt was denied by Casillas. The save turned out to be huge as Real Madrid proved they weren't done yet. In the 85th minute, an error by Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes led to an easy goal by Madrid's Angel Di Maria. Barcelona's lead was suddenly cut to 3-2. That will be the aggregate heading into the decisive second stage.

FC Barcelona outplayed Real Madrid in nearly every aspect of the match. The problem is that they didn't take advantage of more of the scoring opportunities they had could come back to haunt them in the second leg. If I were a Real Madrid supporter, player, or coach, I would be pleased with my side's result. For how poorly they played, they are heading home down just one goal. That is certainly a manageable deficit to overcome. It will be interesting to see how things turn out in the second leg on next Wednesday. In my opionion, the title is Barca's to lose at this point in time.

Beltre's Three Home Runs Power Rangers Past Orioles

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre connects for his first of three home runs against the Orioles Thursday evening. (Tim Heitman)

In Wednesday evening's game, the Texas Rangers crushed the Baltimore Orioles 12-3. One of the main reasons they won so big was the performance by third baseman Adrian Beltre. In each of Beltre's first three at-bats Wednesday evening, he smoked a home run to a different parts of the park. The accomplishment is particularly notable for Adrian Beltre because he has done it before. I will simply list a few of the many notable features of his distinguished accomplishment.

• Beltre's three home runs, which all occurred during the first four innings of the game, totaled an impressive 1,187 feet (average of 396 feet per home run) in total distance.
• Beltre hit two home runs in the fourth inning. He became just the second player in Rangers history to hit two home runs in the same inning.
• This is the second time Beltre has hit three home runs in a game. The last time was Game 4 of the 2011 ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays.
• This means that Beltre joins the company of Albert Pujols, George Brett, Reggie Jackson, and Babe Ruth as the only players to have a three-homer game in both the regular season and postseason.
• In the second inning, Beltre hit his 20th home run of the season. With that milestone accomplished, he became just the ninth third baseman to hit 20 or more home runs in ten or more seasons.

You get the idea. What Adrian Beltre accomplished here is quite rare. The raw power displayed is impressive in any sense of the word. The Rangers apparently like to have their big individual hitting accomplishments against the Orioles. On May 9, outfielder Josh Hamilton hit four home runs in one game at Baltimore. Of course on Wednesday night, Beltre went off on Orioles pitching again. The Rangers are considered to have one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball. Nights like this tend to remind us exactly why that is.

Anderson and Triple Play Help Propel Athletics Past Twins

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Brett Anderson made his season debut Tuesday evening against the Twins. (Thearon W. Henderson)

As the Oakland Athletics strive to maintain their push for a playoff berth, each game seems to become more and more important. Starting pitching has been somewhat up in their air as of late for the young ball club. The Athletics received great news a few weeks ago when they found out starting pitcher Brett Anderson would be able to make his season debut soon. Anderson had missed nearly 15 months while recovering from elbow surgery. He got his opportunity to start Tuesday evening against the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins got off to an early lead. Center fielder Ben Revere led the game off with an infield single. He then stole second base and reached third on a wild pitch. Left fielder Josh Willingham singled home Revere to put the Twins up 1-0. Anderson caught Willingham sleeping and picked him off to end the inning. From there, he seemed to settle into the groove. Anderson retired his next nine batters before surrendering singles to first baseman Justin Morneau and catcher Ryan Doumit.

With two men on and no outs in the fifth, Anderson looked to induce a ground ball out of Twins utility man Trever Plouffe. Sure enough, Plouffe hit a hard ground ball down the line to Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson. Donaldson tagged the bag and threw it to second baseman Adam Rosales. Rosales held his ground to tag second base and get the throw off in time to get it to first baseman Chris Carter to complete the 5-4-3 triple play. It's the Athletics 21st triple play in franchise history, but their first since May 29, 2000 against the New York Yankees.

The Athletics offense came alive to give Anderson the 4-1 lead. Donaldson and Carter had RBI doubles and catcher Derek Norris and right fielder Josh Reddick added RBI singles. Anderson finished seven solid innings of work before being pulled from the game. He gave up four hits and just the one run. Anderson struck out six and faced only one batter over the minimum. Athletics reliever Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect eighth inning for his seventh hold of the season. Closer Grant Balfour came in and closed the door in the ninth for his twelfth save of the season.

The Athletics remain one-half game behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild-card spot in the American League. If Anderson can pitch close to this form every time out, his addition is going to be huge for the Athletics pitching staff. The Athletics also recently acquired shortstop Stephen Drew from the Arizona Diamondbacks. They hope he can add a spark to their lineup on a daily basis. The Athletics have been one of the more intriguing and surprising teams to watch this season. It will be interesting to see how they do as things heat up as the playoffs approach.

Fellaini Helps Everton Stun Manchester United

Everton's Marouane Fellaini celebrates his goal that turned out to be the winner against Manchester United. (Peter Powell)

One of the biggest storylines coming into this Premier League season was Dutch scoring machine Robin van Persie's 24 million pound transfer from Arsenal to Manchester United. United was already among the favorites to win the Premier League. With the addition of van Persie, the United faithful were already salivating about the possibilities. Manchester United got their first chance to prove themselves at Everton on Monday evening.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made the interesting choice to leave van Persie on the bench to begin the game. Injuries also led to changes in the United starting lineup. The only regulars in the back four were Antonio Valencia at right back and Nemanja Vidic in the center. The defensive uncertainty was evident from the very beginning. Everton got a number of good opportunites in the first half, but all were denied by Machester United goalkeeper David de Gea.

Marouane Fellaini was an attacking machine for Everton throughout the game. The midfielder from Belgium created his own shots, set up others with opportunities, and wreaked havoc on the United defense. Fellaini's efforts were finally rewarded in the 57th minute. On the Everton corner kick, midfielder Darron Gibson sent a cross into the box. Fellaini rose up and headed it inside the near post for the goal. Just like that, Everton was suddenly up 1-0.

In the 68th minute, van Persie got his first opportunity with Manchester United as he came on as a substitute. As Everton began to sit back defensively, United gained more possession and scoring opportunities. Their best chance to level the score probably came in the 79th minute. Van Persie worked the ball down the right side and managed to find a charging Shinji Kagawa. Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard came out and made the save though to protect his lead. Manchester United had a few more opportunities, but came up empty.

As the final whistle blew, the Everton crowd cheered their side's hard fought victory. The win was only Everton's fourth home victory over Manchester United in 21 Premier League matches. The win is huge for the home boys, Everton. Wins this big don't come around that often, especially this early in the season. Fellaini was the definite man of the match. His play was clearly the difference in jump starting the Everton offense and testing the United defense.

The opening match loss is very disappointing for Manchester United. The team seemed to have definite rust, and their inexperience playing together was evident. United will have to work hard to get everyone healthy and van Persie integrated into the scheme in order to begin playing better. It will be interesting to see how they rebound from this disappointing loss.

Kuroda and Ichiro Come Up Huge During Homestand

New York Yankees starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda threw a pair of gems during this seven-game homestand. (Jason Szenes)

The New York Yankees keep finding ways to win baseball games, despite not having some of their best players due to injuries. One of the main reasons why is that other players have stepped up to help pick up the slack. During their seven game homestand that ended tonight, the Yankees went 5-2 against the Texas Rangers and rival Boston Red Sox. Two of the players that made probably the biggest difference during the homestand were starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.

When CC Sabathia returned to the disabled list with an elbow injury, the Yankees lost their clear ace and number one starter. Someone needed to step up and take control of the number two spot in the rotation. That someone appears to have become Kuroda. On last Tuesday, he faced off against one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball, the Texas Rangers. Kuroda dominated that Rangers offense from start to finish while throwing a complete game. He limited the Rangers to two hits and two walks while striking out five batters.

Kuroda returned to the mound for a second time during the homestand to face the Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball. He retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced and then six of the next seven. Kuroda's only mistake was throwing a hanging slider to Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who turned into into a solo shot into the right field bleachers. Other than that, he was dominant in eight innings of work, giving up just four hits and the one run in eight innings of work.

Even though Ichiro Suzuki's numbers were down this season, the Yankees decided to take a chance on those improving by acquiring him from the Seattle Mariners. Sure enough, Suzuki has found his groove and seems to greatly enjoy playing with the Yankees. He particularly saw his numbers take off during this seven-game homestand. Tonight, Suzuki capped it all off with a rare display of his power. He cranked out two solo shots to help provide all the help Kuroda needed on the mound. During the entire homestand, Suzuki hit .526 with four runs, a double, a triple,  and two home runs. As a Yankee, Ichiro has a .301 average and has hit safely in 21 of 23 starts.

Even after other players return from injuries, the Yankees are going to need players to step up and make the crucial plays needed. Hiroki Kuroda and Ichiro Suzuki have done exactly that so far. If Kuroda continues to pitch like he has in his last two starts, he will be nearly impossible to hit. Suzuki has been a spark plug at times to his new ball club. The Yankees are reaping the benefits of these players and others making the differences needed. It will be interesting to watch Kuroda and Suzuki the rest of the season and into the postseason.