In the last 72 hours we’ve seen the Red Sox deaccession Marco Scutaro for little return and, imminently (or so the great oracle Twitter tells us) signing Cody Ross. The Sox will apparently go with a mélange of Mike Aviles, Nick Punto, and Jose Iglesias at shortstop. That assumes there is not a shoe ...

The Red Sox and Astros made an interesting little trade today. Our friends to the north acquired 26-year-old ex-Yankees right-hander Mark Melancon from the Astros in exchange for infielder Jed Lowrie and righty pitching prospect Kyle Weiland. You will recall Melancon as a 2006 9th-round draftee who put ...

I regret to say that nothing of note came out of Joe Girardi’s media availability this afternoon. The entire coaching staff will be back. Montero questions. More Montero questions. Also, Montero questions. The media tried to find places for Montero to play other than designated hitter. Girardi ...

Red Sox manager Terry Francona appears to be hitting the road after Boston's epic collapse. (AP) There was a point during Game Three of the 2004 American League Championship Series when the Yankees were handing the Red Sox their collective tuchuses, and all I could think of when the camera cut to ...

David Ortiz (R) and his favorite pitcher reflect after the Red Sox's latest loss. (AP) On the morning of August 30, the Red Sox were 82-52 (.612), boasting a two-game lead in the American League East and the best record in the junior circuit. That day, the Yankees came to Boston and took two of three ...

…And I love pennant races, not that we really have any this year except in the AL West, and even there both the Angels and Rangers are walking rather than running. No, I hate September baseball because of the expanded rosters. Monday’s Orioles-Yankees game was emblematic: with football-sized rosters, ...

CC Sabathia and the Yankees have something to prove at Fenway Park this week. (AP) The question has been posed to me several times, If the Yankees and Red Sox are both shoo-ins to make the playoffs, and the primary focus of both is thus getting their players healthy and their roster and rotation sorted ...

Don Mattingly: the RBI percentage king. (AP) As you know, Curtis Granderson leads the American League in RBIs with 95. Now, RBIs are contextual; no matter how good a season a batter is having, he can’t drive in runners that aren’t on base. That sounds obvious, but given the emphasis on RBIs in things ...

Boone Logan's recent improvement hasn't stopped the Yankees from trying to upgrade their lefty relief corps. (AP) Shortly after I ran yesterday’s item about the bullpen, the Yankees announced that lefty J.C. Romero, who had made 11 appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, had been granted ...

Dustin Pedroia has hit .500/.605/.733 in 39 plate appearances against the Yankees this season. (AP) Let the hype flow freely. This is the kind of Yankees-Red Sox matchup that deserves it. The two teams are tied for first place with the best record in the American League, and the second-best record in ...

Yankee fans should count their blessings they haven't had to watch John Lackey's struggles every fifth day. (AP) On the eve of this weekend’s Yankees-Red Sox series, I sat down and talked to Over the Monster‘s Marc Normandin and Matthew Kory for their weekly podcast. Thanks to the ...

A more-or-less for fun position-by-position contrast between the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays. I’ve treated each position as one player, so the stats are for aggregate production, not that of the individual players who have manned them, so for example in left field you get Brett Gardner + Andruw Jones, ...