A little news from Boston.

Last fall, there were rumors of a spectacular trade which had the Red Sox dealing Manny Ramirez -- a superb hitter, but overpaid and lazy in other phases of the game -- for Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who has an even more astounding pay package, but does as much as anyone currently playing the game ever could to earn it. This deal eventually foundered on the Rangers' insistence that the Red Sox continue to pay most of Ramirez's salary in addition to all of ARod's.

I was mostly offline over the weekend, so I was rather surprised to come across a copy of the Sunday Boston Globe, which headlined the ARod trade. To the Yankees, who will be moving him to third base to leave their own current superstar shortstop, Derek Jeter, in his position. The combined salary of these two players alone could conceivably exceed the entire major league payrolls of the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Chiefs put together. Though the Yankees will not be paying all of that -- the Rangers have agreed to send $67 million for ARod's keep to the Yankees.

The remarkable thing about this sudden reversal of fortune for the Red Sox? This is the first time in a couple of years now that I've actually learned about breaking news from a hardcopy newspaper...