I've been out of circulation for a couple of days, and I come back to find that trades have been made all over the place. The Giants showed how serious they are about getting back to the World Series (and winning it this time) by signing Sidney Ponson from the Orioles, whilst in the AL East, both the Yanks and Red Sox made moves. It remains to be seen how much the Yankees' moves were to meet real needs and how much they were a case of showing the Red Sox that they are not the only ballclub capable of making big trades...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (well, in Arlington at least), Alex Rodriguez has been making noises about a future which might not include the Texas Rangers, should the club continue to keep losing and propping up the AL West. A-Rod has always been a bit of a mystery to me - he left perennial contenders the Seattle Mariners to sign his ten-year, $252 million contract with the Rangers. Money is important, and I'd be a liar if I said that I wouldn't have done the same thing in his shoes, but it always seems like so much wasted talent, having a great ballplayer like him on such a bad team. He's still there to compete, though, as last night's walk-off grand-slam against the Red Sox showed, and there are also two other redeeming features in amongst all the talk of money and poor ballclubs - 1) A-Rod is apparently a genuine nice-guy, and 2) he has the sweetest swing you could wish to see. I watched him hit the home-run against Boston and it just looked so natural - you watch a guy like him hit one out of the park and he makes it look so easy and effortless that you almost start to think: "Hey - I'm in the wrong job - I could do that!". It's a thing of beauty...