A-Rod Deal: Stayin' Alive? ESPN reports that Boston and Texas are again talking about a possible deal involving Alex Rodriquez. Officials from both clubs are supposedly meeting this weekend in New York, but everyone involved (management and players' agents) is denying the story. Theo Epstein said this afternoon the rumor was "completely baseless."

The chance to buy an A-Rod Red Sox jersey through mlb.com -- see the screen shot Dirt Dog saved here -- is now being called a hoax, and apparently was not a subtle hint the deal was about to go down. On Sportscenter tonight, Dan Patrick said the jersey page had been up for only "minutes" before the person who put it up took it down. If that's correct, grabbing a screen shot would have been a very lucky break (assuming DD did not engineer the hoax himself). He claims it was up for four days and I did see the evidence at his site over the weekend. Patrick's explanation (coming from MLB, I presume) is wrong, and put out to avoid embarassment, unless by mere "minutes" he means about 5,000 minutes.

In other more-verifiable news, the Red Sox agreed to terms with Trot Nixon (1 year) and Byung-Hyun Kim (2 years), avoiding salary arbitration (the deadline was noon today). Boston also exchanged arbitration figures with David Ortiz. And Tony Womack may sign a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.