On The Road.

           AVG   OBP   SLG 

Player A  .282  .384  .577 

Player B  .306  .350  .567

Dayn Perry: "Player A is A-Rod away from Arlington last season; Player B is Soriano away from Yankee Stadium last season. Closer than you'd think, no? ... The Yankees parted with one heck of a hitter despite having no apparent replacement." Perry, who writes the "Can of Corn" column for Baseball Prospectus, also weighs in on the Yankees' 3B/SS situation.

This ESPN poll, unless it was wildly distorted by hordes of Red Sox fans, lends credence to Perry's argument: "Who is the better defensive shortstop? Alex Rodriguez 72.4%, Derek Jeter 27.6%. Who should the Yankees move to third base? Alex Rodriguez 62.3%, Derek Jeter 37.7%." ... "Yanksfan vs. Soxfan" -- a blog which has serious potential this year -- has a post today entitled: "Piazza, Jeter, and New Positions."

Final thoughts on Alex Rodriguez and media perception: The Yankees did not best the Red Sox or out-smart them in any way by trading for Rodriguez. John Henry et al. decided to nix the deal from their end on their own terms. Taking a sober look at their finances, the Red Sox chose not to make the deal. Naturally, that doesn't make for the best storyline; you can't wedge any Curse Talk into that scenario. ... In New York, Joel Sherman reports today that "A major-league official who speaks regularly to the Rangers told The Post that Texas was so financially desperate to get out of the bulk of A-Rod's contract they would have done the deal without getting Alfonso Soriano in return." If true, this underscores (in really dark ink) the fact that Texas's negotiations with Boston and New York were wildly different.