The Red Sox' knockout punch?

The Boston Herald is speculating that fans might quickly get over their hatred of Alex Rodriguez if Boston were to pursue the most aggressive strategy possible this offseason and move to re-sign World Series MVP third baseman Mike Lowell AND sign A-Rod.

Rodriguez has made it known that he's willing to switch back to his natural position of shortstop.
Julio Lugo, acquired last offseason by the Red Sox to bolster their offense from that position, has been a disappointment at the plate.

Boston would shop Lugo around in a heartbeat, perhaps to further bolster its pitching staff or pick up a catcher to eventually succeed the aging Jason Varitek.

Imagine, Yankees fans and Yankee haters, Josh Beckett on the mound and a Red Sox lineup of Ellsbury, Pedroia, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, A-Rod and Mike Lowell. And it wouldn't be too shabby to have Kevin Youkilis and Varitek as your #8 and #9 hitters.

With Ellsbury's emergence as an offensive power who has unbelievable speed in center field and on the base paths, the Sox also have the luxury of trading Coco Crisp this offseason for further pitching help or prospects.

The balance of power may have shifted for a long, long time in the AL East.

Joba Chamberlain? Outta here!

Young Joba Chamberlain earned his pinstripes yesterday.

Congratulations, rookie, you're officially a Yankee asshole.

After throwing two near-100 mile an hour fastballs at the head of Kevin Youkilis, Major League Baseball suspended Chamberlain for two games today.

There's more than one point to be made about this one:

- First of all, what was Youkilis' crime? Playing with hustle. Youkilis is the anti-Yankee. He's the type of player who has put the Red Sox in first place this year and the type of player who helped them win a World Series in 2004. In his world, you run like hell on every ground ball and pop fly. These overpaid, lifeless, passion-less Yankees hate guys like him. He's the anti-Yankee. So apparently, Chamberlain was throwing at Youkilis because 1) he slid safely into first after Giambi was pulled away from the base on another Yankee throwing error and had to try to tag him, and 2) he ran outside the base line to avoid a tag by A-Rod later in the inning, was called safe, and then called out when the umpires reversed themselves.

- Throwing a 100 mile an hour fastball at someone's head is a hell of a lot different than someone like Jamie Moyer or Tim Wakefield throwing a 75 mile an hour pitch at someone's head.

- Joba is clearly learning from the best when it comes to gutless American League headhunters. Roger Clemens is the most infamous guy in modern Major League Baseball for doing this kind of thing.

- The penalties handed down by Major League Baseball in the case of both Chamberlain and Clemens earlier this season will do nothing whatsoever to stop guys from getting thrown at. Chamberlain wasn't going to pitch the next two days anhow because of Brian Cashman's restrictions on the number of pitches he can throw. Clemens is a starting pitcher. His five-game suspension meant that he missed one scheduled start ... really, he just got an extra day of rest.

- Did this rookie throw at Youkilis on his own? Is that really his instinct after two seconds in the league? Very, very doubtful. This has Joe Torre's fingerprints all over it, and he deserved a suspension also. And his suspensions should be doubled the second time (remember his part in Clemens' shenanigans earlier this season), and be tripled the third time.