Ivan Rodriguez

I started my week sitting in the Texas sun, looking up at the scoreboard to see that the gametime temperature was 105. I'm pretty sure I could have made weight at welterweight after three hours of sweating, but...

It got very quiet for a couple of days, at least on the transaction wire. The rumor mill went nuts, but there were just three trades, two of which involved the Yankees, and just one of those affecting a contender.

For the debut installment of Diamond Digits let's look at some curious statistical feats from 2007 and some early-season oddities for 2008.

2007 Record: 96-66, first place 2007 Attendance: 2.2 million, 10th in the AL 2007 Payroll: $62 million, 23rd in baseball Key Free Agents (2007) RF-L Trot Nixon OF-L Kenny Lofton RHP Joe Borowski (club option) ...

Would you give about $28 million over the next two seasons to a 36-year-old catcher? History says it is not a wise investment. Only three catchers ever posted an .800 OPS once they passed that age (Carlton Fisk,...