Just 3 years after losing 119 games and then watching the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the ALCS, the Detroit Tigers beat the $200M team and will now dance at the ALCS themselves. It’ll be a great story if the Tigers can win it all, while the story in the Bronx is about as dire as the one at Fenway Park. I think each team could help themselves with one straight-up trade: Arod for Manny. I’m not sure if this was Alex’s reaction when he found out Joe Torre dropped him to 8th in the lineup today, but after 3 seasons of postseason futility, the $25M man simply can’t make it in NY. Manny, on the other hand, is oblivious to most everything around him and will dutifully put up his 40/120 for the pinstripes. Mr. Rodriguez could be the one guy who could come in and “protect” David Ortiz in the Red Sox lineup upon Manny’s departure, and the jovial “Big Papi” could be just what Arod needs to shake the dreariness he seemed to play under in New York. Lack of pitching is the problem for both clubs, so such a trade would be no panacea, but it would hopefully change chemistry enough to start moving these under-achieving teams in the right direction.