There was an interesting deal on Monday afternoon that far exceeded the players involved. The Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds made a deal involving four players. On their way to Cincinnati are infielder Aaron Miles and the notorious player to be named later (or cash considerations). Heading out west are center fielder Willy Taveras and infielder Adam Rosales.It's also become pretty apparent that the only player the Athletics really wanted in this deal was Rosales, and only took Taveras' contract on in return for Miles'. Why? Because Willy hasn't even had time to pack his bags and he's already been designated for assignment -- look how sad he is in that photo -- by the Athletics, who need to make room for the recently acquired Gabe Gross and Steve Tolleson.
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As an Italian-American I was subjected to a lot of stereotypes growing up. People would constantly joke around with me by asking me if my family was in the mafia, especially when The Sopranos was airing because, much like the main character of that show, Tony Soprano, my father is in the waste management business. So when I found out MTV's reality show Jersey Shore would air this winter, I was worried about being subjected to more stereotypes.
I remember growing up and playing baseball with my friends in yards all over the neighborhood, and while there were plenty of differences between the front yard down the street and 
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INDIANAPOLIS - Of all the names involved with the NL Central, two in particular stuck out during the Winter Meetings. The path the 
INDIANAPOLIS -- Managers of nine different major league teams each had approximately 30-minutes in interview sessions with the media during baseball's Winter Meetings Monday in the Indianapolis, in addition to the announcement of two new inductees to baseball's Hall of Fame. Here's a sampling of some of the more interesting tidbits from the first full day of the annual meetings. 
