Jacoby Ellsbury

With baseball's trade deadline fast approaching, rumors are swirling about potential deals, as they are every year in Boston.

The Red Sox Sox currently sit 5.5 games behind Tampa Bay for the wild card spot and 7.5 behind the Yankees in the AL East.

The gap is by no means insurmountable, and the Sox would sure benefit from a big bat or depth at, well, virtually every spot on the roster.

According to the Miami Herald's Clark Spencer, the Boston Red Sox are interested in acquiring righty reliever Leo Nunez and outfielder Cody Ross. 

Boston's major issue is health. They have suffered an tremendous amount of injuries this year, but they are still alive in the strong American League East. But, the one part of the team that has struggled and has been relatively healthy is the bullpen.

If you're like me and have been distracted by the World Cup and LeBron-gate over these past few weeks, you were probably shocked to learn that baseball's midway point is already upon us.

So to help you get into the swing of things as we head toward the playoffs, here are 50 Reasons To Be Excited For The Second Half of the season...

In the aftermath of Kevin Youkilis’ back-handed criticism of teammate Jacoby Ellsbury for being away from his ballclub and his teammates for the last five weeks, it appears that Team Ellsbury, led by his agent, Scott Boras, is going on the attack.

They have the Red Sox medical staff in their sights.

For the first time since leaving the team to rehab his broken ribs at Athletes Performance Institute in Arizona, Ellsbury returned to the team today and is speaking about the events which led him to seek medical attention in Phoenix.

The Red Sox may have finally found the formula for letting John Lackey settle in on Friday evening: Put up a 10-spot in the first inning.

All kidding aside, though, Lackey has struggled to assimilate to the Red Sox pitching staff, be it because of nerves, traditional slow starts, or whatever.

Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury is back on the disabled list due to the rib cage injury suffered in Kansas City during the first week of the season.

He missed the next five weeks and returned to the lineup just last Saturday, but during the week, he suffered a relapse of the symptoms that took him out of action after colliding with 3B Adrian Beltre.

After being put back on the disabled list earlier today, Ellsbury implied that the Red Sox medical staff gave him bad information last week when they told him playing would not aggravate his condition.

One old baseball adage states, "Speed slows down the game," a quote likely coming from Casey Stengel or Yogi Berra.

On the surface, this statement makes no sense. But when you dig deeper, you gauge that when fast players get on base, the entire game changes. From throwing over to first base, to the pitcher stepping off the rubber, a once ncrisp moving game can get stalled as the pitcher and defense woorries about the speedy runner.

Funny thing is that the runner by himself can't hurt the pitcher, unless he steals second, third and home.

Teams are no longer counting on the three run home run these days; they are thinking speed, speed, and more speed.

Greetings from the Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Since I am on a business trip and my time is limited, I thought I would group a couple of posts into one.

By the way, if you want to feel better about yourself, just walk around in the Bally’s casino at around 8 o'clock in the morning. It’s not a pretty place.

Let’s see what is going on around the majors.

Jacoby Ellsbury has broken ribs