After I received e-mails from both David Pinto and Edward Cossette this morning urging me to join the Dirt Dogs' protest outside of the Player's Union this afternoon, I thought the least I could do was check it out during my lunch hour (the Union offices are just blocks away from where I work). According to the Boston Dirt Dogs website, an informal protest was scheduled to start today at noon. When I got there at a quarter past twelve there were about a dozen Red Sox fans milling around, chatting, trying to keep warm. A couple of reporters from the local papers were asking questions. It was a tepid demonstration for starters, and not yet a full-on protest. There was no sign of the Dirt Dogs, but I assume that's because they hadn't made it down from Boston yet. I'm sure once they eventually arrive things will get more festive. Who knows, maybe Bill Lee will fly in and offer his two-and-a-half-cents worth.

Incidentally, the Sox fans I spoke with were all nice, rational guys. The prevailing sentiment was that the A Rod deal should and will get done, if not today, then sometime soon. David Pinto has a link to Mike C's take on how Bud Selig's done all he can to help the Red Sox. Pinto concludes:

I think it's pretty clear what's going on. In return for letting Henry buy the Red Sox when there was likely a higher bidder, by letting the Red Sox acquire whomever they want, Bud gets a large market team to support his small market socialism. It's Bud buying power.

Doug Pappas details the language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with regards to this case, and Jim Caple writes about the nature of Rodriguez's character, as he publicly politics for Nomar Garciaparra's job.