Healthy New York Yankees could make it interesting

Heading into the weekend, the Yankees are eight games above .500 and trailing red-hot Boston by 5? games in the AL East.In other words, they are in the hunt just days from the All-Star break.That's pretty remarkable, really, given the toll injuries have taken since late last season.And it could be the set-up for a boffo script for A Bronx Tale II with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in star roles come to save Gotham'??s baseball season.Jeter was in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Saturday night, and could be back with the big club as early as July 16 when the Yankees open the second half of the season at Fenway Park.Anyone who doubts he'??ll be effective upon his return obviously Tools To Help You Hide Online Raise The Ire Of Advertisers.

And the plan for A-Rod is said to be a July 22 return.What he will add is a much more complicated question, of course.But it is a pretty safe bet that if Rodriguez is healthy enough to play, he will contribute more to the Yankees than the current third-base platoon has.Add in that backup infielder Eduardo Nunez is back to add defensive bench depth, and that revived starter Ivan Nova tossed a sparkling complete game in Friday night'??s come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Orioles, and you have the makings of a pretty interesting story line.

Now toss in the arrival of lefty power bat Curtis Granderson for August and September and A Bronx Tale II might just be one of those surprising summer releases that runs into the end of October.    The question left as yet unanswered in all the ugliness of the Aaron Hernandez situation is simply this:How did the New England Patriots keep this alleged homicidal sociopath splattered with gang tattoos around as long as they did?I'd like to hear the organization explain that.As with just about every other profession you can think of, at the end of the day professional baseball is a small world.