‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the town.

Not a day could go by without a certain sound:

The questions were asked on the sportscast each day

Was MVP A-Rod coming to Boston this day?

The Sox fans were thinking of things in their heads,

And visions of championships danced in their heads.

Would Manny be going to Texas today?

Would Nomar be going to Chicago? LA?

When throughout the land there arose such confusion,

“No!” said Gene Orza of the players’ union.

What could have ended this trade in a flash?

Orza said A-Rod couldn’t give up the cash!

The news spread throughout the town like the cold

Perhaps we’d been foolish; this deal was too bold,

And what with are wandering minds could we think?

Would A-Rod & Ordonez put us over the brink?

With little old help from the man they call Bud,

The Sox had to regroup after this dud.

They’d angered a shortstop of considerable fame,

to court Garciaparra they shouted his name.

Oh, Nomar! We’re sorry! We shouldn’t have strayed,

Now time will tell if No. 5 feels betrayed.

Will he come back to Boston and go all out?

(Manny doesn’t know about the deal; I have no doubt)

And then, in a flash, I awoke from a snooze;

“this deal isn’t dead” said John Hart on the news.

They still might trade All-Stars, though I can’t see how

So it’s on again, off again, and on again now.

Are Nomar and Manny staying? Or going away,

For A-Rod and Ordonez (the Sox look good either way)

Theo and Larry say they did what they could

This deal was completed, they thought it was good.

Although they were angered, they had little to say

They were overruled by the mighty MLBPA.

“This deal cannot happen” said the Association,

“Bah, humbug” said the fans of Red Sox Nation.

Lewiston native Tom Caron is a NESN sports analyst for Bruins and Red Sox telecasts.

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