Seattle Sportsnet

Needless to say they’ll find some way to screw this up.

That is all.

In your tabloid journalism news of the day, the New York Post is reporting that Alex Rodriguez and Kate Hudson are dating.

I think I speak for everyone when I say Kate Hudson deserves better.

That said, since divorcing ex-husband Chris Robinson (that weirdo lead singer of the Black Crowes) a few years ago, Hudson has been “linked” (tabloid lingo for “had sex with”) to such celebrities as Owen Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Dax Shepard. So to say the bar is set high for A-Rod would be a complete lie.

If you’re keeping score at home, however, this is a ginormous step up for the Yankee third baseman.

After reportedly exploding his linkage all over Madonna in recent months, Kate Hudson is the baseball equivalent of a home run. Or at least a sac fly.

In fact, of all of Rodriguez’s past links, Hudson has to be considered the most normal. She has no charity case adoptive children from foreign countries, nor has she said crazy things about A-Rod in the press yet. Things are looking up!

Stephen Strasburg is arguably the most talked about name in college baseball these days.

The towering 6’5″ starting pitcher can throw a baseball consistently in the upper 90s, and frequently at 100 MPH or more. On top of that, the San Diego State product possesses an impressive offspeed pitch in an 80-plus MPH slurve (slider-curveball) that he uses to strike out hapless opponents.

Almost assuredly, Strasburg will become the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s Major League Baseball amateur draft held in June. That pick is owned by the Washington Nationals, who say they plan to explore all options before settling on any one player. Right.

The Nationals are in a position where they are almost forced to take Strasburg, as was previously admitted by former Washington general manager Jim Bowden. Passing on the prodigy would be as close to franchise suicide as any organization can get in this day and age, and require a tedious explanation to a fan base hungry for Strasburgmania to reach the nation’s capitol.

But what does history have to say about all this?

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