Late Afternoon Fun And Yuks

Alright, well, here you go:

● Michael Young has been placed on paternity leave for the weekend, which will buy him a 72-hour respite from baseball to be with his wife and family (which now boasts a third son), and Luis Hernandez has been summoned from the minors as the Rangers' short-term utility infielder. Alberto Gonzalez was bypassed for the weekend assignment after injuring his hand earlier in the week, and his status is reportedly uncertain. Hernandez will likely head back down to Round Rock on Monday afternoon once Young is activated. Jurickson Profar, meanwhile, will apparently remain at Frisco for the time being due to the Rangers' desire for him to play everyday, although he could still be in line for a call-up after Frisco's regular season ends.

● The far bigger story right now, obviously, is that the Red Sox and Dodgers are reportedly "close" to a trade that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto to Los Angeles in exchange for what would apparently be a five-player package of unknown composition. There are still details to be hammered out at this point, including the fact that the deal requires both Beckett and Crawford to waive their respective no-trade clauses, the medicals, and the fact that it's a potential nine-player blockbuster trade with more than one-quarter of a billion dollars being freighted from one team to another, but this deal -- or some form of it -- seems to have serious legs at this point. Stay tuned.