Ivan Nova had the chance to be a Boston Red Sox. As a teenager in the Dominican, the Red Sox wanted to sign Nova, but he had grown up a Yankee fan. Colleague Jorge Agangure Jr. writes:

Eventually, Nova earned the attention of a few scouts. Former Red Sox scout Johnny DePuglia recalled that the team wanted to sign him, but Nova didn't seem amenable.

"I really didn't want to sign with Boston," Nova said. "My father and I were both Yankee fans."

So the trainer called Mata, and the Yankees became interested. Nova spent two weeks at the Yankees academy.

"I told my trainer that at the first opportunity, I wanted to sign with the Yankees," Nova said. "He would tell me that [we] could possibly get more money elsewhere. I told him I didn't care. I wanted to sign with the Yankees."

Tonight in Oakland, Nova will be on the mound as he tries to get his season going in the right direction again. Nova is 4-2 with a 5.69 ERA. In his last five starts combine, his ERA is 6.90. If he wants to remain a Yankee, he better get it going.

UP NOW: The Yankees aren't selling. I graded all the uniformed Yankees. I told you why to believe. Wally told you why to panic.

ON DECK: At 10:30 a.m., I will have my podcast with Raul Ibanez up. We moved it back a day because of all the sale stuff yesterday. Mark Simon will look at the Yankees defense. And Wally is in Oakland.

IN THE HOLE: Against the A's, it will be Nova (4-2, 5.69 ERA) vs. Tyson Ross (2-4, 5.73). On Saturday, it is CC Sabathia (5-2, 3.78) vs. Bartolo Colon (4-4, 4.09); On Sunday, it is Hiroki Kuroda (3-6, 4.56) vs. Tommy Milone (6-3, 3.75).

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Will Nova be a playoff starter or out of the rotation by season's end?