Manny’s gone after all

And a very good trade it is, given that the Red Sox were not in a position to get equal value:

  • Ramírez is out of the AL, so if he leads someone to a pennant, it won’t be to the detriment of the Sox. (Should be something if the Sox meet the Dodgers in the World Series, though.)
  • Jason Bay’s no Manny, but there have been times the last two years when Manny’s been no Manny, either. The big thing is that Ramírez’s bat has been more or less replaced.
  • It’s possible that we’ll regret this some day, but I’ve gotten tired of waiting for Craig Hansen to develop into something other than a complete stiff. Best of luck, Craig.
  • Too bad about Brandon Moss, but he wasn’t going to play here.

The Dodgers get Ramírez for free, which stinks, but it looks like John Henry has decided paying Manny’s salary the rest of the year is a bargain if it gets him out of town.

And, yes, it’s too bad it had to end this way. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that everyone was raving about the new, outgoing, talkative Ramírez. That all came apart in a hurry, didn’t it?

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7 thoughts on “Manny’s gone after all”

  1. I agree. I won’t miss Craig Hansen either.Thank God they did it.

  2. This management has traded a number of stars just at the right time and I hope that this is the case again, although my stomach churns a bit at the thought that this thing was pretty well orchestrated behind the scenes, well in advance. Manny’s buttons are easily pressed and he played along like clockwork [perhaps because he wanted to go] while much of the sports media played the willing fool, with completely one-sided coverage of the Youkilis and McCormack incidents and little scientific reporting on the limits of an MRI. As for Manny himself, 7+ years of Hall of Fame production and two World Series rings later and I have to tip my cap to him and wish him well.I also thank Manny for being a quiet, good citizen off the field, no arrests and free of drug abuse, illegal gambling, women problems or any of the other sinister activity that envelopes so many high profile athletes.I think we gave up an awful lot including the rarely mentioned two-first round draft picks [which would have come our way if Manny refused arbitration, a virtual certainty]. I hope there are more reasons for the trade than just management’s impatience with a quirky but irreplaceable star.

  3. What was so one-sided about the Youkilis and McCormick incidents? Youkilis was criticized for his behavior as well. And how does one justify Manny’s behavior against McCormick? I believe that in both cases, Manny apologized to the other party.I like Manny. He helped the Red Sox greatly. And they rewarded him very well.

  4. Whomever was on ESPN Radio in Boston tonight claimed that McCormick is known to have had run-ins through the years with other Latino players, and that the team blamed Youkilis for that altercation. I don’t know who was doing the hosting, but he basically summed it up as there’s a lot more to the story of Manny’s final chaotic months in Boston. I personally find it hard to believe that a guy that never had a physical confrontation with anyone in seven seasons here would get into it over some tickets unless he was highly provoked. But there’s not a US-born sportswriter in town who likes Manny, and he by and large gives interviews only in Spanish, so no one is going to bother trying to get to the bottom of that story.

  5. Mike: It was time for Manny to go. But I’m with you on the Youkilis incident. Not that it’s any excuse for throwing at his head, but I can see where he’d drive players crazy, both his teammates and otherwise.

  6. I don’t often agree with mike-b1, but I too think there has to be a lot more to the McCormack story, and this from a fellow retired cop. My guess–and admittedly only a guess– is that if John Henry or Larry Lucchino or Theo Epstein or any of the favored star players wanted 16 tickets to an Astros game, McCormack would have gotten them, gift wrapped. You have to wonder if McCormack wasn’t told by higher-ups, vis a vis Manny, “tell him to F*** off.” By all acounts there was an argument, which takes two, so if McCormack is too old or too frail to be around the athletes and arguing with them, perhaps it is he who should have been shown the door.I firmly believe it is these minor incidents, almost always reported with Manny as villian, stewed together in the same simmering cauldron, that caused Manny to want to give up and get out. I’m not defending his lack of effort, but the front office wanted this guy gone and they got what they wanted.It’s rather amazing when you look at Theo Epstein’s childish antics from the 2005 off-season, quitting on the team, then not quitting, gorilla suit and all, that it is future Hall of Famer Manny Ramirez who would be run out of town as a quitter. Wow.

  7. How do you come up with Theo quit on the team? His contract was up. He had tired of working with Lucchino. And Lucchino, through Charles Steinberg, planted an anti-Epstein piece in the Globe. Everything about the situation screamed “get out!”

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