I still don’t think it’s going to happen.
Manny Ramirez can complain to ESPNDeportes, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sportsline, Bleacher Report, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN8 “the Ocho”. The Red Sox still won't care.
If they can’t get good value for Manny, they’re not going to trade him. And why should they? For all the ridiculousness, he’s still hitting home runs, driving runners in, and consistently hitting the crap out of the ball.
So he's not a great left fielder. He’s at least OK.
On the field, there’s very little reason to want to rid yourself of Manny Ramirez.
And there are very, very few who can adequately replace him.
That said, it’s time for the Red Sox to do whatever it takes to trade Manny Ramirez—and recent history supports making the move.
Back in 2004, the Red Sox were a broken team. They were playing uninspired baseball. They looked nothing like the team that nearly made it to the World Series in 2003.
There was something terribly wrong; it was just hard to place.
Until that July 1 game in Yankee Stadium.
Everyone in Boston remembers this game. Derek Jeter risked life and limb to dive into the crowd to make the final out of the 12th inning, while Nomar Garciaparra sulked on the bench—refusing to enter the game either as a pinch hitter or a defensive replacement.
Nomar was a fan favorite in Boston. He had all of his best seasons here. For a while, he was one of the best talents in baseball, a talent on the same level as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Earlier in his career, some people even thought he was better.
The media may not have always liked him (mostly because he hated them), but the fans loved him.
Until that game.
It was the moment that opened up the possibility of trading Nomar—and the Red Sox's young, aggressive GM jumped on the opportunity and turned a disgruntled superstar into key role players that helped transform the 2004 Red Sox from uninspired also-ran to inspiring champion.
Manny has had his ups and downs in Boston, but he never quite had his Nomar moment.
Until last weekend (apparently “Nomar Moments” always come against the Yankees).
When Manny refused to take the field against the Yankees on Friday, he had his Nomar moment. He was booed loudly over the weekend. He was booed Tuesday when he failed to run out a groundball that should have broken up a no-hit bid by John Lackey.
Last week, I questioned whether Red Sox nation was tiring of Manny Ramirez. It’s no longer a question.
It’s time for Manny to be Manny somewhere else.
The players are reportedly sick of him. The front office is reportedly sick of him. Even fans are sick of him.
Even I’m finally sick of him.
Send him to Florida—where a whole new group of fans can grow to love Manny being Manny.
Like 2004, the 2008 Boston Red Sox are a broken team.
If they want a chance to defend their championship, they need to get rid of their Nomar.
It’s time to send Manny packing.
Sean Crowe is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at scrowe@gmail.com. His archive can be found here. You can find everything he writes, including articles for other publications, here.
comments (5) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
Great article.
The only difference in the Manny/Nomar comparisons is that Nomar was an injury waiting to happen and Manny, while he has had his "bumps and bruises" that have kept him out of games, hasn't missed a significant amount of time since 2000 when he played only 118 games. While Nomar's numbers were great when he was in the lineup, they didn't have to hesitate to replace him because they knew what kind of team they had without him on the field. They're not so sure with Manny, who has been their everyday left fielder since 2001.
So while it's almost impossible for him to stay in a Red Sox uniform after the things he has said about the team and his clashes with the front office and Terry Francona, it's also impossible for the Red Sox to dump him when his bat has been so critical to the success of the team. It would be a whole different story if the Red Sox were in third place.
Also, team's aren't going to want to give up a lot for Manny because A) He's a mood-swing waiting to happen and B) He's either going to demand $20 million/per after the season or walk away to whoever will pay him that.
It's really a no-win situation for the Red Sox.
2 months ago
I agree. Time for Sox to move on. And I loved Nomar when he was here, loved Pedro (my favorite Sox player), but the Sox knew the right time to cut the cord. It isn't quite as clear with Manny, but they can't keep going through this with him. His not running hard to first last night in a possible no-hitter was enough for me.
2 months ago
Jason Bay....your new Left Fielder folks.
Equivalent numbers as Manny but he's in his 4th season as opposed to his 15th. His fielding numbers will improve and look even better in the short porch in front of the Monsta.
He doesn't take games off, runs hard to first and he can even steal a few bases.
Welcome to the Red Sox Jason Bay
2 months ago
If we're talking about acquiring a Bay, Dunn, or Kemp (plus a prospect?) for Manny, then I'm listening. But if we're talking Hermida or Willingham for Manny, I'm slamming the door in the face of Red Sox management.
The cancer (ahem, Manny) certainly needs to be cut out at this point, but I feel like this trade talk is nearing "Let's just pull the trigger on any deal and be done with it" mentality. Perhaps that's the pre-2004 Red Sox fan in me. I hope I'm wrong and it all falls into place.
2 months ago
Manny Ramirez is like George Bell of the Toronto Blue Jays that won back to back World Series. Bell told the fans to kiss his "purple butt".
Ramirez idolized Bell when he grew up too.
These players are not easy to deal with but they bring World Series to their cities.
I think beantown is crazy to even think of trading him.
Gonna be sorry......
write a new comment