Thoughts On Manny Ramirez and Trades Helping the Yankees

It has been a strange weekend in sports, especially seeing Manny Ramirez in a Dodger uniform wearing the No. 99 playing for ex-Yankee manager Joe Torre.

I definitely understand why the Red Sox made the move they did, but there is part of me that wishes there was some other way the Manny era could have ended in Boston.

Here are some final thoughts of mine on the trade, as well as a few other random thoughts:

• While Manny’s actions may be the primary reason he no longer is a Red Sox, I think there was some validity to his point that when the Red Sox decide they no longer want a star player, they have a habit of allowing information to leak to the press (typically the Boston Globe) that paints this player in a negative light.  Now, maybe that information is true, but the Sox run a very tight ship and do a good job of keeping matters in-house, except when they want to have information become public.  I am not defending the incident between Manny and the Red Sox traveling secretary, but I have no doubt the Sox leaked that story on purpose in order to lay the groundwork for any needed P.R. to support their decision. 
• A perfect example of this is the story in the Boston Globe yesterday, that at the last minute, Ramirez told the Red Sox he did not want to be traded, and would come back to the team. He would be on his best behavior and play hard for the remainder of the season if the team agreed not to pick up Ramirez’s option at the end of the season.  This story not only showed Ramirez (once again) to be someone who can’t make up his mind, but by leaking that Ramirez allegedly offered to play hard and be on his best behavior, one can assume that means Ramirez knew he had not been giving it his best effort.  Ramirez’s agent Scott Boras denied the story today.
• Watching the Sox play the Oakland Athletics today, I was reminded of another situation where a team painted a star player in a negative light (again, perhaps correctly) when they decided they no longer wanted that player—Frank Thomas and the Chicago White Sox.
• I should be clear, no matter if the Sox did act like that, it still does not forgive the type of effort Ramirez repeatedly showed over his last few weeks here in Boston.
• I will admit to being slightly concerned with David Ortiz’s comments the day after the Ramirez trade.  Big Papi did not speak like someone who was on board with the team trading his hitting partner.  Ortiz and Ramirez were close friends, but Ortiz also has to be worried about his production. Teams now won't have to think twice before pitching around Ortiz.  Whether it is Mike Lowell, Jason Bay or anyone else batting behind Ortiz, teams will take their chances rather than pitch to Ortiz in key situations.  It will be up to whomever occupies the fourth spot in the Sox lineup to make opposing managers pay if they do pitch around Ortiz.
• The entire situation with Ramirez has Scott Boras written all over it.  Last offseason, Ramirez switched agents, hiring Boras, and Boras explained to Ramirez the power the Red Sox had over him for the next two seasons (Ramirez’s contract gave the Red Sox options for the 2009 and 2010 seasons).  Now these options were likely put into place so that Manny’s agent, when he signed the contract could boast that he put together a $200 million deal.  But Boras, I am sure, explained to Ramirez that at age 36, this coming offseason is likely his last chance to secure a lucrative multi-year contract, thus making Ramirez very much aware that the Red Sox picking up his option might not be a good thing.  Also, Ramirez spoke often about signing a four-year, $100 million contract.  That sounds to me like something an agent would tell a player.  
• I also saw the story that Ramirez has said he wants to finish his career playing for the Dodgers.  With Manny’s track record of repeatedly changing his mind about how he feels about a situation, I don’t really know why the time is wasted to write a story about Manny's future wishes.  Now that Manny has Boras as an agent, it is safe to assume Manny will be playing next season for the team that offers him the most money, and nothing else will really matter.
  
• The most frustrating part of Manny Ramirez's final few months in Boston, was that even with the (at least) handful of situations where he wasn't playing hard, not even counting the games where he refused to play, Manny was having a very good season.  Not just numbers, he had many big hits for the Sox:  a game-winning home run in the ninth inning at Cleveland in April;  a two home run game in a 7-5 win over the Yankees, also in April;  a game-winning home run to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning at Texas.  After Ramirez infamously struck out on three pitches without once swinging the bat against Mariano Rivera in a crucial situation, Manny came back the next night to deliver a walk-off hit in a 1-0 win over the Twins, and then the following night, he hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning in an eventual Red Sox win.
  
• I did notice that Manny went 4-5 today for the Dodgers, with a home run and three RBI.  But more surprisingly, he also had an infield hit.  I am going to have to see the replay of that. 
  
• In his first weekend in L.A., Manny helped the Dodgers to two wins over Arizona, to climb within a game of the N.L. West lead.  Manny went 8-13 (.615), with a pair of home runs, 5 RBI and four runs scored.
• Not to be forgotten, Jason Bay had an impressive debut series for the Red Sox, as the Sox swept the Oakland Athletics.  Bay went 4-11 (.364) scoring six runs (including the game-winning run in extra innings on Friday), with a home run and 3 RBI.
• So let me get this straight, the Red Sox gave up Manny Ramirez, $7 million, Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen just to get back Jason Bay from the Pirates, while the Yankees only gave up Jose Tabata, Dan McCuthen, Jeff Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf to the Pirates to get back Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.  
• Speaking of teams making head scratching trades in order to give the Yankees exactly what they need, Kyle Farnsworth had a good showing today against the Tampa Rays. He entered the game with his team ahead 3-1 and left with his team behind 4-3.  His line, 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 HR. 
• Nice to see the Angels, after playing nearly perfect baseball against the Red Sox in a pair of sweeps since the All-Star break, commit four errors today, including three in the eighth inning alone, in a 14-9 loss to the Yankees. 
  
• Julio Lugo, it's been nice knowing you. 
  
• Is it really possible that Jacoby Ellsbury has not stolen a base since July 1, yet still leads the American League in steals?  That speaks to how great he was playing and how far he has fallen offensively.  The Sox offense has been stagnant at times the last month or so, and a main reason has been the drop-off in Ellsbury's production. 
  
• If the Sox do make the post-season, your Game Two starter has to be Jon Lester (Josh Beckett, no matter his final numbers, gets the ball to begin the playoffs).
• With Pedro Martinez long gone, Manny now gone, and Curt Schilling going, who is Dan Shaughnessy going to focus his patented negativity on now? 
• A few non-baseball thoughts: I found it rather comical to see NFL commissioner Roger Goodell intervene in the Favre situation and say that he did not want the matter to linger on.  This coming from the commissioner who has shown no ability to properly and quickly deal with a number of important situations that have crossed his desk. Whether someone is a Patriot fan or not, I would like to think everyone can agree that the commish handled the whole Spygate story extremely poorly, and his mistakes and indecisiveness allowed the matter to linger on for over nine months.  Same for the Pacman Jones situation: the commish relied on this open-ended punishment that keeps the story alive, instead of handing down a one-time punishment that would have closed the book on the story when he issued it.  
• I don’t really have much to say on the Favre situation, other than to say it was entirely predictable.  I don’t really understand people who blame the Packers.  Favre has pulled this same act now for three straight years (which happens to coincide with Aaron Rodgers’ arrival in Green Bay).  If Green Bay caved to Favre, they no doubt would find themselves in this same situation next offseason.  If Favre played for Green Bay in 2008, even if Favre said he was retiring after the season, who could possibly believe him?
• Also, if Green Bay doesn’t give Rodgers a shot now, they risk losing him completely, and having wasted a first-round pick.
• And lastly, I can’t think of any player (non-Patriot, that is) I will be rooting for to play well this year more than I will be for Aaron Rodgers.