Bleacher Report - Articles by Matt LeBlanc

Manny's Gone For Now, But Could Return to Fenway as a Yankee in '09

Matt LeBlanc — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:34:19 -0400

After a blockbuster deal yesterday that sent slugger Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Jason Bay, the Boston Red Sox and its fans are left to wonder what will happen next year.

Perhaps it's too early and a little foolhardy -- it always is with Manny -- to guess what decisions will be made by the beginning of the 2009 baseball season, but there's a good chance the Sox could see the enigmatic slugger back at Fenway Park next year.

Huh?

According to details of the trade, Manny reportedly agreed to be shipped to Los Angeles on the condition that the Red Sox drop the two one-year options the team held on his contract for 2009 and 2010.

Leaving the options in place would have meant the Dodgers could keep Manny there for at least two years, but the left fielder's demand indicates he likely will be a rent-a-player for the rest of this season and won't return there next year.

Also, the Dodgers already have a crowded outfield with Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Andruw Jones, and Juan Pierre getting considerable playing time. None of those players can provide the pop in the lineup Ramirez can, but they all are younger and less expensive than Manny will be next year.

So, that brings us to this question: Where might Manny end up in 2009? One option that could bring heartburn for Red Sox Nation is that he could end up patrolling left field in the Bronx.

That's right, the Yankees.

The options previously included in Manny's contract each were worth $20 million, according to reports. Certainly, agent Scott Boras would push for even more money when the season is over.

There are only a handful of teams with cash reserves large enough to sign a player worth that much. One of the teams just dealt him to the Dodgers, and the other one is in the Bronx.

The Yankee outfield is pretty thin now, too. Johnny Damon is currently the club's starting left fielder, and Manny would almost certainly be considered an upgrade over Damon at the plate.

Manny also grew up not far from Yankee Stadium in Washington Heights.

So, while the Red Sox are happy to have Manny gone and other rival teams are breathing a collective sigh of relief, it is possible he could return to the AL East next year.

You have to believe Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner already is salivating.

Manny's Missteps Should Earn Him a Ticket Out of Beantown

Matt LeBlanc — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:13:06 -0400

On that September night in Boston, in 1960, Ted Williams rounded the bases as he had done so many times at Fenway Park. The "Splendid Splinter", just moments before, had taken a pitch thrown by Baltimore's Jack Fisher and deposited it neatly over the right-field fence.

Many of the fans inside baseball's cathedral knew this would be the last time they would witness the legendary slugger doing what he did best. When Williams reached the Boston dugout, the fans clamored for him to tip his cap—a gesture he always had stubbornly resisted.

But, just as he had done more than 500 other times during his amazing career, Williams simply took his seat among his Red Sox teammates and refused to acquiesce to the crowd's wishes. And then he was gone.

Nearly 50 years after Williams left the Red Sox, we are now faced with the possibility of another hard-headed hitter—Manny Ramirez—leaving the Olde Towne Team with little fanfare and surely less applause from the Fenway faithful.

Ramirez, the enigmatic slugger who helped bring two World Series championships to Boston, has once again demanded to be traded. This time, Red Sox ownership should accommodate him. "The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me," Ramirez reportedly told ESPNDeportes.

Where once his antics were cute and his foibles endearing, Ramirez and his annual "I'm not getting the love and respect I deserve" act has grown tiresome. Fans in Boston routinely booed Williams for his surly attitude, despite his demonstrated ability to hit the long ball. Ramirez recently has been treated to a similar cacophony, and it is warranted.

With the Red Sox in the middle of a heated pennant race, Ramirez took a couple days off, due to what he says was a sore knee. Tests on both knees revealed nothing. Against the Angels recently, Ramirez turned a routine pop up into what the Boston Globe defined as a "giggle-fest" and resulted in a triple for a Los Angeles batter.

If Ramirez honestly believes he would be treated better in another market (Miami? Philadelphia?), the Red Sox should let him have his way. Even with his numbers down this season, the team should be able to secure at least one young slugger and, possibly, a pitcher to help reach the playoffs.

Baseball's trade deadline is fast approaching and the Red Sox should work hard to ensure that Ramirez is moved. Too bad fans' memories of Ramirez will not match those of Williams.

Perfect Pathos: Doubting the Patriots in New England

Matt LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 02:23:26 -0500

An expletive came flying from the living room that October night in 1986.

Mookie Wilson's slow roller had somehow found its way through the balky legs of Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner, and my father reacted in a manner befitting the latest in a string of heart-wrenching collapses by the Olde Towne Team.

I was just six years old that night, but my perception of the sports world and how things were supposed to work was forever cemented by the Mets' win in Game Six of the World Series.

Losses weren't surprises, I believed—they were expected. The Sox would never beat the Yankees; the Celtics would never again be THE Celtics of Bird, McHale, and Parrish.

And the Patriots...um, who?

What a difference two decades make.

The Red Sox are now a model major league franchise, the C's have discovered a new Big Three, and the Patriots on Saturday likely will become the first team ever to complete a perfect 16-game regular season.

But I still can't relax.

Whether it's the Sox' latest romp through the playoffs (I was worried about the spunky Colorado Rockies because of their remarkable winning streak) or the Pats' perfect season (I'm reminded of the 2005 Indianapolis Colts' awesome run through the regular season, which ended in playoff defeat), I can't shake the nervousness.

"It's rare for the sporting planets to align so magically and rarer still for them to remain that way for long," reporter John Powers wrote in The Boston Globe this week.

Whether it's an inherent New England cynicism or the result of memorable losses sprinkled throughout my youth, I don't expect my team to win—even if I should.

Come Saturday, I'll be be hoping that Tom Brady and the Pats can write history on the cold turf in the Meadowlands against the Giants.

But my chewed fingernails will mock the quiet confidence that should be the hallmark of all Patriots fans.

Hopefully, there will be no expletives this weekend.