Manny Ramirez and Paul Lo Duca: A Tale of Two Dodgers' Disciplinary Problems

I do feel for Dodgers' fans. They didn't deserve this from Manny Ramirez.

And while they may still go on to win their division, and possibly more, it will be with a lot less hitting, and more due to their other strengths. But they shouldn't be surprised that he broke their hearts, as he did with the Red Sox.

Management probably thought that they were getting the deal of the century with Ramirez for one minor leaguer Bryan Morris, and one replacement level player, Andy LaRoche. 

But such deals usually have a "catch."

Boston managers knew what they were doing when they got rid of him. As to what I thought of the deal for Pittsburgh, suffice it to say that I joined the Bleacher Report five days after the deal for the (then) sole purpose of protesting it, commenting under Todd Reilly's article.

Baseball is about winning games, but not just about winning games. Ball teams are among society's major institutions, which is why good ball players are celebrities.

Matchups are a celebration of effort, achievement, and sportsmanship rolled into one. Games need to be honest, fair, and on a level playing field. That's because ballgames entertain adults, and more important, the players provide role models for children, who often have few other heroes.

Therefore, "citizenship" should be part of the job description for major league players.

Manny Ramirez violated that taboo with the latest disclosure. But "drugs" wasn't the only problem, he was a bad citizen all around, at least in Boston. If he deserves an "A" for baseball performance, he probably deserves an "F" for citizenship.  

That detracts from both his playing value (50 games out is painful) and his trade value. In most instances, I would still rather get a replacement level player in a trade than a good performing, but bad citizen. Still, it would be hard to take him back, although the Dodgers seemed inclined to, based on their management's statements.

In 2004, on the other hand, then General Manager Paul dePodesta dumped catcher Paul Lo Duca in a six-man trade that had at its heart, acquiring starter Brad Penny for Lo Duca.

This was an unpopular decision because Lo Duca was well-regarded, even though he was only a league average hitter. 

Two things made him stand out in LA. One was his position, which is to say that he hit better than the average catcher. But the more important thing was that the Dodgers have been a team of light hitters (in 1965, the year I saw them win the World Series under Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, the team batting average was something like .245), which is to say that fans were starved for some.

The fact that Lo Duca had a drop-dead gorgeous wife, and also that Mr. and Mrs. were fixtures on the social circuit didn't hurt either.

Lo Duca for Penny was probably the right trade to restore the Dodgers' traditional franchise advantage: pitching. But citizenship issues were another reason to get rid of Lo Duca. Like Manny, Lo Duca has "Mitchell Commission" problems. And his wife left him because he was seen with a teenager (How many parents would leave their daughters alone with him?).

I think Paul dePodesta would do the same with Manny as he did with Lo Duca if he were still in charge.