Manny on the Move

[Rokitka]

Boston Red Sox Left Fielder, Manny Ramirez, is headed to the LA Dodgers in a three team deal. Wow, that's all I can say about this and I think this is an obvious moral choice for the Sox rather than a productive choice. Boston gets Jason Bay in return I believe, who will give more of an effort in the field but not even compare to the bat Manny carries.

Thoughts on the trade?

 

[klunderbunker]

This trade to me just isn't a good idea for the Red Sox. Yes, Manny wanted out. Yes, Boston was tired of him. Yes, he was a pain, but the fact of the matter is they won with him. He's got two rings because of them and vice versa. David Ortiz is a great hitter, but it was Manny hitting cleanup. He's a HOFer easily and I just can't picture the Sox defending their title without him in the lineup. He didn't hustle, but when you hit a ball 450 feet you can afford to trot around the bases. He might be able to get the Dodgers to the playoffs, but I'm not sure. He's just one hitter on a team of bad hitters. They'll walk him all the time. Not a bad move for LA though. Pittsuburgh is just kind of forgotten here as they're just sort of along for the ride.

 

[Rokitka]

It's a tough situation for the Sox. The guy was bad-mouthing the organization to the press, claiming they were trying to paint him out to be a bad guy. Well, Manny, when you sit out against the same pitchers each time, we start to catch on to the pattern and realize you're doing it to either a) prove a point, or b) you're afraid to go up against them. But hey, I don't blame you. I'd be afraid to bat against Joba, too.

 

[klunderbunker]

A big thing in this to me though is that I can't believe that Boston thinks this helped their team. I could get the idea of addition by subtraction, but this is just too much to overcome that way. Manny, even not going as hard as he could, still is better than Jason Bay on offense. Bay is a decent player, but Manny is amazing. I think that the luster of the postseason would snap Manny back into reality and then he could have just been released or traded away without issues such as these.

 

[strafro]

Anyone who is saying that Jason Bay is a big dropoff from Manny Ramirez is either crazy or just refuses to look at numbers, let's compare their stats for this season:

Manny: .299 BA, 20 HR, 68 RBI, 66 R, 52 BB, 20 2B
Bay: .282 BA, 22 HR, 64 RBI, 72 R, 59 BB, 23 2B

That looks pretty even to me, the only reason Manny is more highly regarded is because he has been around longer and has actually played on good teams. I am a big Jason Bay fan (I know weird right?) and think that he will be able to thrive in this situation, not sure if he'll be able to step in at the clean up spot, but honestly..give the guy a chance you guys got rid of a major headache and picked up a stud. You should be happy.

 

[Ptd]

Great stats there Strafro, I'm going to rep you for that one. I did not realize how good of a season Bay was having, but I did know he was an above decent batter.

But onto Manny. Honestly, we all saw a trade coming for years to come now. Manny never really wanted to be in Boston, and as A New York Yankee fan I am glad to see him gone, although I must say he is one funny character. What I find ironic is that Joe Torre is now coaching Manny, who woulda thunk it?

 

[strafro]

Great stats there Strafro, I'm going to rep you for that one. I did not realize how good of a season Bay was having, but I did know he was an above decent batter.

But onto Manny. Honestly, we all saw a trade coming for years to come now. Manny never really wanted to be in Boston, and as A New York Yankee fan I am glad to see him gone, although I must say he is one funny character. What I find ironic is that Joe Torre is now coaching Manny, who woulda thunk it?

That is ironic, didn't Manny and Torre have some kind of altercation in the past too, I can't remember.

But yeah, Bay and about 3-4 other guys on the Pirates are having monster years (Nady, McClouth and Doumit). It's just that they are the only ones, Bay is a solid player and just hope that people don't shit all over him because he's not the "almighty" Manny Ramirez.

 

[Ptd]

That is ironic, didn't Manny and Torre have some kind of altercation in the past too, I can't remember.

But yeah, Bay and about 3-4 other guys on the Pirates are having monster years (Nady, McClouth and Doumit). It's just that they are the only ones, Bay is a solid player and just hope that people don't shit all over him because he's not the "almighty" Manny Ramirez.

Yeah I believe they did, they must of, it's the Yanks and the Sox after all.

But wait a second there, how is Nady involved in this trade? I thought he was recently traded to the Yankees? But yeah, I believe the Sox fans wont accept Bay at first, just because he's not Manny, but they'll get over it.

 

[Rokitka]

Anyone who is saying that Jason Bay is a big dropoff from Manny Ramirez is either crazy or just refuses to look at numbers, let's compare their stats for this season:

Manny: .299 BA, 20 HR, 68 RBI, 66 R, 52 BB, 20 2B
Bay: .282 BA, 22 HR, 64 RBI, 72 R, 59 BB, 23 2B

You can compare stats all you want, but the fact is there isn't a better clutch hitter in baseball today than Manny Ramirez. Not to mention the experience he brings by the time the playoffs roll around.

Plus, although Manny was never the world's great left fielder, Bay has an extremely weak arm for an outfielder. You're trading a future Hall-of-Famer for a good batter. Just doesn't even out to me

 

[A.J.]

This deal is nothing but the Sox were tired of Manny being Manny and they felt that if they wanted to do something they needed to lose Manny. Sure the Sox know there was no way that they get equal value, but they had to move Manny. Jason Bay is a nice player, but no way in hell well he put up the numbers that Manny did against the hated Yanks and timely hits in the postseason. He may have brought them some problems over the years and especially this year, but his numbers are to good to let him go.

Pirates just keep on rebuilding and can we just call the Pirates a farm system for the rest of the MLB? Really they never keep any of their young talent. Though if the Sox's felt they needed to lose Manny to be a better group as a team then it was worth it. Manny is on the decline and if he wasn't dealt at the deadline he would not be back with the Sox's next year. So better get something for him then nothing all even though they gave up two ready MLB prospects.

The Dodgers are only renting Manny as I doubt he will back with them next year.

 

[Frank the Frowner]

I can see Brandon Moss turning out a little like David Murphy. He winds up succeeding, but the Sox just didn't have room for him in their plans. I see him as pretty much being Murphy with just a little more power.

I was pretty excited over Craig Hansen when he first got drafted, but he's turned out to be a colossal bust. John Farrell is a pretty good pitching coach, and he couldn't do much for Hansen. Chances are, this is the best that Hansen is going to be. He's got a nasty slider, but has zero control and is a headcase.

Funny side story about Hansen... a friend of mine went to the same school that the girl he was dating/banging went to. Apparently he offered to do his homework so he could go out to UMass for the weekend. So, in that case, he seemed like an alright enough guy.

I don't like Bay, because he killed my fantasy team in my money league. I also don't know how much he'll be able to adjust to Boston, which is a foreign country compared to the Pittsburgh baseball market. Like a friend of mine said, he was the go-to guy in Pittsburgh, so maybe he'll have no problem adjusting at all. If he doesn't work out, he only has one year left on his deal anyway.

The thing is, people are saying the Sox aren't going to make the playoffs and garbage like that. What they don't understand is that the team needed a major shake-up, and Manny was going to have a shitty attitude the rest of the way out. This is still a great lineup with or without Manny. The Rays didn't do anything yesterday, and I feel a lot better about the Sox now because Manny is gone. They're going to be motivated to prove that they didn't need Manny and his shit attitude. Gerry Callahan actually has a great article in the Herald today about how much of a bag of shit Ramirez really was. In between not visiting sick kids who visited the Spring Training facility, to not meeting with wounded soldiers like the rest of the team did, it goes to show you how much of an asshole he really was.

Time will tell if the move pans out. Hopefully the trade has a Nomar-like effect on this team.

 

[RBH]

Well my friends..Manny Ramirez is officially the Dodgers problem now. This does make the Red Sox a better team in the fact that they got rid of the biggest load of crap east of the Mississipi but you know what? The Red Sox are not the best team in baseball anymore. They are going to have a hard time defending that title this year because you have upstarts like the White Sox making noise and of course the current best team in baseball the Anaheim Angels.

The Angels just finished off a sweep of the Red Sox that had nothing to do with Manny. These teams are going in opposite directions and I am confident enough to say that this is the year the Angels finally get ov er the hump and beat those damn Red Sox. And eys it is possible for the Red Sox to not make the playoffs seeing as they are only a game ahead of New York. But then again we are beating them too so maybe not. But the Twins are also closing in on that slim lead and the Rays are a good team despite what you guys think. The Rays have a great minor leaguer in david Price waiting in the wings and he could provide a K-Rod type role for the Rays (By that I mean be a shut down reliever in the playoffs sans 02). Like I said earlier, almost no one repeats anymore and its easy to see why, everyone wants to beat the crap outta the champs. Manny is gone but the problems aren't.