ESPN's Pedro Gomez has the story that the Red Sox were prepared -- and even sent letters out -- to suspend Manny Ramirez because of his unwillingness to play in July:

According to multiple sources, Boston management had drafted an official letter of suspension for Ramirez, and delivered it to him at Fenway Park at around 11 p.m. on Friday night, July 25. For the second straight game, Ramirez had refused to play that evening, and the Red Sox lost 1-0 to the rival New York Yankees in front of a boisterous and sold-out home crowd.

The letter informed Ramirez that the suspension was to go into effect the next day, Saturday, July 26. It said Ramirez was being suspended without pay for being unwilling to play. Copies of the letter were also sent to Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association and Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras

[...]

Within two hours after Ramirez received the letter of suspension, the Red Sox received two calls, according to sources. The first call was from one of Ramirez's teammates. He told a member of Boston's front office that Ramirez would play in Saturday afternoon's game against the Yankees. Within minutes, the second call came in from Ramirez himself, who confirmed that he would be available for Saturday's game.

When will this saga end? Yes, Manny Ramirez was a slug for a good chunk of his Red Sox career. Maybe he should have been suspended a long time ago, but I'm just happy we don't have to deal with him anymore. Manny will go down as one of the greatest Red Sox ever because of what he did with his bat, but it's time for the Red Sox to cut whatever ties they have left with the dysfunctional slugger.