Mad about manny

by spinz on Jul 31, 2008 6:11 PM EDT

I'm not afraid to dance around it. This trade is BAD for the sox. I nearly snapped when i heard peter gammons say that theres no way they would'v made the playoffs if they kept manny. Excuse me? All the times manny has come out DEMANDING to be traded, and this is the time that manny causes irreversible damage to the team? If we dont make the playoffs itl be because our bullpen sucks, not because we didnt get bay and kept one of the best right handed hitters in the game. If manny was really such a downfall for this team they shouldv just dumped him onto waivers. Instead the sox are sacrificing two prospects, 9 million dollars, and the 2 draft picks they wont get, for one player, jason bay. A guy turning 30 who comes with 1 year, who may or may not have any success in the AL. I just dont buy that manny was going to somehow kill this team, and jason bay is going to be the difference of us making the playoffs. Unless it turns out the sox got another player from this deal, the sox are looking reaaal and desperate and foolish in my eyes right now.

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herd mentality

I agree with your general point. The fact that the herd of Boston sportswriters collectively decided that Manny needed to go is something that still puzzles me. Was I the only one who noticed he was the best hitter on the team in the first half of the season?

It comes down to this: given a choice between a player who is productive and a player who “plays the game the way it is supposed to be played”, sportswriters will invariably favor the latter type. The idea that the Sox should have to pay another team to let them play for them down the stretch is preposterous.

Jason Bay is a good hitter, but he’s never threatened to be a Manny-level hitter. Other than Pujols and ARod, there are no other hitters in the league who have produced consistently at Manny’s level for the past few years.

This is my take: never in the history of baseball has a team traded away its best hitter and then gone one to win the World Series. A certain Boston team, however, has done exactly the opposite: traded away its best hitter and then gone 86 years without winning the World Series.

It would be comical if it were not so sad.

And yes, Manny Ramirez has the maturity of a large 12-year old. That by itself is not a good reason to pay the Dodgers to let him win the NL West.

by RickD on Aug 6, 2008 1:12 AM EDT reply actions