After-M*A*N*N*Y

One more and I'm done with this...

Steve Silva had an excellent media roundup this morning; although there have been a few more pieces put out since then (notably Charles P Pierce's) for Slate. What's striking is that all of the national columns place the Sox in the "deadline losers" category (akin to my reaction-piece yesterday), whereas the Boston-centered columns push the story line that Manny's time was clearly up.

Watching Theo's press conference, the train of thought was clear, the relationship had run it's course, we were lucky to get a player as good as Jason Bay in return, everyone in the clubhouse can breathe again, etc. And that's fine. It seemed as if Manny's bizarre behavior had reached new heights recently. There's no real way to know how disruptive his presence was on his teammates. It's clear that the Sox caved, though. Whether to Manny's demands, or the "veteran's meeting" or whatever. And they got less than market value. Not a Belichik move, for sure. If all of a sudden, the Sox hitters start producing, and the middle relief core shows up, and Matsuzaka finds the strike zone, then we'll know.

Let's make a number of things clear about the Manny Ramirez era. Everyone knew he was a petulant man-child when he got here. We've been through pouts, contract disputes, the waiver-wire thing, potential trades, questionable injuries, etc. Was it worse this year? I don't know. What I do know, is that he was enabled the entire way. By the media, the ownership, his teammates, the fans. As soon as Manny put on a happy face, and talked about ending his career in Boston, and put the offense on his back for a few months (see Ortiz's absence this year) everyone let it go. So I'm disturbed with how quickly the locals turned on him (I'm including Gammons in this indictment). I won't even give Callahan the luxury of linking to his vitriolic column.

Was everyone holding back this whole time, fearful that Manny would freak out and disappear? Talk of fines, suspensions, and more all came out today. Or is Nomar right, that the Sox brass unload both barrels when shipping someone out of town? I'm finding more of a case for the latter. The Red Sox PR machine, which clearly includes the Globe, sells their side of the story with the tact and efficiency of the Bush White House. Pedro, Schilling & Manny are all jerks to suggest they should negotiate during the season. Theo wants more control. Nomar and Manny sit games out when they want to.

Sox fans (especially those who are Pats fans) understand the cold hearted reasoning that goes into player contract decisions. As much as we want our idols to retire in Boston, there's an understanding that you don't pay for sentimentality at the expense of the future of the team. So there's no reason to portray these stars as bad guys. They get old and don't have the same value they once did. Fine. Admit that and move on. But this tearing down of players to serve a PR purpose bothers me.

It's not time to panic or give up on the season, but things need to pick up soon if the Sox are to stay in the playoff hunt. I'm hoping Colon comes back soon, either to take Bucholz's spot, or to give Beckett a 15-day breather. Bay opens in the 5 hole today, but I expect this to change. I think Ortiz might have to drop to the cleanup, but I'll be satisfied if they come up with a good way to position Ortiz-Lowell-Drew-Bay at 3-4-5-6 so it goes L-R-L-R. And if we're paying Manny to play for the Dodgers, can we send Julio Lugo and $20M along the same lines? Please.

I'll pop a pick-6 up tonight or tomorrow. Till then...

Instant analysis

What just happened?

We (and because I don't feel like proofreading, I'm using the Royal-Boston "We" here, but I'm feeling sardonic, so I'm going to start using "They" when our teams win and "We" when they don't, because it pisses me off that Boston fans do the opposite. Share in the defeat too, massholes.) put a sure-fire hall of famer on the block, and still had to throw in additional players for it to work? For Jason Bay?

Did we overpay to get rid of Manny or Craig Hansen?

This fails to live up to my expectations placed out in yesterday's post. Jason Bay is a poor-man's JD Drew (from the right side). This both weakens the team now, and in the future. Not drastically, but I can't help but think there was more out there. There's still the waiver-deadline in August. If they're still in contention, they'd better pick up a reliever (see how I did that?).

I'm sure this will draw comparisons to the Nomar trade, and I hope it pans out as well, but I'm not seeing it. The Yankees and Angels and White Sox got better this week. The Red Sox did not.

Later, Man-Ram

*UPDATE* - AND We're giving the Dodgers $7M for Manny's salary? Fuck that.

Man-Ram

Well, I didn't feel like weighing in on the Manny situation any more than I did on Friday, but since everyone else is, I'll put in my two cents...

IF they get rid of Manny, the Sox are essentially writing off defending the title this year. That's not the end of the world - as I'm writing this, Beckett is getting yanked in the 6th. Although it's essentially the same team from last year, they don't seem to be missing a certain je n'sais quoi. But it's a decent team, and (with an additional reliable reliever) assuming everyone hits their stride in August/September, there's no reason why they can't compete.

The Angels just made a sweet move to bring in Texeira, and now there isn't a replacement bat out there should Manny leave town. As we saw during Ortiz's absence, the Sox have a lineup that can be pitched around when one of the big boys is missing - hence my assertion that a Manny trade would be the equivalent of ending it for the year.

SO - if they decide that this must happen, they'll have to get a better return than on the TWO first round draft picks they're likely to receive if they let him walk at the end of the year. (Point to Simmons' podcast today for pointing out the absurdity of teams getting draft picks for free-agent rent-a-players. So you give up a prospect, and then get a new one? Remember, the Sox got a 1st for Eric freakin' Gagne last year for god's sake.) So we'd need at least 3 players in return - an arm, a MAJOR power hitting prospect, and either a catching prospect, or a slightly-below-All-Star level outfielder that can play NOW.

If they get that, I'm in.

Otherwise, let's just ride it out.