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GMs Ned Colletti and Neal Huntington are turning cartwheels right about now. In about as last minute as a deadline trade can be, the Red Sox finally unloaded Manny Ramirez in a three-way deal with the Pirates and Dodgers. He will exchange his red socks for blue, the Pirates will gather a lot of prospects and OF Jason Bay will be headed to Boston to replace Ramirez on their roster. As part of the deal, Ramirez’s two one-year options will be void, and he has agreed to decline arbitration with Los Angeles this winter. Scott Boras is also doing cartwheels over his new free agent-to-be.
If the rumor is true, our new left fielder starting August 1 could be Pirates outfielder Jason Bay. While he doesn’t come close to the hitting ability or power of Manny Ramirez in his prime, the 29-year old is still a good hitter (.282/.376/.516 lifetime) and has been viewed as a more balanced and complete player, with excellent outfield instincts and a very strong arm. Let’s see if that view holds water.
Will Carroll, who began the Manny Ramirez to the Fish drama last night, has an update. According to him, a three-way deal between the Red Sox, Marlins and Pirates is in its “final stages”. In this scenario, here’s what each team would get:
Boston: OF Jason Bay and LHP John Grabow
Florida: OF Manny Ramirez, cash and a prospect from Boston
Pittsburgh: OF Jeremy Hermida and some prospects from Florida and Boston
This is the first scenario that seems to make sense to me, as Bay is a far more polished hitter than Hermida at this point, and a better substitute for Ramirez. Joe Frisaro at MLB.com echoes Carroll’s sentiments, lending it some further credence. I think this could work out for all teams involved.
However, a HUGE warning flag is that all of these players were in their lineups tonight. Rather, 1B Mike Jacobs was pulled from the Marlins lineup tonight. If the deal were truly close, they should all have sat. So I say that this has one chance in three or four of happening by the 4PM deadline tomorrow.
UPDATE: Pinch me. Will Carroll reports that the three teams have reached an agreement and contacted the Commissioner’s Office about it. The last (and not trivial) matter is to decide what prospects swap sides and get all the paperwork done by 4PM. This deal could still fall through, but it’s starting to look like it’s hasta la vista, Manny.
Hearing some of the players’ comments about Manny Ramirez today, I’m convinced that this time the Sox really do want to get rid of him. However, it is looking like all the aforementioned suitors have dropped out of the Manny sweepstakes; but at the last minute, there has appeared a dark horse- the Florida Marlins. Say what? The Marlins whose whole payroll makes less than Manny does? Yeah, those guys. WEEI 850 just reported that the Sox and Marlins are trying to hammer out a deal as we speak. Not that it’s close or anything, but it could happen. It’s actually not THAT crazy, as they signed Carlos Delgado and have been in on big names in the past, like Alfonso Soriano.
I won’t even dignify the trade rumor regarding Miguel Tejada. It’s a good thing the Sox are denying interest. Why on earth would we want a washed up hitter who is likely older than his stated 34 years, probably can’t play short too much longer and is under investigation for steroids?
This deal won’t happen because of too many reasons. The Astros still fancy themselves as in it, and Julio Lugo remains untradeable because of his injury and his contract. At best this is just a smokescreen story and a waste of time; at worst, it’s ignorant media coverage.
I’ve said that I still believe that Manny Ramirez is still a highly valuable player. But Manny managed to do it again, and this might be the one that broke the Manny’s back. After being cleared by team doctors to play, he pulled himself out of the lineup with a sore knee. The Sox clubhouse was closed to the media, and after a team meeting, Manny was back in the lineup. Turns out he would have faced a team suspension if he had not played yesterday. Theo Epstein told Tim McCarver yesterday before the game that if Manny Ramirez is willing to waive his 10-5 no-trade rights, he would try to deal Ramirez before the deadline. All of this adds up to some bad juju for the long-time Sox slugger.
It looks like the bullpen could be rollercoastering into another dominant phase; those guys have done a bang-up job of late, and have a 3.77 ERA for the month of July. The last week, when the starters carried most of the load, of course has been very good. If the starters get in a groove, that will help these guys from getting overused and overexposed.
Despite the lack of a rock-solid setup man, the Sox have several guys who could step up in the role and be dominant this year. That’s what I like about them, and that may be what prevents a trade from being made for a veteran reliever.
Justin Masterson threw 2 2/3 perfect innings in his first outing out of the bullpen. Can this kid do anything more to endear himself to Red Sox Nation this season?
Even after the sweep in Seattle, it’s well-publicized that the Red Sox have one of the worst road records in baseball at 24-32 (and the best home record at 36-11). Analysts have struggled to explain how badly our boys play away from Fenway. But could it just be bad luck?
Patrick Sullivan at Baseball Analysts compares Boston’s road OPS and OPS-against with other AL contenders, and finds that the road record belies actual performance. One more reason to sleep a little sounder while the Sox are on the road.
That’s what Danny Knobler at CBS Sports seems to think. Knobler speculates that the return on a deal might be Alex Cora, who has “fallen out of favor in Boston”. Uh, excuse me? Did I miss something here? Cora is a guy that the Red Sox signed for two years because they love him and they want him to coach for them in the future. Acquiring Uribe would require a roster spot to free up, but that doesn’t mean we would swap these guys straight up.
David Ortiz feels great. His wrist is fine so far, he’s spraying the ball in BP, and he hit his second HR for Pawtucket in as many days, a 3-run shot off of Anastacio Martinez. Keep ‘em coming, Papi!
UPDATE: Make that 3 HR in 3 games for Pawtucket.
