Manny being Manipulated

Here's an article by Bill Simmons about Manny.  

I'm debating buying a Manny Rameriz 99 Dodger Jersey.  I've only been a traitor once in my life, buying a Toronto Blue Jay hat and wearing it everyday for Clemens tenure there.  I still rooted for the Red Sox, it was more of a statement I made as an 11 year old.  The Red Sox screwed up by letting Roger go.  I'll still root for them now, but the Jersey will be a statement.  The Red Sox screwed up by letting Manny go.  

Standing Ovation

Another title I considered for this post:

"Go Red Sox," because as I've said, I will cheer for Jason Bay's new team until the Pirates are good again. I will still be a Pirates fan, of course, but you can expect me to follow the Red Sox closely come playoff time, especially when Bay's at the plate.

But ultimately when I think about the trade deadline, I am blown away by the Pirates' rookie GM Neal Huntington.

Huntington was hired with no prospects and a pathetic major league roster. Many fans clamored this offseason for him to trade away Bay, Jack Wilson, Nady, Marte, and others right away. He resisted.

As it turned out, every one of those guys improved on last year's performances, especially Nady and Bay, who churned out All-Star-caliber years.

Another player improved, our center fielder Nate McLouth. The result was that we had a pretty darn good offense this season. Our pitching was terrible though, worst in the league. Conventional wisdom says to hang on for dear life to those hitters and try desperately to improve pitching through trades and offseason signings.

That is perhaps what former GM Dave Littlefield would have done, desperate for the team to look at least average, mortgaging the future for the illusion of competing.

But Huntington made the right choice. He knows that to truly compete, the Pirates need a stronger minor league system and not just talent at the major league level, but talent with depth. After making no significant moves in the offseason, Huntington had what appears to be a decent draft, although there are still many good players from the draft who haven't signed.

At the deadline, all eyes were now on the former Indians Assistant GM to make his move. And he performed a magic trick.

Over the weekend, he sent Xavier Nady (an impending free agent) and Damasco Marte to the Bronx in return for one top-shelf-potential-but-very-young OF prospect and three very ordinary, average pitching prospects. (Of course, they instantly became the Pirates' 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best pitching prospects.)

Some praised the return Huntington got for a LOOGY and a mediocre OF having a career year who would leave in a couple months. Others complained that it wasn't enough. Perhaps it's not an easy call.

As it turned out, though, Neal had mysterious ways, and ulterior motives in making a New York trade five days before the deadline.

Still spouting lies that the Pirates had no serious intentions of trading Jason Bay, Huntington began talks with two teams who suddenly had incentive to improve: the Yankees division rivals Tampa Bay and Boston. Tampa Bay, whose system is so rich with prospects that they don't know what to do with them, seemed unwilling to budge on a few players the Pirates were demanding. Meanwhile, Boston, who needed to rid themselves of Ramierez, searched desperately for the right team to send him to so that they could replace him with Bay.

At this point, TB and Boston had incentive not just to one-up the Yankees but to avoid having the other team improve. Not only was Huntington selling Bay at his highest value, but he was in a self-created perfect situation for negotiating with the upper hand.

As a result, Huntington was able to reject offers all week right up until the last second, ultimately taking 3B Andy LaRoche, SP Brandon Morris, RP Craig Hansen, and OF Brandon Moss. From what I've read in the past 24 hours, LaRoche is a gem, a major-league ready player who should eventually be a star. Morris has star potential and is only 21. Hansen and Moss have less potential but can step right in and be certain contributors for years here.

This deal was more fruitful than any of the rumored deals we "had together" with Florida or Tampa Bay. Huntington took players at their peak value, traded them to a team who had incentive to trade that was created by Huntington, and picked up great prospects who are being undervalued by the Dodgers, along with solid contributors fromo Boston.

Bravo, Neal. For two impending free agents and Jason Bay, you got 3 guys who SHOULD be future All-Stars and 5 other guys who should be contributors on the Pirates' eventual turnaround team in a couple years.

Until then, GO RED SOX!!

Manny-Bay-Prospects... Does it make sense?

I woke up this morning to see if I was dreaming about the likely three-way trade involving Jason Bay and Manny. Here's why it makes sense for everyone involved:

1. Boston gets to send Manny to the NL while getting a player in return who is nearly as productive this year but is not disruptive. Bay still has a year before free agency as well, and could therefore become part of the Red Sox' longterm plans. And the most important part for for Boston: Tampa Bay does not get Jason Bay. Boston also gets reliever John Grabow. It costs them Manny for the playoff run, cash, and a couple strong prospects.

2. Florida gets a productive outfielder, Manny, free for a playoff run (from what I hear Boston will pay Florida the rest of Manny's salary). They give up a couple strong prospects.

3. Pittsburgh gets much needed high-level talent for their farm system, something like four players. They give up Jason Bay.

At first I was skeptical that Boston would trade Manny at this point in the year but considering age, won't Bay be at least as good as Manny for the next few years? And they can more easily keep him around.

Meanwhile, we know Florida is a weird team and probably just wants to go on a strong run this year before selling their team off or something. They do not have to pay the full cost for Bay to the Pirates so it is not a big loss for them.

The Pirates will presumably get great return on Jason Bay, because the Rays and the Red Sox now have to work against each other, both having a desire not only for Bay but also for the other team to not have Bay.

Rumors are that either the Pirates want slightly better prospects or the Marlins want Boston to send a prospect their way. I'm sure I'll be addicted to checking back all day to see what happens.

The greatest part is that the Pirates don't NEED to trade Bay. If we're not happy about the deal, just hang onto him and trade him in the off-season or next year at this time. With a year of arbitration left, the guy is like gold. We should get a couple elite prospects and a couple 2nd or 3rd tier prospects for him.

Finally, with Tampa Bay and Boston both in the running for Bay, the Nady/Marte-to-Yankees trade looks better and better, as it turned up the heat on these two teams to improve their situation.

Manny Rameriz, David Ortiz, Barry Bonds

I just got back from Ohio and Joe's wedding. It was a really good time, though I foolishly forgot my keys along with a few other items...

Lots happened when I was away on the Red Sox front. Manny celebrated Joe's wedding by hitting career home run number 500. The next day he hit number 501. Today, 502. I had a feeling he'd go on a rampage as soon as he got 500 out of the way.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox will be without David Ortiz for at least a month, and perhaps the rest of the season. Here's the video of him getting hurt. I don't really see what happened, but the possibility of losing him for the year begs the question. Who can replace Ortiz?

I thought about how it's Theo's job...nay, moral obligation, to get someone. Citizens of Boston are paying way too much for tickets to not replace him. But I'm a fan of the Ellsburys and Lesters and Papelbons of the world...so I don't want to ruin the farm system. The first name that popped into my head, and granted I'm a bit tired, was Barry Bonds.

Think about it. Who better to replace an excellent left handed hitter who can't play the field than an excellent left handed hitter who can't play the field.

There are two drawbacks. First, from what I hear is he's a complete total jerk. I'm not so worried about that. Winning seems to fix that. Just ask the Cincinnati Bengals about Corey Dillion and the Oakland Raiders about Randy Moss. Then ask the New England Patriots about the same two.

The bigger problem is the mutual hatred between Barry Bonds and the city of Boston. And no, this has nothing to do with steroids. It has to do with the fact Bonds is a complete total ignorant imbecile, and the first time the Sox played the Giants, Bonds said the following

"Boston is too racist for me. I couldn't play there. That's been going on ever
since my dad was playing baseball. I can't play like that. That's not for me, brother."
When the reporter countered that the racial climate has changed in Boston, Bonds
responded, "It ain't changing. It ain't changing nowhere."

That was taken from here. However, as far as I know, Bonds wants to play, and nobody seems to want him. He might very well take an incentive laden contract. Especially if it's the only offer on the table. Even if it costs a bunch to get him, who cares? There's no salary cap and the Red Sox make an obscene amount of money. This isn't the Kansas City Royals. Theo can afford to be wrong, and in my opinion, owes it to the Boston fans to at least call Bonds' agent.

And yes, I think Bonds would be booed by the home crowd at Fenway. That is, until he hits his first home run...

This would be the lineup:
Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Rameriz, LF (Neither Manny nor David likes to hit cleanup...)
Bonds, DH
Lowell, 3B
Youkilis, 1B
Drew, RF
Varitek, C
Lugo, SS

P.S.-The author in the above link actually agrees with Barry, and then goes on to supply all sorts of "evidence." He forgets to mention Bonds admitted to never once stepping foot in Boston, and neglects to mention if he's ever been here himself. I won't refute everything he said, cause yeah, stuff that happened is horrible. I won't mention how the St. Louis Hawks refused to draft Bill Russell based on race. I won't mention how Red Auerbach, often accused of being a racist himself, traded for the draft pick to get Russell. Or how Auerbach was the first coach to start five black players. Or even mention how he was the first to hire a black head coach in any sport. I won't even mention how the Bruins were the first NHL team to have a black player. Neither will anyone else, as it doesn't work very well with Boston's racist reputation. But I will comment on his "Chicago and New York" thing. I get a little upset when people root for New York over Boston cause of race. The Yankees were pretty white themselves, also being the one of the last teams to integrate. If race is your reason for hating the Red Sox, so be it. But don't be an ignorant fool about it. Root for the Indians or Orioles in the AL. Cleveland was first in the AL to have a black player (and first in the AL to have a black pitcher). Baltimore, on the other hand, was second and has a less offensive name.