Manny traded to Dodgers

[janradder]

It looks like the Manny era has officially ended.  He heads to L. A., home of other Boston cast-offs such as Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe, and Bill Mueller (who, if I remember, has a job in the front office) and former home to Grady Little who was replaced by Manny's new skipper, Joe Torre.  It'll be interesting how Torre handles Manny's frequent walks down the first base line where he turns sure doubles into singles and sometimes outs, or when he sometimes decides it's really not even worth the effort to do that and instead turns to the dugout before the out is even recorded.

I've really enjoyed Manny's time in Boston (and I don't think the team wins either of their last two titles without him) and, in the past, I've tried to overlook his shortcomings and his distractions.  However, these past few weeks, he's been so distracting between his refusal to play (with a bad knee or watching three called strikes in a row when called on to pinch hit) and his declarations that the Red Sox "don't deserve him" that there really was no other solution than to ship him out of Boston.    It's unfortunate.  The Boston fans gave him free passes for his sometimes odd-behavior during the entire eight year tenure and collectively rolled their eyes at his semi-yearly demands to be traded.  Regardless of his behavior on or off the field, the fans rolled with it and gave him standing ovations like the time he came out of the dugout to pinch hit three years ago after the trading deadline passed and his latest "trade-me" demand was not met.

I'll miss some of the crazy stuff he did like the phone call from the wall (and the rumored bathroom break), the high five with a fan from earlier this year in between catching a ball and throwing it in, and even the absolutely head scratching stuff like cutting off Johnny Damon's throw into the infield in 2004 (I still laugh when I see that one).  Unfortunately, though, it was time for him to go.

Comments

[susansugarspun.livejournal.com]

NO!!!!

no no no. This is just wrong.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

When Manny came out with his, "they don't deserve me" comment, I thought the deal would probably happen so it really doesn't surprise me. In many ways, it seems a lot like the Nomar trade -- at the time it seemed unfathomable but, really, how many times have you wished the Sox could do that deal over. Of course, it still remains to be seen what the fall-out on this deal will be. My only big complaint is that for the amount of talent the Sox gave up (Manny, Brandon Moss, Craig Hansen -- Haansen I really have no problem with. I'd given up on him long ago), they should have gotten a relief pitcher back in addition to Bay. In comparison, the Dodgers only gave up two prospects and got Manny in return.

[pierogi-queen.livejournal.com]

That's true, but Manny becomes a free agent after this season - and then if the Dodgers want to keep him, it's going to cost them plenty. (can you hear Scott Boras laughing all the way to te bank?)

I hate to see Manny go as well, but with all the ruckus he was stirring up, he made it impossible for the team to keep him. Bay has numbers comparable to Manny's - let's hope he makes the transition to the American League better than Eric Gagne did. I think that by removing Manny and his disruptions, it gives the Sox a chance to concentrate on getting back to winning - getting back into the play-offs and hopefull another World Series.

You probably would enjoy Scot Grey's commentary from this morning on WTIC. (scroll down the page to "Sports Events" and click on his August 1 commentary) Yesterday's was pretty hard on Manny and the Red Sox - you might want to listen to that one as well. http://www.wtic1080.com/pages/3029.php

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that link. I certainly don't have a problem with the player they got back. You're right -- Jason Bay's numbers do compare well to Manny's (especially when you factor in the team he was playing for, though there's also the expected adjustment lots of players have in transitioning from the NL to the AL). I just thought the Sox gave up to much and the Dodgers too little (and that was before I knew that Boston also sent $7 million to L. A. to pay Manny's salary). I guess, though, it just shows how determined they were to get rid of him, not that I can really blame them. Hopefully they do start to concentrate on playing well again. They've looked horrible of late, like they're sleepwalking through games.