Manny Ramirez traded by Red Sox to Dodgers - Page 3

Lester is developing into one of the better lefties in the game right now, the 1-2 combo of him and Beckett in the playoffs would be pretty damn good.

I think Masterson is going to be in the pen for a while, Buchholz will be okay, I dont think his outing was bad, I just think he gets no run support.

The Sox will have a lot of money off the books this winter, I've heard Ben Sheets name come up a bit, that would make for a great rotation...

When the D-Backs picked up Dunn, I thought that the D-Backs were right back in the race for the NL West. Even if the Dodgers win the World Series, the failure of Colletti to cock block that move is another reason why he should be fired.

But, Manny was the bestest team mate in the club house for the Dodgers. Before Manny, there had been a lot of tension between the veterans and rookies on the team. Some of the rookies felt that they should have been playing everyday with the way they were playing, but were denied that chance by under performing veterans.

Manny was the bridge between the veterans and rookies, and he did a lot for the team beyond his almost .400 batting average with the Dodgers. Even though you could argue that the Red Sox may have done better without Manny in the regular season, I still think they'll feel that loss in the post-season without the services of one of the most clutch hitters in the post-season. I don't understand why the Red Sox didn't avoid all this by promising Manny they wouldn't pick up the option- that's all Manny wanted. This way, the RS could have kept Manny's bat for the playoffs, and a motivated Manny playing for his next contract could have produced for the RS the same way he's done for the Dodgers without causing any more problems. It would have been a win-win for both sides, and the RS wouldn't have had to trade away prospects just to trade Manny and pay the rest of his salary.

But, as great as Manny has been, where he's been everything Dodger fans hoped for and more, I still don't think the Dodgers should sign Manny to a new contract.

Good post, particularly this part:

All The Red Sox wanted was for Manny to play well and honor his contract. That isn't too much to ask, but Manny wasn't willing to do either. The Red Sox have given the man 160 million dollars and they had the option to keep him at 20 million per year for 2 more seasons. They told Manny they would decide what to do at the end of the season, and apparently that wasn't good enough.

I almost entirely blame the whole mess on his agent, Scott Boras, who he hired earlier in the year. The only way his new agent gets paid is if he signs a new contract. If the Sox picked up Manny's options, then Boras wouldn't get any money. So Boras plants the seeds of malcontent, and Manny and the Boston media sensationalize the situation. Manny gets traded with a no-option clause architected by his agent, which means he will get a new contract in the next couple months, and Boras will get paid. Chances are this is going to be a 4 year, 80 million dollar contract, so Boras gets a huge check.