Man-Ram Gone to LA - Red Sox Postseason Hopes Might Be Gone with Him
July 31, 2008
Wonder boy and his boss just outdid themselves…
Way to go Theo Epstein and John Henry. You just ruined your team’s batting order and blew your team’s chances at the playoffs. Oh, and the Los angeles Dodgers got the bat they needed - your player Manny Ramirez - for nothing when you could have allowed him to produce for you and lead you to the playoffs and then let him go.
And you got Jason Bay.
For a shoe-in Hall of Fame player you got J-A-S-O-N frigging Bay.
You guys - the Boston Red Sox - took what, a century to catch up to the New York Yankees? And you, Theo Epstein, were the spearhead of the Red Sox revival. Your 21st century baseball insight overtook the Big Apple 20th century machine. You brought in the right players from other teams, promoted the right guys from the minors, and stood firm when everyone around you in the American League was scuffling to make that magic move.
But today you blinked. You blinked hard, too. Maybe you could have traded Ramirez for Mark Texiera — maaaay-be. And that might have been okay. Might have.
But you watched Brian Cashnman get Xavier Nady and Ivan Rodriguez and you ridded yourself of Manny Ramirez ——– and I nearly forgot to mention the two prize young players you also gave up, outfielder Brandon Moss and 96 MPH-throwing Craig Hanson.
I can hear Cashman’s smile it’s so big.
The headlines in every New Yaaaawk newspaper should read, “Cashman Punks Epstein!”
Instead of talking with Manny early this season when he began squawking, you let it go and did nada. Never approached him, never sat him down to hear his side to assess his feelings. No, you and John Henry played, ‘We’re the baddest management team around’ and blew off your team’s chances of doing anything in the near future.
Think about it. JD Drew had overcome his culture shock enough to be an All-Star, David Ortiz is healthy again, and the third cog in the batting lineup is Manny — oh sorry, make that Jason Bay.
Experts like the venerable Peter Gammons are saying the Red Sox would not have made the playoffs if Ramirez had stayed in Boston the remainder of the season. But Gammons also said two Boston players had already hit him up by text message and said they will miss Ramirez mightily because they know he is a good man with a good heart.
Plus, there’s 274 and 868.
That’s Manny’s total home runs and RBI in Boston in case you forgot Theo. That’s 34 and 112 per season. That’s production you lost and cannot retrieve.
But all snark aside, Manny Ramirez made the Boston Red Sox batting order. Not David Ortiz and certainly not any other third hitter placed with those two.
Here are the numbers with before Ortiz was hurt this season and after he was hurt:
Batting average: .280 before; .279 after.
Runs per game: 5 before; slightly over 5 after.
Home runs per game: 1.05 before; 1.15 after.
On-base percentage: .353 before; .360 after.
Slugging percentage: .411 before; .450 after.
Record: 34-24 before; 26-19 after.
Sure, Ortiz has played hurt but his present numbers are the lowest they’ve been since he came to Chowdertown in 2003: .261BA, .354 OBP, .491Slugging %.
You can make the case that Drew is the key to the present lineup because his stats looked like this when he batted sixth in the order: 282/.383/.409 with four homers and 22 RBI in 45 games. In the 42 games after he hit .300/.429/.700 with 14 homers and 35 RBI. However, since Ortiz returned to the lineup Drew has been flirting with the Mendoza Line.
With Manny gone Drew will once again move up in the batting order and Bay will probably bat sixth. The thought here is for Red Sox manager to take pressure off Bay because all of Red Sox Nation will be expecting the ex-Pirate to produce - and do it immediately.
Yes, with Bay Boston gets better defensively and yes the front office can breathe again. But will the Red Sox hit? And will they hit in the clutch?
Despite his All-Star performance JD Drew is known for his fragile psyche. Who knows how he’ll react to be bumped back up in the batting order? He might feel relieved, he might feel like he’s being jerked around. Only time will tell.
But what we do know is that Man-Ram is gone and Boston Red Sox management had every opportunity to avert this present and exchange it for a smoother present with Manny Ramirez in the lineup. We also know that the Boston clubhouse will forever be altered, and not for the better. Say what you will about Ramirez but he was not a good teammate, but a great teammate.
In a sport as oddly dependent on team cohesiveness while being full of individual battles on the field, a cohesive clubhouse with the right mix of personalities is worth 20 games in the win column. Players who are indifferent to each other or who are at each other’s throats can make the most star-studded team flounder.
What this all came down to is Theo Epstein’s refusal to enter into meaningful contract talks with Ramirez. And now he is gone. Management, through the P.R. department will spin this to make Ramirez look bad. They will point to his refusal to play when he was scheduled to face certain pitchers. They will say that they did not know how many games Ramirez was going to play down the stretch when the team needed him the most.
But those players texting Peter Gammons aren’t lying.
And now owner John Henry and Theo Epstein will find out Ramirez’s value to the team the hard way.
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9 Responses to “Man-Ram Gone to LA - Red Sox Postseason Hopes Might Be Gone with Him”
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I will be very curious to now see “the manny effect” on Big Papi. Will he get the Barry Bonds treatment? Having the luxury of Manny Ramirez batting behind you is no small consideration…
Manny Ramirez was the key to that lineup. I agree 100%. David Ortiz, for all he did in the post-season, always had Manny behind him. Yankee pitchers knew good and damn well they couldn’t get both of them out — and they were too scared to hit one or both (and definitely not Manny). They probably figured they could outrun Big Papi - but Manny would whooooop that ass before the po-po or help from the dugout arrived.
I’m glad to see him go. He’s an excellent player and the Red Sox still suck ass.
The Red Sox didn’t come up as winners in this trade whatsoever but to say that Cashman punked the Sox is absolutely ridiculous.
WOW the Yankees got XAVIER NADY????
WOW the Yankees got PUDGE????
Cashman didn’t punk shit. Nady has been an overhyped “blue chipper” since he set foot in the big leagues as evidenced by his ability to never really hold down an everyday job until he got to Pittsburgh where he beat out, who?, Rajai Davis! He couldn’t beat out an elderly Cliff Floyd or Shawn Green in New York, he couldn’t hit for shit in San Diego. His career high in homers is 20. WOW! Color the entire league envious!
I gave my thoughts on Pudge. Enjoy his first pitch swinging, enjoy his double play balls, and enjoy his overrated “clutch” ability. Pudge hasn’t been clutch since Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS. He’s won 13 gold gloves, here’s a standing ovation. The Tigers were among the league leaders last season and they’re back near the tops this year in passed balls and wild pitches.
Of course the Red Sox lose out on Manny. Of course the front office in Boston has issues.. but to say Cashman punked the Red Sox? C’mon, get a grip. The Cubs punked everyone’s ass this year and the Brewers are a very close 2nd. My bet says that Farnsworth makes more of a difference in Detroit than Pudge does in New York.
Bay hasn’t been horrible, considering his home park in Pittsburgh is one of the worst places for a right handed power hitter to hit…
32
35
22 (in 106 games)
21 bombs
All while maintaining high .800s almost .900 OPS. Not as dominating, not as intimidating, but a better base runner, better defender, younger and cheaper.
It looks bad right now, but it looked bad in 04 when the Sox traded Nomahhhhhhh
Boney-
The Cubs and Brewers are in the National League. When you add players and one who is a HOFer that can help you and your pitching staff (notice I never said a word about his hitting, which should give you a clue as to what I feel he can do for the Yankees, so why you went into a detailed description of how Rodriguez cannot hit is beyond me) while your primary rival gives up a HOFer who is the mainstay of your batting order, I’d say the rival got punked.
And to compare Jason Bay to Manny Ramirez in any way shape or form as a batter is ———– well, mentally less than inspired.
This was all about next year and rebuilding. The Red Sox, I believe were swept on the west coast by the Angels and just got killed at Fenway. It wsn’t even competitive. You saw what the Halo’s did to the Yankees last night. I think Sox management realized that they weren’t or anyone else was beating the Angels this year and cashed in their chips. They weren’t bring Manny back next year and he knew it so they let him be someone else’s potential problem. Strictly business.
Yeah it makes them worse this year but the Sox will be buyers this winter. This is sabremetrics team building.
Me, I like Manny just like I liked Barry but you will pay the price when you aren’t the company man. Better get all you can get and get it now cause nobody wants yesterday’s news.
The sawx can get over this…if they sign Bonds. Otherwise Tampa Bay wins this division.
dwil,
While I agree that Manny’s past numbers make it hard to look past the fact that the RedSux sold the farm just to get rid of him, I’ll also continue to argue that getting Bay in return isn’t exactly writing off this season and hoping for better returns next season.
Bay is a capable player, he’s a good hitter, he’s 7 years younger than Manny, he’s a good defender, and we all know how the numbers all of the sudden become inflated once a player moves from the NL to the AL. To write this off as “oh well, Cashman punked the Red Sox” is just like reading the bold headline of a column and not reading between the lines.
Bay’s numbers are comparable to Manny’s this season, and will be comparable to Manny’s next season and every season after that until Manny retires. Considering Manny is 36 now and Bay is 29, it gives the Red Sox at least 7 years of 30 bombs and at or above .300 batting average. Again, Bay isn’t better than Manny, but I think that Bay has the ability to become what David Justice was for the Indians nearly 10 years ago.
I know you didn’t mention Pudge’s hitting, but you did mention his defense which hasn’t exactly been superb the last 2 seasons. He will not help drop the Yankees team ERA .5 just because of his signal calling. He can handle a young pitching staff because of his experience, but the Yankees have been through the rigors of postseason play and know how to be successful.
Boney -
I wrote “.3 to .5.” Please be accurate. I give that respect to people, I’d like it returned.
There are no pitchers who do it alone it doesn’t matter how much postseason experience they have. A good catcher is as important as the man on the mound. In fact a great catcher can make a pitcher and an entire pitching staff much better than it actually is.
Now, you might be right about Jason Bay as a hitter but you might be wrong. Not everyone can play in Boston and that’s been proven time and time again. Playing in relative anonymity is actually nice for a batter becaue there is no pennant race pressure and no expectation to succeed. But playing in Boston is a playing in a pressure-cooker akin to New York.
You see, with Manny you knew what you were going to get. We don’t know what we’ll get with Jason Bay. So, why take a 50-50 at best chance, when you have the sure thing and one of the best right-handed hitters in the history of the game on your team - plus he’s the best clutch hitter in your team’s storied history outside of Ted Williams (Manny was the 2004 World Series MVP and it damn sure wasn’t for his fielding!)?
dee-
agreed on the company man thing…. and yes, Theo is playing the sabermetrics field… but sabermetrics are out the window in Boston. “Can you take the heat metrics” is equally important in measuring a player’s potential for success in in Beantown.