finally, here is a different take on the manny trade rumors, this from barstool
sports, which is a free weekly sports newspaper here in boston. its not a
serious publication, its written from the fans persepctive and its more
humor-based, but they do make some good points! His Consistent, Hall Of Fame
Production Is Killing The Red Sox This makes no sense. According to several
sources, including ESPN's Buster Olney, Manny Ramirez could be traded as early
as this weekend. Since 10/5 rights, he can veto any trade so there are
absolutely no guarantees that anything will actually happen but all reports
indicate that the Red Sox are seriously shopping the left fielder.

This is what this trade boils down to: The Red Sox organization is full of
wimps. There really is no other explanation. What the Red Sox are doing, if a
trade of Ramirez does go through, is essentially deal one of the top ten hitters
in baseball for fifty cents on the dollar just because Manny's effort and
attention-span aren't always top notch. You know, except when he's in the
batter's box absolutely destroying pitches. But how important is Ramirez's
attention-span in the batter's box? Come on. The guy sometimes doesn't try as
hard when the games don't matter. Because there isn't another person in Boston
other than Ramirez who doesn't always give it 100% at work. Certainly not Dan
Shaughnessy when he writes the same "Trade Manny" story every other week for the
past three seasons and certainly not the thousands of people who are right now
reading Barstool Sports instead of doing their jobs.

But, what the hell, Ramirez is a distraction, a crazy, wild-eyed distraction
who does nutso things like occasionally not hustling down the line and sometimes
taking a day off. He's out of control! He has to be stopped. Ramirez and his
homeruns and RBI's are destroying this baseball team. In the name of all that's
holy, please ship this monster, who in his career in Boston has averaged .315,
39 and 118 and 141 games played, out of Boston as quickly as possible. The Red
Sox don't need him. Not when Wily Mo Pena is on the roster.

You want to get really excited? Check out some of the AWESOME players Olney
thinks the Red Sox can get for Ramirez, who just happened to rank among the top
eight in the American League (do you really have to score runs to win in the
AL?) in batting average, home runs, RBI's, walks, slugging percentage, on base
percentage and OPS last season. You'll be on the phone to your bank to take out
a second mortgage on your house so you can afford to see these superstars at
Fenway next year!

RP Scott Linebank
3B Andy LaRoche
P Chad Billingsley
OF Matt Kemp
RP Jonathan Broxton
Now, it makes perfect sense. Trade Ramirez, future Hall of Famer who sometimes
doesn't give 100%, for a bunch of guys for whom the best case scenario is that
they develop into 1/10th the player Ramirez is. That's some shrewd baseball
GM'ing right there.

How many Red Sox hats will the team sell in Japan when they finish third in
the AL East?



---------------------------------
Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]