End of an Era

Well, I lied. Manny is gone. Traded to the Dodgers. Along with $7 million, and Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss to the Pirates for Jason Bay. Ironically, the move comes 4 years to the day after the Nomar trade. And as with that move, it involves trading away a disgruntled superstar - a Boston icon - in order to remove the problem they pose to the clubhouse.

I'm not going to lie - there's no way Manny can be replaced. As good a player as Jason Bay is, he's no future first-ballot Hall of Famer. But as much as the stats make the trade look stupid, Manny's actions over the past week have finally forced the Sox's hand. I know, I know, it was only yesterday that I said there was no way Manny was being traded. But that was before the final statement came out and the ridiculous sign he held up in the dugout during the game (apparently there was a deal in place to send him straight up to the Packers for Brett Favre). When someone says something like "The Red Sox don't deserve me" after all that has transpired during the past week (the mysterious knee ailments *conveniently* during the Yankees series, all but demanding a trade), everything changes. All of a sudden, the incidents with Youk and the traveling secretary can no longer be excused. And that's really the heart of the matter - it had become impossible to overlook Manny being Manny, to disregard him running at 70% to 1st every time, to excuse him being a clubhouse enigma. Because now he's openly antagonizing the organization for no good or apparent reason. He thought the Sox were trying to make him the bad guy? He made himself the bad guy. He's only got himself to blame for the way things worked out.

While not quite as traumatic as the Nomar trade - which came nearly out of nowhere and essentially transformed the makeup of the team - it was still somewhat of a shock. Right up to and through the deadline itself, the word was that the deal with the Marlins was dead. That Manny was staying put. But all of a sudden, the reports started to filter in that the Dodgers were now in the mix. And that that's where Manny was going. I didn't want to believe it. But I had to. I'm not in the front office, so I'm not going to pretend I am and offer what I think should've been done based on my limited knowledge. However, I will say this - I trust Theo and the brain trust up there. Considering they gave up 3 players and $7 million in order to make sure Manny was traded, I'd say they had very good reasons for doing so. In any case, I just hope the product on the field doesn't suffer for it. And also in any case - good luck in LA Manny. I still think you're one of the greatest. Even if you are a spoiled, lazy, and just plain impetuous space cadet.

Oh, and even though it was written prior to the trade, this post by Chad Finn (formerly of my hometown paper) perfectly sums it all up: http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2008/07/going_going.html. I just wish I could write that well. Oh well, something to shoot for.