I'm kind of bummed about losing Manny. He was one of the definitive faces of the franchise's recent success and will always evoke memories of the good times. The media loved saying Manny being Manny. Now they can play it up on someone else's time. From an unemotional standpoint, good deal for the Sox. In basketball, it's smart to trade for a comparable (if you squint) and significantly younger talent. I suppose its no different for baseball and I should warm up to the deal after a couple days. It feels like a breakup. Playing for Joe Torre? Yyyuck! I AM glad unequivocally that the Rays didn't get Bay.
I don't know why trading Manny would make the Red Sox a better team and don't get why they seemed so desperate to trade him. Sure he was a distraction due to his antics but nothing new, they'd handled it before as well. Wonder how big papi feels about his buddy leaving..
i'll paraphrase: that he was tired of them (the Sox) and they were tired of him that they didn't deserve to have a player like him there that they always mistreat star players, citing nomar as an example
i think he took it to a point where they weren't sure what they were going to get from him going forward
Wow...Didn't think it would happen...Why did Pittsburgh want to get rid of Bay? Seemed affordable for the next two years and definitley talented... Not sure what Pitt got, but seems like a good deal for all...
Yeah he had gone pretty far, but I mean his bat in the lineup is definitely gonna be missed, you can't replace Manny. They got a great player in Jason Bay in which they also got long term flexibility, but Manny was proven in the playoffs, a clutch hitter, and a Yankee-killer. Oh well, we will see what happens..
Well, I am not surprised by this move. The way Manny had been acting, getting rid of him almost took on an "addition by subtraction" motif. Red Sox were pretty much screwed by him and his comments (sorta like how Quitten screwed the Rockets over) - teams knew they were desperate to get rid of him and as a result, all the Red Sox could get for him was Jason Bay. So, as you can tell, I don't think Boston got nearly enough for him. Hate the fact that we also had to give up Moss but I won't miss Hansen at all. He was too damn inconsistent and didn't trust in his stuff. You have to remember that the Red Sox had been pretty much unbeatable at Fenway this season until recently where they have lost 5 of their last 6. Granted that has been to good teams like the Yankees and the Angels, but the Sox last year probably would have gone 5-1 in that stretch instead of 1-5. As a matter of fact, the Sox used to own the Angels but not anymore as LAA finished 8-1 against them this season. The Red Sox's biggest problem (outside of the Manny distraction) had been an incredibly inconsistent bullpen. No one outside of Papelbon has been that good this year for them and last season, their bullpen was pretty stellar. I was really hoping we could have gotten some bullpen help but getting rid of Hansen may actually turn out to be a positive for the pen (I'm not kidding on that one). The ironic thing is that my father is a huge Dodgers fan but I don't think he is going to be happy that Manny is on his team (I haven't been able to talk to him about it since he's been on the golf course all day today but I know he knows about this deal). He'll probably come around to liking Manny if the Dodgers are able to get into the playoffs (and they probably will considering how Arizona is unable to break away from the rest of the division). Torre will probably be a good manager for him but then again, I thought Francona was the best manager for an unpredictable and free spirit like Manny. I'm not going to request a name change here as too many people know me as "Manny" (although I might ask Clutch to change my handle from "Manny Ramirez" to just "Manny"). It doesn't really matter anyway - as I am unable to post much here anymore due to my job and not having internet at home. I'm just counting the days to the beginning of the NBA season thanks to the pickup of Ron Ron. Besides, Boston has won 2 world series in the last 4 seasons - I really can't complain about them sucking or missing the playoffs or anything else like that.
No, they're trading a very good hitter for a very good hitter that's younger with better defense and better baserunning. Check the numbers, and not the name -- Manny hasn't been a great player since 2006.
I'll spare you one of my "baseball is corrupt" tangents. All i'll say is Jason Bay, as our best player, was making $6M a year and even we couldn't afford to keep him. I suppose the Pirates' rationale behind making this trade was "sell high" but the point is Bay, as our best player, made $6M a year to put up solid numbers. Out of this group of prospects from both the Bay & Nady trades are we REALLY going to find an adequate replacement that we can both base the franchise around and afford at the same time?
I'm a pirate fan and I think this trade and the Nady/Marte trade are great trades. Between this and the draft, the pirates have gone a long way to restocking the system with talent. The rest of the year, they may be bad, but they were bad the first half. Last place is last place, it doesn't matter if we are 12 games out or 32 games out. This GM is trading for prospects and the future. The pirates traded their assests at their highest values, and got back 8 prospects. Tabata is 19 in AA coming off of a hamate injury will can linger for a year. He'll be 20 next season, and fully healed. Bryan Morris, 21, is a 1st round pick who throws mid 90s, Craig Hansen, 24, is a 1st round pick who throws high 90s, Ohlendorf throws mid 90's. Dan McCutchen was drafted in 2006, and has made it to AAA already. Brandon Moss, 24, led his AAA league in extra-base hits, and had an OBP of .363. He OPS'd .800 this year in 80 at bats in Boston. Andy LaRoche was rated the 31st best prospect in all of baseball in February. Tabata was #37. They have McCutchen who was #14. They drafted Alvarez, who will be top 25ish. Neil Walker was #61. The pirates finally have something to be excited about.
Really? I love your optimism, but they always have young talent to be excited about. And when it proves itself for more than a year, it's wearing another team's jersey. Shampoo...rinse...repeat.
Fair enough, but Bay also strikes out a lot more, and his OBP is significantly lower. All in all, not a horrible deal for Manny considering the Sox felt like they had to get something for him. And Bay may have been the best player available.
I would be excited if I were a Bucks fan. I like the Florida trade better for the Pirates because of Hermida, but this worked out fine for them. Really one of the few trades that is good for all parties. Bay makes 6 million, but he will be 30 and will be lot more expensive very quickly. Nady was having a completely fluky year and they were smart to get whatever they could out of him. With young nucleus and one of the smartest and best GMs in baseball, you have a lot to look forward to. As a fan of a team that is not as well run, i'm jealous of the management team you have in place and your future. MadMax: They haven't alway had young talent to be excited about. They like the Astros were a slot-level draft pick team, and that along with poor scouting led to a number of poor drafts in the early 00's. For a number of recent years they had one of the worst farm systems in baseball. They've only recently turned that around They have a new owner, who has shown (at least in the draft) that he is willing to open up his pocket books. With that commitment, a new stadium, and revenue sharing, it reasonable to believe that when the time comes he ll keep together a winning nucleus. Now is not that time. There was no sense in keeping Bay, the Pirates are at least two-three years from competing.By that time Bay will be his mid-30s, in decline, and taking up a large chunk of that payroll. It's not just about sending money, it's about spending money wisely.
Bingo. They haven't drafted well in years. They haven't signed any Latin American players since the late 90's. This year, they drafted well, getting multiple players with 1st and 2nd round draft grades that slipped due to signability concerns. They do need to sign them, however. Indications are that they are in talks with several of them, and Alvarez is going to sign. As for Latin America, they have paid out over 600k in bonuses this summer. Now they have acquired multiple upper echelon prospects. In the past, they have traded ML players for AAAA players, primarily to dump salary. This year, they acquired genuine prospects in addition to a few stop-gap players. They have rebuilt the bullpen on the cheap, and now have 4 guys who throw 95+ out there. As far as trading away young talent once it proves itself, see Nate McLouth, Ryan Doumit, and Paul Maholm. They all enter arbitration for the first time this offseason, and I could see long term (4-5 year) deals with each of them. They already signed Ian Snell to a 5 year deal in the offseason. Snell has struggled, but the intention and vision is clearly different.
