The great Manny debacle of ‘08
Posted on July 29, 2008
Filed Under 2008 Season | Leave a Comment
When something big happens in the world of sports, I am the guy that everyone rushes to talk to. On Monday mornings my desk becomes a traffic jam of people saying “hey Mike, did you see that play over the weekend?” or “I can’t BELIEVE the Bruins didn’t win that game.”
I usually love it and enjoy spending the first 20 minutes of my day talking baseball or hockey. However, this week the sports talk was more along the lines of “what the hell is Manny thinking?” and “We really need to trade that bum.” I wasn’t sure what to say, and after thinking about it for a day, I’ve figured out my answers.
What the hell is Manny thinking?
Nobody knows. What goes through his head when he picks gnats out of Julian Tavarez’ hair or when he high-fives a fan in the outfield? I don’t think we’ll ever know and most people don’t even bother guessing anymore.
Despite my anger when players don’t run out ground balls or sprint for pop flies, I’ve been a huge Manny fan for years. He is one of the greatest players in baseball history and perhaps the greatest right-handed hitter of all-time. This is why I find it hard to write about him pulling himself out of games or pushing down traveling secretaries. I’m not going to make any excuses for him but it’s a lot easier to get away with all this stuff when you’re a perennial All-Star.
We really need to trade that bum.
No, we don’t. I’ll agree with not re-signing him at the end of the season because of his behavior but trading him will do the Red Sox absolutely no good.
Yes, he is getting older and his performance is declining but his numbers are still amazing. Even with a non-typical ‘Manny year’, he STILL ranks in the top 10 in the AL in HR (7th), SLG (10th), OBP (5th), OPS (5th), and RBI (6th). Looking at that, I’d guess there are probably 10 players in both leagues that could replace Manny and none of them are touchable.
If the Red Sox keep Manny until the end of the season then they could offer him arbitration rather than pick up the option. If he declines arbitration then Boston will get 2 first round draft picks (Manny is a type A free-agent, easily.) Those prospects will probably be worth more than what they would receive in the open market.
Unfortunately even that situation has an unhappy ending. Manny will be gone and there will STILL be nobody to replace his bat. There is no good solution to this mess and THAT is why I’ve started to dread Monday morning sports talk.
He's good. He's damn good.
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