I was deeply engrossed at work all day today, so it is just now I am learning that one Manuel Aristides Ramirez, the puzzle of talent, humor, attitude, and surliness who made the phrase "Manny being Manny" a household word, the Bad Man his own self, is a Los Angeles Dodger.
Boston sends away Ramirez, reliever Craig Hansen (aka 'Ol Sleepyhead), and outfielder Brandon (Rolling Stone Gathers No) Moss, and recieves in return Jason (Sitting in the Dock of the) Bay. As I said last night, Bay is maybe 85% of the hitter Ramirez is, but a much better runner, fielder, and attitude.
On the field, both Tampa and Boston were idle, and New York lost, so Boston is 3 back of Tampa and 1 1/2 ahead of New York.
How do I feel about it?
Boston had made it pretty clear they were letting Manny go at the end of the season. Manny, in turn, made it clear he thought he deserved better. Manny not only said he wasn't happy, he also showed he wasnt happy by, fairly clearly, not running out groundballs.
There are a lot of issues here. At what point do different rules for stars become indulgences? Is the loss of Manny's HOF bat made up for by the defensive and attitudinal gains?
We shall see.
I was going to say something else, but I forgot what it is.
I think they did OK as far as a return on the trade. Jason Bay is a quality ball player and should fit Theo's personality profile well.
ReplyDeleteThe one concern is post season experience with Bay...how will he handle the big at bat in a clutch situation? We all know how Manny did.
True.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid, in this case, that he's filling in some big shoes.
I don't think there's such a thing as "clutchiness." Good hitters hit in the clutch, bad hitters don't.
You can find 20 or 30 or 50 at bat streaks where Ted Williams or Jimmie Foxx or Babe Ruth hit .200, so I don't see how that proves very much. In fact, one argument against Ted Williams' greatness was that in the 4 or 5 most critical games of his career, he didnt hit well.
It's kind of like Jeff Garcia or AJ Feeley here in Philadelphia. Any human being with eyes can watch a healthy Donovan McNabb play football, then watch a healthy Feeley or Garcia play football, and see who the better player is. But both Feeley and Garcia filled in for the Eagles, played well, and from then on could do no wrong in this city, even when it is obvious they are not as good as McNabb.
I hope Bay will be fine, because you know the first time he whiffs with two on, or hits into a 6-4-3 trailing by one in the 8th in Yankee Stadium, people are going to say, "Manny would have hit it out." Maybe he would have, but you can never answer counterfactuals like that.
Trouble is, it becomes self fulfilling prophecies-if he does strike out with the bases loaded in game 7 of the ALCS against Rivera, it isn't going to matter what he does from then on. It isn't even going to matter that, frankly, in 2008, Bay is a better hitter. He's going to be battling both AL pitchers and the Ghost of the Bad Man.