[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

A baseball source has confirmed Ramirez has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, ESPN.com has learned. The Red Sox will pay remaining $7 million of Ramirez's contract, ESPN.com's Peter Gammons reported.

Jason Bay is going to Boston as part of the deal, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported. And the Pittsburgh Pirates get four minor leaguers as part of the three-way deal.

Third baseman Andy LaRoche and right-handed pitcher Bryan Morris will go to the Pirates from the Dodgers. Outfielder Brandon Moss and right-handed pitcher Craig Hansen will leave the Red Sox organization for Pittsburgh, ESPN.com has learned.

Remarks by Ramirez, who has been involved in trade rumors the last few years, might have been the final straw.

"The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me," Ramirez told ESPNdeportes.com Wednesday. "During my years here, I've seen how they [the Red Sox] have mistreated other great players when they didn't want them to try to turn the fans against them.

"The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy," Ramirez added. "I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don't deserve me. I'm not talking about money. Mental peace has no price, and I don't have peace here."

ESPN.com staff writer Amy K. Nelson, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney and ESPN senior writer Keith Law contributed to this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3513383

[flamesbball84]

glad to see that jerk leave beantown

[Kolzilla41]

it was pretty funny when he fell and Cashman shook his head

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200807193152731

top left video

[adam42381]

It was finally time for him to move on. While Bay won't be able to fully replace Manny in the lineup, the clubhouse disruptions should end here. I'm torn on which emotion I should be feeling right now.

[thepostman]

I'm happy to see him go..so sick of is crap every single year

[givemethemic]

glad to see that jerk leave beantown

Are you even a Red Sox fan? I am not happy, Manny has been doing this stuff for years around the trading deadline but when it all boils down to it this was a horrible trade!!!! Yes Jason Bay has hit over 20 HR's this year but not having his bat will hurt us badly.... Papi will not see the same pitches anymore and our offense will struggle... I think Theo is one heck of a GM put I really don't feel good about this... We have enough pitching to get us through it but I just don't have as a strong of feeling about our postseason chances.... It seems like almost everybody in the AL playoff hunt got better during the deadline.. I just wish we could have handled the contract situation in the offseason.... I will still be a die-hard but wish we didn't pull the trigger on this... Go Sox

[ToTheLeft]

Not only did they lose Manny, but they lost Moss and Hansen, which suck both now, and long term. They lost this trade, BIG time.

[givemethemic]

The Dodgers made out so good how in the heck did it get approved... They traded a guy who wasn't going to play anymore this year, a prospect who just had tommy john surgery and they didn't have to pay a dime....ZERO... NOTHING on Manny's contract.....

[ToTheLeft]

The Dodgers made out so good how in the heck did it get approved... They traded a guy who wasn't going to play anymore this.. a prospect who just had tommy john surgery and they didn't have to pay a dime....ZERO... NOTHING on Manny's contract.....

Yeah, and the Pirates give up Bay, who they can't afford and is moving out of his prime, for a couple of decent prospects and a huge salary cut.

Red Sox = Epic Fail.

[PeterParker]

Stat Comparison 2008:

Jason Bay: .282 22 64 .375 .519
Manny R.: .299 20 68 .398 .529


Wait and See. (while you're at it read the Holley book on Francona and other accounts of how Theo and his stat geeks dissect these things.)


You're missing the fact that at the end of the season, if we don't pick up his option for more she-Manny-gans next year, we get nothing. His stats thus far this season suggest he is losing some snap in his step and may be starting his trek down the backside of the performance parabola. (Now if he wins WS MVP for Torre and the Dodgers, well, let's not go there...)


His antics were seriously starting to infect the clubhouse from many reports...a point made was how nobody came to his defense this time, when they had in times past. While Bay may not have the aura that Manny had created for himself over the last couple of years, check out the stats for this year...they are pretty much a straight swap for a guy who will actually care about what happens past the end of his paystub...plus he can run the bases well and has actually hit two more homers this year so far than Manny. He also probably won't take himself out of the line-up versus pitchers he doesn't necessarily like or match up well with.


Remember most of Red Sox Nation got their knickers in a bunch calling Esptein and Co. "morons," "losers," etc. when they traded a very popular Nomah Garciaparra a few years ago. And there were less, but still significant rumblings when we gave Pedro away. Look how those careers have fared since.


An interesting point: the Sox, the Celtics' and the Patriots Front Offices all had a meeting not too long ago at Foxboro....seems the Sox and Celtics borrowed a page from Pioli and company in making the hard decision to get rid of players who either, 1. didn't buy into the philosophy of the program or 2. were on the downslopes in their careers. Most of those who have left the Patriots for greener pastures ($) have also left their most productive years behind as have many of those the Sox have let go.


In the end, it will be interesting to see how Bay fits in. Go Sox and goodluck Torre and Dodger fans. Oh and stinkin' Angels getting Teixeira to bolster an already best in the majors record...bah.

[flamesbball84]

Question:

If an LU football, absketball, baseball, etc. player said to the media "I like the Liberty fans, but LU doesn't deserve me," was generally considered a cancer on the team, and had been making it fairly public for weeks that he wants out, would you want him on the team?

I have a feeling many of you would be screaming bloody murder for said player to be excommunicated from the team.

You have to have standards for acceptable behavior and you have to lay down the hammer when players break it. If you don't do it for one player and do it for others, you're heading down a dangerous path where players will become jealous of the player who gets away with stuff when they break the rules and get punished for it. Team chemistry is just about as important as talent, and Manny was absolutely destroying the Red Sox clubhouse chemistry. If you have poor chemistry, you simply aren't going to win regardless of the talent - example being the past few Yankees squads who have flamed out of the playoffs. Oh you may still win a lot of games, but you aren't going to win much in the playoffs, and with the Red Sox, failing in the playoffs isn't acceptable anymore.

[PeterParker]

Looking like a pretty good trade two days in. (Bay triples and scores last night and a Big three run homer tonight.)

Not too shabby.

Bay, who had earlier reached base three times after being hit by a pitch and drawing a pair of walks, started the game-winning rally by lining a two-out curveball from Embree (1-4) off The Wall for a triple.

Oh, the irony...

Oakland then intentionally walked J.D. Drew [stats] to get to Lowrie, who had flied out with the bases loaded to end the 10th. This time, the rookie hit a slow chopper over the mound that shortstop Bobby Crosby fielded, double clutched and then threw late to first, allowing Bay to score the winning run.

“It was one of those balls you hit and out of the box you’ve got to run hard because you never know what’s going to happen,” Lowrie said. “It had a funny spin on it, and you never know if he’s going to be able to field it cleanly.”

http://tiny.cc/yQFm7

[Ed Dantes]

It was finally time for him to move on. While Bay won't be able to fully replace Manny in the lineup, the clubhouse disruptions should end here. I'm torn on which emotion I should be feeling right now.

Probably the same when you felt when Nomahhhh left Boston and Orlando Cabrera & Doug Mientkeiwicz came in his place.

[Ed Dantes]

Question:

If an LU football, absketball, baseball, etc. player said to the media "I like the Liberty fans, but LU doesn't deserve me," was generally considered a cancer on the team, and had been making it fairly public for weeks that he wants out, would you want him on the team?

I have a feeling many of you would be screaming bloody murder for said player to be excommunicated from the team.

Totally untrue. A player in college has the option to transfer out at any given time, whereas a pro player signs a contract with a team.

Go look at Dunton's b-ball teams. I don't recall anyone throwing Double-Dees under a bus when he transferred to some hick school in Louisiana.

[adam42381]

It was finally time for him to move on. While Bay won't be able to fully replace Manny in the lineup, the clubhouse disruptions should end here. I'm torn on which emotion I should be feeling right now.

Probably the same when you felt when Nomahhhh left Boston and Orlando Cabrera & Doug Mientkeiwicz came in his place.

Not at all. Nomar had very few incidents in Boston and always played hard. The trade ended up getting the Sox a ring so I can't complain too much though. BTW, we should have re-signed Cabrera so the carousel of shortstops would never have begun.

[flamesbball84]

Question:

If an LU football, absketball, baseball, etc. player said to the media "I like the Liberty fans, but LU doesn't deserve me," was generally considered a cancer on the team, and had been making it fairly public for weeks that he wants out, would you want him on the team?

I have a feeling many of you would be screaming bloody murder for said player to be excommunicated from the team.

Totally untrue. A player in college has the option to transfer out at any given time, whereas a pro player signs a contract with a team.

Go look at Dunton's b-ball teams. I don't recall anyone throwing Double-Dees under a bus when he transferred to some hick school in Louisiana.

yeah you can transfer at any time, but your coach has to grant your release if you want to play where you are transferring to. if the coach doesn't want to grant you your release, then you wont be playing at another college unless you can get the NCAA to step in and grant it for you.

Scholarships aren't a contract? Many schloars and people in the world of athletics would highly disagree with that assertion. I'm not going to make any arguments here, you could find them pretty easily on google.

Manny couldn't play somewhere other than Boston unless he got traded, got his contract bought out, or became a free agent. So basically, Manny would have to wait it out for FA or wait for the Sox to decide to get rid of him. If a college athlete wants to play elsewhere, he has to wait for the coach to grant him a release. If the coach doesn't grant a release, then he's stuck there. The details are certainly different, but the overall concept is fairly similar.

[flamesbball84]

looks like Jason Bay is doing pretty well for the Sox since being traded:

23 games, 21 runs, 31 hits, four homers, 20 rbi, .386 OBP, .527 SLG, .914 OPS, .341 AVG, and most importantly he has brought zero chemistry issues while putting up numbers that are just slightly under Manny level. also has 3 RBI against the Yankees tonight

[adam42381]

looks like Jason Bay is doing pretty well for the Sox since being traded:

23 games, 21 runs, 31 hits, four homers, 20 rbi, .386 OBP, .527 SLG, .914 OPS, .341 AVG, and most importantly he has brought zero chemistry issues while putting up numbers that are just slightly under Manny level. also has 3 RBI against the Yankees tonight

Make that 4 RBI tonight...

[flamesbball84]

looks like Jason Bay is doing pretty well for the Sox since being traded:

23 games, 21 runs, 31 hits, four homers, 20 rbi, .386 OBP, .527 SLG, .914 OPS, .341 AVG, and most importantly he has brought zero chemistry issues while putting up numbers that are just slightly under Manny level. also has 3 RBI against the Yankees tonight

Make that 4 RBI tonight...

yes, and the pedroia grand slam effectively ends the Yankees season, and hopefully catapults me into first place in my fantasy baseball league for the first time all season, and the playoffs start next week!