Manny Being Traded

Red Sox ownership (and presumably Terry Francona as well) finally had enough of Manny Being Manny and sent him to the Dodgers in a 3-team deal which brought them my fellow 9/20 brother, Jason Bay.

As to whether the Sox are waving the white flag in the hopes of defending their world championship is a moot point, this is about something much more than that.

WARNING: Metamorphosis into self-righteous douchey middle-age columnist commencing now

As someone who follows the Sox, the way the whole Manny Era ended irrittates me. I'm not shocked, I knew they wouldn't renew his option, it's the reason it ended that bugs me and honestly, I don't know why, because while I am passionate about the game, how a player handles himself is his own choice.

I still don't understand why Manny felt the need to go through all of this. He's making $20+ million a year, he has 2 world championship rings, he's going to the Hall of Fame, a fan base that supports him and yet it wasn't enough for him. If you put a gun to my head, I'd say that this was about cash, but it doesn't look that way to me. It seems to me like Manny was acting like a kid who was tired of playing with the rest of the class and wanted to see how much he could do before the teachers put him in timeout. Obviously, the moment Manny stopped being a top-10 player, Theo Epstein, Larry Lucchino and Co. said enough's enough. Was it worth all the trouble, Manny? For what? To prove a point that you can get away with almost anything? That's worth getting run out of town?

Now, Manny has claimed that Sox management has portrayed him as the bad guy as they had done with Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez. The difference being is that I think Pedro and Nomar still have good standing with Sox fans, which, I can't tell you where they stand with Manny. When Pedro returned to Fenway with the Mets in 2006, he received a thunderous ovation and many tributes from fans and the Boston media. Fans appreciated Pedro and Nomar because of their constant balls to the wall effort and their appreciation of the fans. Manny, whether it's in his personality or not, just seems to be built for hitting and nothing else. That's why nobody begrudged Pedro for leaving and getting one more pay day and why Manny probably would've had the same treatment had he stayed down.

I just hope it was worth it for Manny and The Cyborg Agent. Now he's stuck on a pedestrian team that, at best, can make the NLCS and little else.