Hey, another baseball post.  Actually, this will be quick.  I want to point out an article by Jim Caple on ESPN.com that discusses something very similar to what I've been saying for a long time.  The article discusses how the closer position in baseball is the most overrated position in sports.  While I'm not sure I'd quite go that far, I do agree with the premise that baseball managers are slaves to the save stat, sometimes to the detriment of the team.  Those of my readers who have discussed baseball with me personally know that I've felt this way for a long time.  If I were a manager, I know that I'd prefer to bring my "closer" into a one-run game in the 7th or 8th inning with the heart of the order coming up instead of the 9th inning with a three-run lead against the bottom of the order.  Sometimes the most important outs to get aren't in the 9th inning.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

It's been a while since I've posted about professional sports.  The trade of Manny Ramirez is something that I had been meaning to post about for a few days now, but never got around to it until now.  Imagine that!  Me, slow to post about something!

 

I've been a big fan of Manny for all these years.  Sure, he was quirky (to put it politely).  But he could always hit, and that made it worthwhile.  I'm certainly no baseball insider and I don't know for sure what goes on in the Red Sox clubhouse.  But it always seemed to me that his antics over the years never really created any animosity within the clubhouse.  "Manny being Manny" really meant something.  He'd do something goofy, and his teammates would just write it off as something normal.  If someone else had done the same thing, it might raise a few eyebrows.  But Manny could get away with being goofy because it was already expected of him.

 

However, for the first time, his actions in late July seemed to finally cause some friction within his team.  Throw in the fact that he's almost 37 and his production isn't quite what it used to be, and it makes it harder to stomach.  Now, I've always been a fan of Jason Bay.  It's not like I've watched all that many Pirates games, so I don't have much first-hand knowledge of his ability.  But I've seen his numbers for the last few years, and I always thought Bay was an underrated player.  He put up All-Star numbers in the wasteland of the Pirates lineup, so I thought he'd fit in very nicely in Fenway Park in the middle of the Red Sox potent lineup.

 

So with Manny seemingly crossing the line of becoming a distraction to his teammates, and as good as I think Bay is, I was all in favor of the trade.  Probably Bay isn't quite as good as Manny when Manny gives 100%. But the problem is that it became quite a quetsion whether Manny would give 100% for the rest of the season.  And 100% of Bay is certainly better than 75% of Manny.  Or 50% of Manny.  Or whatever Manny was willing to give for the next two months.  In my opinion, it wasn't worth the risk of finding out how much Manny would be willing to give.

 

In addition, Bay is 7 years younger and is a much better fielder and baserunner, and is under contract for one more season at a very reasonable price.  There really doesn't seem to be much downside to have him on the team for the next year and a half.

So far, the trade seems to be working out well for both the Red Sox and the Dodgers.  Manny's giving his 100% and is hitting like a machine. Bay, meanwhile, is hitting .440 for the Red Sox.  Obviously these stats won't keep up forever.  But I do think the Red Sox will be better off in the long run.  And trading Manny was definitely not a throwing in of the towel...