THANK YOU, THEO EPSTEIN!!! Now I know what some of you are going to say: “But Monnie D., didn’t the Sox get Jason Bay???” Please. The only city where there’s more jubilation about this deal than there is in LA is right here in New York. Here’s a handful of the 20-something texts I received from fellow Yankee fans since the deal broke:
“Dude, Manny to the Dodgers, YES!!!”
“Sox are done.”
“The division is ours now.”
“No more Manny! Mussina’s worst nightmares are over!”
“Papi won’t see a pitch to hit for the rest of his lifetime.”
Seriously though, B-Ca$h probably needed a towel when he checked SI.com at 4pm. Sure, Jason Bay’s numbers are similar to Manny’s this year, but anyone who thinks they are comparable players clearly invested some money in a crack pipe recently. Bay’s a fringe All-Star; Manny’s a first-ballot HOFer. Bay’s never played in a pennant race; Manny’s a two-time World Champion. Bay’s never talked about as one of the elite hitters in the game, let alone the National League; Manny may be the best right-handed hitter in the history of baseball… and the list just goes on and on. Plus, just like my buddy alluded to up there, we’ll no longer be on the verge of a nervous breakdown every time Moose faces the Sox. Add to that the fact that Bay didn’t go to the division-leading Rays as a replacement for Eric “Everyone’s still waiting for my batting average to exceed my weight” Hinske, but instead went to the (tenuously situated) second-place Sox as a replacement for MANNY RAMIREZ, and it becomes pretty obvious why this deal could do more for our division title hopes than the Nady/Marte and Pudge trades combined.
By the way, last time I checked, the Sox don’t exactly have the greatest track record when it comes to trading Hall of Fame sluggers after winning a couple championships in the early part of a century. Savor the moment, Yankee fans– we’ll remember this day fondly for years to come.
August 1st, 2008 at 9:16 am
The similarities between Manny and Ruth don’t end with them both being sluggers. One of the reasons Ruth was sold to the Yankees was because he was difficult to get along with and had many run-ins with management. He fought with the manager and walked off the team a few times. Finally they grew sick of him and decided to sell him. Sound familiar?
Also, you alluded to it, but although they have similar numbers this season, nobody in baseball would be nearly as happy having Jason Bay go up to bat for them in the playoffs as Manny. Manny has been so clutch in the playoffs. Jason Bay may not even know what the playoffs are. Manny is going to come up with the big hit for you against the Yankees in the ALCS. Who knows with Jason Bay. This was the kind of deal you make when you have no shot at the playoffs, not when you are 3 games out of the division.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
absolutely… a sox fan IMed me this morning trying to claim this is like the nomar trade in ‘04. i guess people will look for a silver lining anywhere they can hope to find it. the sox could afford to make that deal when nomar was playing like garbage/injured, and the rest of their lineup featured big papi, damon in his prime, varitek in his prime, and oh yeah, some guy named MANNY RAMIREZ. the only similarities between this trade and that one is that the sox traded a disgruntled player. otherwise, there’s no comparison