It's October

[mik3 1]

Because at that point that ship had sailed. He said earlier in the year, while still in Boston, he wanted the security of having both years picked up. Boston probably wanted to pick the one year up and trade him.

[Jason Harris 31]

But Boras wouldn't have been paid for two years, and Manny had signed with Boras during the offseason.

Again, Manny did not want the options picked up. He wanted a new contract.

[DCott 0]

I still don't understand why people think Boston was "insane" for trading him? Do the Red Sox and the fans miss his hitting and presence in the play-offs, line-up, absolutely there's no doubt about it. But at the same time do they miss the antics he pulls not playing 100%, faking injuries, clearly missing fly balls and playing terrible in the field, no way in hell.

Look, all fans, players, and management give props to Manny for what he did while he was in Boston and will always give him credit for helping the team win the championships they did but his time was up and he needed to go.

I for one have been and am very impressed with Jason Bay. I'll always think of Manny Ramirez as a Boston Red Sox but the rest of their season post trade deadline wouldn't have gone like it did had they not traded Manny. Look at it like this, do the Red Sox make the playoffs if Manny is kept and the way he was acting before he was traded continued?

Props the Theo as well for having the stones and pulling the trigger on something that big that eventually turned the season around and more than likely the move that got them into the playoffs and in the position they are in today.

EDIT: I am a Red Sox fan. I take the whole situation as un-biased as possible. There are no doubts that Manny has tore it up in the NL with the Dodgers, I'm happy to see him enjoying playing again and putting up big numbers again. If the Red Sox/Dodgers meet in the playoffs, I won't have any ill-feelings towards Manny. I wouldn't expect anything less than for him to come out and do something big in the clutch, I mean the man has hit the most HRs in the post season...he's obviously a big time player.

Simmons says it all far better than I could in that article, but fact is Manny Ramirez > Jason Bay. Period. End of discussion. I don't care if he's 'being Manny' for a couple of weeks, he did that EVERY year. Why is 'now' the time to trade him?

while i agree that Bay will never be Manny, last time I checked baseball was a team sport.

2008 Red Sox without Manny > 2008 Red Sox with Manny

[Jason Harris 31]

2008 Red Sox without Manny > 2008 Red Sox with Red Sox Manny, but 2008 Red Sox without Manny < 2008 Red Sox with Dodger Manny

Geez, the guy's slugging a homer every 10 AB's -- it's such a shame he ran himself out of town.

[mik3 1]

[Jason Harris 31]

From the first two angles I thought the Sox got real lucky, but the third angle showed the ump was right, which is pretty impressive since it seems his angle on the play would have made it appear like the tag was being applied.

[mack 44]

Victorino is still a greaseball it would seem.

Edit: Is Dee Snyder calling the Cubs/Dodgers game on TBS?

[DCott 0]

2008 Red Sox without Manny > 2008 Red Sox with Red Sox Manny, but 2008 Red Sox without Manny < 2008 Red Sox with Dodger Manny

Geez, the guy's slugging a homer every 10 AB's -- it's such a shame he ran himself out of town.

yeah but do you think the sox could ever get dodger manny? Manny can do whatever he wants at the plate. when he was happy he was great, and when he got bored, he got in slumps. he excited in his new town facing weak NL pitching, so he performs. watch what happens next year when the dodgers go back to 500 ball and he gets bored again.

[james12lucy 0]

I'm a BoSox fan so it's good seeing them win. It was hard to see Manny go, even though he needed out and was under performing. He was just such a big part of the team in the past, and is already playbing like olden days in LA. I like seeing Jason Bay in a Red Sox uniform though. As a Canadian it's great to see a fellow Canuck in their lineup.

[mik3 1]

2008 Red Sox without Manny > 2008 Red Sox with Red Sox Manny, but 2008 Red Sox without Manny < 2008 Red Sox with Dodger Manny

Geez, the guy's slugging a homer every 10 AB's -- it's such a shame he ran himself out of town.

yeah but do you think the sox could ever get dodger manny? Manny can do whatever he wants at the plate. when he was happy he was great, and when he got bored, he got in slumps. he excited in his new town facing weak NL pitching, so he performs. watch what happens next year when the dodgers go back to 500 ball and he gets bored again.

Well, Manny will probably be a Met or Angel when that's happening.

[barrett 0]

Not really fair to say that the nl has weak pitching. They are easily just as solid on most teams as in the al. Especially in La division

[flyguy1697 0]

Phillies looked really good today. Joe Blanton pitched one hell of a game. Phillies v. Dodgers series could be pretty interesting. The big right hands of the Dodgers pitching staff will have to be countered by the big lefty bats of the Phillies (Utley and Howard) if the Phillies want to have a shot of winning. I think this will be a long series and the bats will be more of the story then the pitching. Go Phils!

[LegoDoom 0]

Hopefully Utley will get his head out of his ass sometime soon.

[mik3 1]

Hopefully Utley will get his head out of his ass sometime soon.

It's gotta be encouraging that Utley and Howard really haven't done much of anything and they're moving on.

[Viking 1]

Does anyone know if there's somewhere online I can watch streaming video of playoff games (without paying for it at mlb.tv)? The cable is out, and they aren't coming to fix it until next week, and this is driving me nuts. The cable went out during the NBA finals, and I managed to find them free online, but MLB probably makes it a little harder.

[mack 44]

No, but it's a helluva game to miss. 10th inning now with Papelbon pitching; awesome crowd sing-along to "Shipping Up To Boston; Craig Sager wearing a suit he apparently stole from Morris Day.

[Viking 1]

Yeah, I know. I'm watching this stupid thing, and it's driving me nuts. Not exactly the same thing. They haven't alerted me of the Morris Day suit.

[LegoDoom 0]

Hopefully Utley will get his head out of his ass sometime soon.

It's gotta be encouraging that Utley and Howard really haven't done much of anything and they're moving on.

They've pitched around and intentionally put Howard on. I can't really say the same about Utley. But yeah, it's nice that Rollins, Victorino, Burrell, and Werth (although he looked terrible in the first game) can get it done, too.

[troy 12]

If they want to advance, Howard and Utley will definitely have to play a bigger role. I feel pretty confident though heading into the NLCS.

[interpathway 9]

Boston is closing out tonight boys! Last night (err this morning) was a tough pill to swallow.

[Juice_Slowjamz 0]

Wow, October is awesome.

[D-MaN88 0]

And the Red Sox are moving on! One hell of a game.

[ponty 0]

And the Red Sox are moving on! One hell of a game.

Thank God MLB has the no tuck rule for Varitek! :)

[mik3 1]

Francona and Scioscia had a "who could manage a baseball game worse" contest at the end there. Scioscia would not be outdone.

[Jason Harris 31]

Man, I was terrible on my picks, 1-3, but I'll take one of the three that I was wrong about!

Mik, how would you compare Lester to Pettitte? They seem similar to me.