Manny Being … Traded?

Any minute now, the defending world champions and current AL juggernaut Boston Red Sox could very quickly see their hopes for a repeat championship go up in flames. That's because their most robust and reliable hitter, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and World Series MVP in 2004, wants out once again.

In an interview with ESPN Deportes, Ramirez said, "If the Red Sox are a better team without Manny Ramirez, they should trade me; I would not object. If they could get a trade, I'd approve it. If they can't trade me, then they will have to inform me by the end of the season that they won't use the options and we'll go separate ways ... I don't have any preferences. I could choose a team that offers me the best conditions or one in the chase for the postseason. I don't care where I play, I can even play in Iraq if need be. My job is to play baseball." Ramirez also told the Associated Press, "I'm tired of them, they're tired of me."

First off, you have to love that line about Iraq. Certainly that belongs in that ever-lengthening Manny-Being-Manny pantheon of infamous incidents. Way to show respect for your fellow man.

Now, moving on, when Terrell Owens runs his mouth, causes distractions, and acts zany en route to an organization throwing up their arms in both disgust and surrender and finally looking to trade or release him, few are surprised.

That's partially because Terrell Owens, for all his talent, has yet to lead a team through the playoffs to the Super Bowl or win one. For all the trouble Owens has caused his respective teams, a few titles would have been worth every aggravating quote, touchdown celebration, and media circus Owens could possibly throw at them.

Manny Ramirez, perhaps the closest thing to Owens' baseball equivalent, is different simply because he has two rings. And yet every year or two, we arrive at this same story. That crazy, dreadlocked, man-child with the killer swing wants to leave town again, and the Red Sox front office may well be tempted to pull the trigger and rid themselves of this problem once and for all.

If you remember, this almost happened prior to the 2004 season. Manny Ramirez was also unhappy then and so the Red Sox put him on waivers for any team to claim. No one wanted to take on his massive contract and his antics in the name of extra base hits and walk-off home runs. Manny promptly came back and ended Boston's suffocating 86-year curse.

After the end of the '05 season, Manny demanded a trade, threatening to not show up for spring training if he wasn't. The Mets and Orioles were reportedly interested, but once again, nothing happened, and Manny changed his mind. Two years worth of more monster numbers later, the Red Sox win again with Manny being as indispensable as ever.

And still here we are, for a third time. Manny wants out and the Sox are tempted to pull the trigger, despite the heat of a tense pennant race and an even tenser rivalry with the suddenly red-hot Yankees. Currently, the Red Sox are in the wild card spot and only one game out of first place in the AL East. Almost always it's the teams in last place that are looking to deal the Manny Ramirezes of the world at the trading deadline.

While the possibility exists for a mind-blowing midseason trade that may be quite difficult to pull off considering how much other teams may have to part with in order for Boston to get equal value, Ramirez also has a one-year option on his contract for 2009 which the team can choose whether or not to pickup. This may be a more sensible option than the knee-jerk reaction of a trade, yet it still remains much less sensible than most of the things on Manny's personal career blooper reel.

From my personal standpoint, at least the practical Yankee fan in me would love to see Manny go; he could stop tormenting the pinstripes and take his act somewhere far away, perhaps in the National League and let the Yankees climb back up the top of the standings once again.

Yet the sensible baseball fan in me cries out that no organization should be foolish enough to let go of a hitter this great, this much a part of their identity while the team is in the midst of a multi-title run and still competing for more, no matter how many first basemen or traveling secretaries he runs over in the process.

And finally, after watching the Red Sox win two of the last four titles while the Yankees have lost each of their last four playoff series, these Yankees have some amends to make, and some scores to settle with Boston. Avenging those past defeats wouldn't be the same without overcoming the threat of Manny, ever dangerous, in the cleanup spot, with the game, or perhaps the 2008 ALCS, on the line.

If a deal gets done, we may very well see a shift in the balance of power in the AL East. However, since we have all seen this movie before, I'm willing to venture a guess that the Manny-Being-Manny show in Boston still isn't going anywhere for a while.