MikeO said:
The Marlins won't trade for Manny. They won't pay him what he would demand. Wherever he goes he is going to want a contract extension, the Marlins won't give him that.
Cleveland or LAA are the top 2 choices clearly. The Mets would take him but they aren't parting with Beltran. Maybe a package of players which would include Mike Cameron.
The Red Sox can't keep him at this point because the "drama" that would cause and the circus atmosphere just isn't worth it. Manny hates the city of Boston and the fans and the way they treat him off the field. Never giving him peace when he is away from the ballpark. The Sox have to trade him, there are only about 5 teams that will pay his contract. Should be interesting. I see him gone by mid-January.
Manny's demands? A contract extension? Where did you hear that one from? Manny doesn't want a contract extension, he's said numerous times that once his current contract is done, he's done with baseball. He wants to go back to the Dominican and live on a farm.
Cleveland won't take Manny either. I know it's one of Manny's choices and they probably have young prospects/players that the Sox could want however I don't see them taking on his contract, ego, attitude, etc with all their young talent. Plus getting him would cost Cleveland (imo) at least Hafner, Sizemore or Crisp and possibly Cliff Lee. I doubt Cleveland would make that swap.
The Angels are probably the best fit. The Sox have said already that they won't touch Finley, but Estrad might be interesting as he's a gold glove 1st baseman and CFer. Also the Angels have some prospects too the Sox might be interested in (Ervin Santana and Brandan Wood). Also LAA are trying to get more of a fan base and attention and bringing in a guy like Manny would do that. Especially since LAA are trying to out do the LAD.
As a Red Sox fan I don't want to touch Cameron, even before his injury. He's a huge ? with his injury and there's been no reports on how he's doing or if he even started work outs. Plus fans and the media ran Bellhorn out of town due to his K rate. They would KILL Cameron.
In my opinion the sleepers in the Manny trade rumor could be Arizona and Texas. Both have money and players that the Red Sox could want. Plus Josh Byrnes is the new GM of the DBacks and I'm sure he's looking to make a splash in the market and get his name out there.
I disagree the Red Sox can keep Manny because this happens every 3 to 6 months. It's more about the media than the fans because Manny barely goes out. He's a quiet guy who likes to show up and play not go bar hopping. Wells is the one who wants out of Boston due to the fans always bugging him when he goes out. Manny doesn't like how the media jumps all over him if he doesn't run out a routine ground ball yet he doesn't get any credit for carrying the team for the last 3 weeks of the season or being 1 of 3 players who showed up to play in the playoffs (Ortiz and Papelbon were the others). Yet when someone like Nixon (who's home grown and always quote worthy and buddy/buddy with the media) can't hit a ball to the warning track the last 2 months of the season continues to suck no one says anything about it. Trust me the players LOVE Manny, he's not a distraction as the media likes to make it. Also Manny is one of the first players at the ball park each day working on both hitting and fielding. But of course that never gets mentioned in the press because it's not good gossip.
:shakeno: