Dodgers Get Manny Ramirez for two prospects
Andrew and Brian are away from their desks this afternoon, probably dumbstruck and shocked that the Dodgers were able to pull the trigger on pretty much The trade of the year.
According to Bill Shaikin of the Times, the Blue Crew didn't have to give up all that much to get the controversial slugger:
The Red Sox are expected to cover the $7 million remaining on Ramirez's salary, enabling the Dodgers to meet owner Frank McCourt's reported mandate that any trade not add to the team payroll.
The Dodgers are expected to trade two prospects -- third baseman Andy LaRoche and pitcher Bryan Morris -- as part of a three-team deal. The Red Sox are expected to get Jason Bay from the Pittsburgh Pirates to replace Ramirez in the Boston outfield, with the Pirates getting those two prospects from the Dodgers and two more from the Red Sox.
Ramirez, 36, has waived his no-trade clause, something that he promised he would do earlier this week when he gave his latest press conference.
Two days ago in an interview with ESPN, Ramirez was extremely harsh on the BoSox, an organization where he was part of two world championships:
"The Red Sox don’t deserve a player like me. During my years here I’ve seen how they have mistreated other great players when they didn’t want them to try to turn the fans against them.
"The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy. I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don’t deserve me. I’m not talking about money. Mental peace has no price and I don’t have peace here."
The details of the trade are as follows: Jason Bay will go to the Red Sox, Manny will go to the Dodgers and Pittsburgh will get four prospects, two from LA and two from Boston:
The last-place Pirates, looking for young talent, gave up their star outfielder and got reliever Craig Hansen and outfielder Brandon Moss from Boston and third baseman Andy LaRoche and pitcher Bryan Morris from the Dodgers.
LaRoche, Moss and Hansen will join Pittsburgh and Morris will go to Class A Hickory.
- Tony Pierce
photo of Manny Ramirez by Elise Amendola / AP
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all the sudden the lineup looks as good as the pitching. not perfect, but worthy of a playoff appearance, and maybe even a win or two there. i'm trying to contain myself to that, and not predicting a world series win in my enthusiasm! this is almost laker-like, did jerry west just get hired as the new gm? it's ice to see the dodgers take advantage of someone else's problems. see ya later andy - say hi to your bro!
Posted by: johnnie b. baker | July 31, 2008 at 02:39 PM
Nice to see my posts are taken seriously (LOL)
Two days age I suggested renting Manny for rest of season by trading LaRoche and middling prospects, as BOS will need help at 3rd soon.
This is a potent bat (albeit with a few crossed wires) and could get us where we need to go this season.YAY!
Posted by: dencard | July 31, 2008 at 02:42 PM
That 5.4 shaker on Tuesday was nothing compared to this. Forget the Miller Lite, pass the champagne. What a week.
Posted by: indigo | July 31, 2008 at 02:42 PM
I was against this trade because I felt sure we'd have to give up Kemp. Kudos to Ned for getting him almost free. It seemed La Roche no longer figured prominently in our plans and was perceived as fragile. I favor Jones and Pierre sitting in favor of Kemp in CF and Ethier in RF...but Joe wil surely mix everyone in. One can only hope Manny comes with a hair up an improper place to prove the Sox were wrong to give up on him. I also hope his presence motivates Jones. If Jones could be 50% of his old self, he coulod still help us a lot down the stretch...yes, too much to hope. Manny ought to ensure us winning the West.
Posted by: Dan in Pasadena | July 31, 2008 at 02:43 PM
1) I love Manny, and it will be fun to watch him hit for the Blue.
2) His boost in run production will be heavily mitigated by the fact that it will likely be Ethier who sits instead of Jones/Pierre.
3) Manny will will help us win the NL West.
4) It remains very unlikely that we will win the Serious.
5) Manny and Kent will probably punch each other in the face before this season is through.
6) We will now need to find our 23rd 3rd basemen since Beltre in order to field a team for next year.
7) We are a .500 ballclub who paid a significant price in future success for a shot at winning this year.
8) This move will sell more tickets this season, give Colletti favorable columns from idiot writers T.J. Plaschke, and excite the casual fan who is only vaguely aware of baseball having farm systems.
9) I think those factors are more important to Colletti than overall success over the next 5 years.
10) Therefore, I hate this trade. Fire Colletti.
Posted by: VA Blueblood | July 31, 2008 at 02:44 PM
Manny for Fredo LaRoche and a Class A prospect? Are you kidding me? This is a good, good day, and makes me content that I shelled out the $200 for MLB extra innings so I could watch my beloved boys in blue.
Oh, and one last small thing...Jeff Kent is going to lose his effing mind. You thought playing with Bonds was bad???**
**unless of course Dodgers go deep in the playoffs.
Posted by: Steve in New York | July 31, 2008 at 02:45 PM
Gee, a fifth outfielder! Thirty-six years old, no defense, superstar ego, massive attitude problem! Because that's worked so well in the past! (Yes, the sign at the Angels game was funny, but you think this guy's a bit of an attention slut, maybe?)
At least they didn't give up as much as was rumored, and good luck to La Roche. But the only thing this gets us is one big bat (and you know, you need at least two or that whole thing doesn't work) and a legitimate reason to forget Andruw Jones is on the ballclub.
Could be worse, but I'm not liking this deal. Though he does have quite wonderful hair.
Posted by: Tuxer | July 31, 2008 at 02:49 PM
Seeing as how the Red Sox haven't played in Chavez Ravine in a bizillion years, how well does Manny do? Dodger Stadium ain't exactly hitter friendly.
Posted by: David W | July 31, 2008 at 02:51 PM
Today's sole bit of bad news is that Andruw Jones remains a Dodger.
Posted by: Kenny | July 31, 2008 at 03:00 PM
"We are a .500 ballclub who paid a significant price in future success for a shot at winning this year. "
Significant price? LaRoche has shown no signs of greatness at the major league level. As far as I'm concerned this cost the Dodgers very little.
Now what they do with 5 outfielders is anyones guess. I absolutely loved Kemp's at bats last night. His two walks working 3-2 counts were exactly what he needed. Kemp is in the line-up everyday no matter what.
Posted by: nathan118 | July 31, 2008 at 03:02 PM
Why is everyone complaining?
Even if Ramirez walks at the end of the season which that's what's going to happen, it's still a good trade. All they gave up was a injury prone overrated 3rd basement in LaRoche and another minor leaguer. You guys complain about the team being bad but yet don't want the team to make a move to improve.
I think is about time the Dodgers make noise around the league instead of your usual front office mess. Some of you guys are so complacent you got used to sub-par, boring style of baseball. I'm tired of watching and the Angels make moves to improve while the Dodgers stand pat.
Maybe now the Dodgers can win 2 playoff games in 20 years instead of 1.
Posted by: dcerros | July 31, 2008 at 03:06 PM
I hope "big trade" this will make Bill Plaschke happy. I also hope that (heaven forbid) if Manny pulls an Andruw Jones, Plaschke will man-up and not bust Coletti's chops for making the deal.
Posted by: dwallspaw | July 31, 2008 at 03:06 PM
Matt Kemp has proven he can leadoff and play center.
Joe Torre PLAY THE THREE BEST PLAYERS.
I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU ARE PAYING JONES OR PIERRE, JUST PLAY THE THREE BEST OUTFIELDERS.
Posted by: Oscar | July 31, 2008 at 03:07 PM
What do we expect to do with 5 outfielders? I know that Dodgers stadium is pretty bit but we may need to go back to the original 1969 park dimenisons to fit Manny's ego. My only hope is that we start benching Jones so that Kemp doesn't have to suffer right and he is starting to shine.
Posted by: Greg | July 31, 2008 at 03:08 PM
When is Manny's first game going to be? Friday?
Posted by: Josh | July 31, 2008 at 03:09 PM
I'm SSSOOO excited about this!! It's time to twirl around the office while listening to Randy Newman's "I love L.A." on the IPod, because: I JUST WANT TO DANCE!!!!!!
http://www.national-student.co.uk/magazine/image/billy_elliot_musical.jpg
Posted by: DodgerBlueBalls being DodgerBlueBalls | July 31, 2008 at 03:10 PM
Worst case scenario if manny is not resigned next year and hopefully he wont the dodgers end up with draft picks
Posted by: edward mrbs | July 31, 2008 at 03:16 PM
When will he be able to play in Dodger blue?
Posted by: TheSwede | July 31, 2008 at 03:21 PM
LaRoche for Manny, essentially. Initial reaction is that I like it, though I do wonder exactly how the Dodgers are going to handle the roster going forward. Maybe they can petition the league to let them have someone play short center? That's a lot of OFs. But assuming the lineup is generally always Man Ram, Kemp, and Ethier (I worry AE is going to sit a lot...), the Dodgers certainly filled the need for a bat in a big, bad way.
The lineup, at least right now, for this team going forward, is vastly improved over the version they had only 10 days ago. It's a competitive, real live Major League lineup, one capable of winning. And again, for this year at least, they made the deal without losing anything off the ML roster.
There will be huge decisions in the offseason, but in 2008 the Dodgers are a better team. I need a little more time to work through the details, pros and cons, but the Blue are a better team right now than they were a couple hours ago.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | July 31, 2008 at 03:22 PM
I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. They gave away LaRoche, Morris...and Billingsley? Kemp? Ethier? C'mon, Flanders couldn't have pulled this one off, could he?
Posted by: Attack of the Blue Manny | July 31, 2008 at 03:22 PM
5 outfielders? No problem- just RELEASE A. JONES- opening a spot for a pitcher, let Either and Pierre platoon.
and by the way release that stiff Sweeney and lets make today a trifecta!
Posted by: dencard | July 31, 2008 at 03:22 PM
As for his attitude, the fresh start will help, at least in the short run. And on a professional level, holy wow, this is going to be a lot of fun. Certainly no boredom. It's like the Dodgers pulled the trigger on the Ron Artest deal.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | July 31, 2008 at 03:23 PM
The first Manny being Manny moment should be great when he and Jeff Kent get into it.
Posted by: XZoom | July 31, 2008 at 03:26 PM
Nathan118,
You don't think walking is a positive outcome for a batter? Dude walked about once every 8 ABs in the majors. That's very good. His BABIP was .202, which is incredibly unlucky. He is posting a .444 OBP in Vegas this season, hasn't posted an OBP lower than .399 since 2005, and he has had only one freak injury so the injury-prone label is hugely overstated. And dude, he's had a total of 152 ABs in the majors! Only 59 this year!!! Almost all of them in the 7th or 8th spot on a team that couldn't score runs!!! What could he do!?! LaRoche NEVER had a chance to succeed in the majors, but he's more than succeeded in the minors . Watch the OBP of LaRoche the next 3 years and compare that to whoever we get to play 3B over the same timespan. Plus, this pitcher we sold was a former first round pick, where picks are supposed to be sure-fire can't-miss guys. Unless we win the World Series this year, we will look back on this trade as nothing but a panicked headline-grabber.
I will still enjoy watching Manny hit more than I already do.
Posted by: VA Blueblood | July 31, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Manny is one of the two best hitters in the league...there is no doubt. As a Red Sox fan I have loved him and hope he does god for y'all, but I am happy to see him go. When you read the sports section half the darn paper is dedicated to Manuel and the other half to the Red Sox. I'm tired of reading about who stole Manny's favorite shovel or pail in the sand box. He's you're baby now, hope you buy him lots of cookies...he likes cookies.
Posted by: William Driscoll | July 31, 2008 at 03:31 PM