Manny

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I am a big Manny Ramirez fan. Many in this town never have been, despite the fact that he was the MVP of our first WS win in 86 years, a vital cog in the next one, and will be a first ballot hall-of-famer in this uniform. I’ve long maintained that Manny is the most entertaining athlete of my lifetime. No one combines the amount of pure talent, skill, and production with the insanity as well as Manny. In 2004, it was "Manny being Manny" who best personified the team's nickname of "the Idiots."

You honestly never know what will happen next, for better or for much worse.

That unpredictability rubs some the wrong way. As the years have passed, the number of Manny-haters has both ebbed and flowed. Until these last few weeks, the ratio of detractors and apologists was probably pretty close to 50/50. But no more.

Today is the trade deadline in Major League Baseball, and the Red Sox have to make a move. Manny wants out. He has made that clearer than crystal. There are options left on his deal, but neither player nor team is interested in exercising them. These are, for all intents and purposes, the last few months of his contract.

There is no sense in keeping this guy around and hoping he will produce on a team that is showing signs of fading. The time to pull the trigger on a trade is now—despite there not being anything close to fair value out there. It is better to get something, anything, in return now. The alternative is to let him walk in the offseason for nothing…and most likely end up in the Bronx.

That may still be his final destination, but the Red Sox shouldn’t let it be a direct trip. Send him to the National League, to the Marlins or the Cubs or the Phillies or the Astros or the Dodgers or the Mets, and hope to get something back in return that will make this team better.

Make the deal, Theo. The deadline is 4pm. Come 5pm, Manny Ramirez should no longer be a member of the Boston Red Sox.

And by tomorrow morning, many will have realized that this town just became a bit more boring. The last of the Idiots will be gone.