Revenge? Manny reportedly wants to join Yanks

[Mission 27]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26123983/

Manny Ramirez apparently is so interested in sticking it to the Boston Red Sox that he'd like to join their rivals, the New York Yankees.

Ramirez wants to punish the Red Sox by signing a free-agent deal with the Yankees, the New York Post reported, citing an unnamed friend of Ramirez's.

The Red Sox dealt Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the July 31 trade deadline. The Dodgers already declined the team option on his contract for next season, making Ramirez a free agent after the year.

Ramirez is represented by Scott Boras.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman declined to comment, the Post reported.

The Yankees and Red Sox play 19 times per season.

[Mission 27]

Can anyone think of a better outfield, ever- than Abreu RF, Nady CF and Manny LF? Im only 21 so I don't really know if there was one before the last 10 years, but in the last 10 years that's gotta be the best outfield.

Speaking of Nady here, we need to lock this guy up for 5 years.

[nyyfan]

I think if Manny was to be with the Yanks I would like to get rid of Matsui to make room. Also were would Melky be. I know a lot of people do not like Melky but I think he will really come around at some point and we would be kicking our selves for getting rid of him. I think it could be Manny DH, Nady, Damon, and Bobby patroling the outfield with Melky ready to go at any point. Who else is a good outfielder/first baseman that is a free agent after this year?

[Urbanshocker13]

Let the circus begin! Come on do we really need MORE of a circus with the red sox and the yankees? Plus how many out fielders do we need? How long would it take for him to be a pain here like he was in Boston?

[Mission 27]

He wants to stick it to the Red Sox. He's Manny Ramirez, one of the best hitters in the game WITHOUT A DOUBT. I hate Manny more than anyone I've ever met, but I would not be opposed to him in pinstripes, and making him DH is a fantastic idea I think, I never even thought of that im not sure why.

I agree about Melkey, that he's going to turn around and be a good player. I mean, he was good last year I thought. He's just pressing too much at the plate this year. He's trying to live up to his expectations, a la JD Drew (aka Spew as we call him in Boston ( I go to school in Boston but live in NY)), and look what happen to the Spew. He went Nuts. Now im not trying to say that Melkey is a comparable player to JD Drew, as he will never hit as many home runs or RBI's as Drew is capable of, but I see their situations as being pretty similar. Drew came to Boston and was trying to hit the ball out of the park every time up. That's what Melkey is doing this year.

[Gingerkid]

"Can anyone think of a better outfield, ever- than Abreu RF, Nady CF and Manny LF? Im only 21 so I don't really know if there was one before the last 10 years, but in the last 10 years that's gotta be the best outfield."


Yeah I think the Reds had Adam Dunn/Griffey Jr and Willie Mo Pena a few years back. Smaller market team yes but these three have pretty big numbers all things considered.

Also the Sox had Lynn/Yaz and Rice in the 70's.

I'm not saying Nady/Manny/Bobby wouldn't be great I'm just saying they are certainly not the "best ever".

But more importantly when did everyone fall out of love with Melky?
The kid is slumping but he's still awesome.

[Mission 27]

I slightly fell out of love with Melky this year, but I know he's just pressing way too much and will come around. But that doesn't change the fact that we can have a much better outfield next year without him in the starting lineup. By no means do I want him to leave the Yanks tho, that would be a terrible decision.

Willie Mo Pena is a bum, that's all im gonna say on that topic. He never even hit more than .260 and 25 homers with the Reds, you gotta be kidding me.

[mikesty]

Can anyone think of a better outfield, ever- than Abreu RF, Nady CF and Manny LF? Im only 21 so I don't really know if there was one before the last 10 years, but in the last 10 years that's gotta be the best outfield.

Speaking of Nady here, we need to lock this guy up for 5 years.

I agree about locking Nady up for five years, but not to play CF. Show me when and where he's played CF and played it well.

That is an atrocious outfield :-/

[Westlake]

I agree about locking Nady up for five years

Wow. The guy is having a career year way out of the norm for him. A usual Nady season has been 100-110 OPS+, which he'll more than likely go back to eventually. Why sign him to a 5 year deal, locking tons of cash into him when he could go back to being pretty average.

[mikesty]

Wow. The guy is having a career year way out of the norm for him. A usual Nady season has been 100-110 OPS+, which he'll more than likely go back to eventually. Why sign him to a 5 year deal, locking tons of cash into him when he could go back to being pretty average.

Nady is a year or two older than I thought he was, my mistake. I thought he was barely 28, whereas he's almost 30. Do you think he'd make a two-year deal to stay in the Bronx?

It just seems like he was a guy who was a fairly well-rated prospect, and has really been on-par, and I'd like to think he's starting to come around a bit and will be in his prime for a year or two more. I think he can make an impact in the bronx. We won't see the production like we've seen this year, but I could see him batting around .300 with an OPS+ of around 120ish?

[Twenty Seven]

No thanks...

[Westlake]

Nady is a year or two older than I thought he was, my mistake. I thought he was barely 28, whereas he's almost 30. Do you think he'd make a two-year deal to stay in the Bronx?

It just seems like he was a guy who was a fairly well-rated prospect, and has really been on-par, and I'd like to think he's starting to come around a bit and will be in his prime for a year or two more. I think he can make an impact in the bronx. We won't see the production like we've seen this year, but I could see him batting around .300 with an OPS+ of around 120ish?

I had typed out that he might take a 2-3 year deal to stay in NY, but then I found out who his agent was -- Scott Boras. He's going to be asking for big time $ and a longer term deal, good luck with that.

I've long been a fan of Nady's since he played for Lake Elsinore. He's never been considered a top flight prospect, but a possible sold major leaguer. He's definitely not a .330 hitter though -- he'll probably be back around .280 next season.

[mikeymussina35]

I don't want Manny with the Yankees. I hate him. I hate his hair. I hate his attitude and I hate his home run pose!!!! Shut up Manny and stay with one team!!!!

[Evangelion]

You want to sign another player heading into his 40's? Didn't the Yankees make this mistake with Gary Sheffield?

[Jose Tartabul]

I rather think that Manny's comment was just Manny being...well, you know

[yankeeboy21]

i would love to see the Yankees get Nady for a couple more years and resign Abreu. Manny is a great player, but im not sure how the front office would feel about it. The main thing that the Yankees need is to get a shut down pitcher like Wang or the (current) Mussina.

[Yankee Mystique]

I agree about locking Nady up for five years, but not to play CF. Show me when and where he's played CF and played it well.

That is an atrocious outfield :-/

Nady played CF his first few years with The Padres.

[DoubleX]

Can anyone think of a better outfield, ever- than Abreu RF, Nady CF and Manny LF? Im only 21 so I don't really know if there was one before the last 10 years, but in the last 10 years that's gotta be the best outfield.

Speaking of Nady here, we need to lock this guy up for 5 years.

Umm, I can think of a lot of better outfields than that, including some in the last 10 years. Ramirez and Abreu look to be entering their decline years, and Nady is a decent player having a career year this year. I would be against adding Manny at this point because of his age, the potential headaches that come, questionable motivation at times, and the fact that the Yankees need to move towards younger and more multi-dimensional players.

I agree about Melkey, that he's going to turn around and be a good player. I mean, he was good last year I thought. He's just pressing too much at the plate this year. He's trying to live up to his expectations, a la JD Drew (aka Spew as we call him in Boston ( I go to school in Boston but live in NY)), and look what happen to the Spew. He went Nuts. Now im not trying to say that Melkey is a comparable player to JD Drew, as he will never hit as many home runs or RBI's as Drew is capable of, but I see their situations as being pretty similar. Drew came to Boston and was trying to hit the ball out of the park every time up. That's what Melkey is doing this year.

There is little comparison between Melky and Drew. Drew is a very talented player that came into the league with a ton of hype and has shown a high level of ability at the ML level. His biggest problem over the years has been injuries and questionable motivation.

Melky on the other hand, was a decent prospect, never close to being on the scale of Drew, who the Yankees rushed to the Majors. Melky has showed some promise at times, but has completely regressed this year to the point where he is incapable of having good ABs and is one of the worst everyday players in the game right now. He is nothing close to Drew offensively and likely never will be.

I also don't see how the pressure to deliver is the same for both. Drew, an established player, came to Boston on a huge contract after going back on his word with the Dodgers. The pressure on him was: 1) To live up to the contract; 2) To make it in Boston (particularly after replacing a beloved player like Trot Nixon); 3) Get past his reputation as a self-centered player with possible motivation issues. Whereas the pressure on Melky was: 1) To play well in New York. That's about it. I think the expectations were much higher for Drew than young Melky Cabrera. The likely truth of the matter is that Melky just isn't that good of a ballplayer.

[White Knight]

I think if Manny was to be with the Yanks I would like to get rid of Matsui to make room. Also were would Melky be. I know a lot of people do not like Melky but I think he will really come around at some point and we would be kicking our selves for getting rid of him. I think it could be Manny DH, Nady, Damon, and Bobby patroling the outfield with Melky ready to go at any point. Who else is a good outfielder/first baseman that is a free agent after this year?

Melky belongs in AAA. I rally don't see how anyone can still have hope for him at this point.

[White Knight]

I'm probably in the minority, but I want Manny and Bonds on the same team. Circus? Probably. But we'd have a team tht wins games. Right now we have a team without a circus that has been stinking as of late. I'll take winning any day.

[Urbanshocker13]

I'm probably in the minority, but I want Manny and Bonds on the same team. Circus? Probably. But we'd have a team tht wins games. Right now we have a team without a circus that has been stinking as of late. I'll take winning any day.

Bonds is 40+ hasn't played in over a year and can't play the field, Manny is getting up there as well, can't play defense to save his life, if anything upsets him he will dog it for the rest of the year. I also don't think either is a starter or relief pitcher, so them alone probably wouldn't help with the winning thing! This isn't play station, 'Reggie Stocker" isn't going to help at this point.

[KCGHOST]

My take is it is just typical player rhetoric when seeking a big free agent contract. Boras wants the Yankees in on the bidding. He has to somehow show Manny that turning their backs on two club options for $20M per year was the "right" decision. Manny is gunning for a deal of at least 4 years in length averaging $25M per year.

In other words this has nothing to do with revenge and a lot to do with greenbacks. And the Yanks would have to be nuts to get involved.

Nady is having a career year. This is his only season which could be called above average. If that's enough to convince you he deserves a 5 year contract then have at it.

[Mattingly]

My take is it is just typical player rhetoric when seeking a big free agent contract. Boras wants the Yankees in on the bidding. He has to somehow show Manny that turning their backs on two club options for $20M per year was the "right" decision. Manny is gunning for a deal of at least 4 years in length averaging $25M per year.

In other words this has nothing to do with revenge and a lot to do with greenbacks. And the Yanks would have to be nuts to get involved.

Nady is having a career year. This is his only season which could be called above average. If that's enough to convince you he deserves a 5 year contract then have at it.

I don't see anyone giving Manny a 4-year deal at this point. The last time that a Boras client not named A-Rod asked for excessive years, it was Damon asking for 7 years. The Yanks let the media have at it, and since Boston wasn't offering >3 years, and because his body was projected to break down, the Yanks cornered him and basically gave him an hour or less in a take-it-or-leave-it thing, told him he was neither getting 7, nor 6, nor 5 years. Johnny folded, accepted $52m/4 yrs with no-trade clause.

Had he accepted Boston's offer, this would be his walk year. He sems to have had his share of injuries as projected.

I don't know if Manny is expected to break down, since he's not out there chasing fly balls at full speed, sacrificing his body like Damon did in Boston, nor does he fly around the bases.

I just don't think that Manny will be anywhere near the same offensive force he was about 4 years from now as he was 2 years ago. Why should another team reward him beyond his wildest dreams for what he did in Boston? I don't even think that Bora$ would do anything that bad. Then again, I'd have said that before A-Rod's very publicly opting out during a WS game, so consider me fair game to Bora$' new bag of tricks.

Other than being a DH, I can't see Manny being useful here. That's $15m/yr for 2 years at best. If signed, this leaves Matsui with little playing time, and he'd have to waive his no-trade to play elsewhere. If he became useful, I'd see him splitting time in CF & LF, since he played CF in Japan and subbed nicely for an injured Bernie a few years ago.

If Manny's bat of a few years ago were combined with Melky's defense, I wouldn't need any convincing, would deal with his man-child goofy moments. However, since Manny's defense away from Fenway leaves a lot to be desired, and Melky has little plate discipline, we would need Dr Frankenstein to do some kind of merging of offense and defense into one superhuman being who plays OF.

Oh, and that annual "please trade me" thing wouldn't fly in the Bronx. We don't owe him any favors for protecting Ortiz in the lineup.

So we have for 2009 possibilities:

LF:
Nady
Damon
Matsui
Cabrera (presuming the Yanks haven't wised up and benched or traded him)

CF:
Damon
Matsui
Christian
Cabrera

RF:
Abreu
Nady

DH:
Matsui
Damon
Manny (hopefully, not being Manny)

If Nady asks for the typical Bora$ long-term overpriced deal, I say bye-bye, and I'll take the daft picks.

We're not lacking in outfielders, but Abreu, Nady, Christian are the only ones with big strong arms who can hit (less so with Christian, obviously). I would focus on keeping them, see if Melky ever decides to have fewer atrociously bad ABs, as if he'd rather be elsewhere.

Neither Damon nor Matsui have good arms, but at least get the ball quickly to A-Rod or Jeter as cutoff men.

[KCGHOST]

Manny will "only" be 37 next year. I can really see somebody falling for him based on hot August and September and giving him four year deal. Not at $25M per year, but at some big number,

As for getting draft picks remember you have to offer arbitration to get it.

[Chasing74]

I want Texeira to replace Giambi and Ramirez to replace Abreu.

Let's make it happen!