Still Feels the Same

Posted by Mike Giardi August 1, 2008 at 8:07 am

So I’ve had a night to sleep on what the Sox did late yesterday afternoon. And my gut feeling now is the same as then: Theo had to do it, but boy, this deal sure reeks of desperation and looks not lopsided, but at least heavily listing in the Dodgers and Pirates favor.

At what point during all of this did you think the Sox would have to include two Major Leaguers (Hansen and Moss), and two draft picks that would have been in the top 40 (when the Sox offered Manny arbitration at the end of the season) and the 7 million dollars all to make sure Manny wasn’t in that clubhouse this afternoon?

You keep hearing addition by subtraction, and having been in that locker room this last week, there’s no question there’s validity to that comment. But now there are no more excuses, except for that inconsistent bullpen. The onus shifts directly onto the players, their manager, and - if this goes poorly - GM Theo Epstein and the ownership that green-lighted such a move. Not a comfortable spot to be in, especially in this ravenous region, but that’s why they get paid the big bucks. As I wrote sometime in the last 36 hours, this is another career-making trade for Theo, and despite the discontent with Manny over these last two months, fans and some in the media will write revisionist history should the season continue to go south.

Me, I continue to believe that the Sox may not be as talented an offensive team as they were the last time Francona wrote out the lineup card, but at least the clubhouse won’t have that festering stench caused by the sullen slugger. That could be huge, mentally, going forward. No more wondering if Manny will ask out of the lineup, or, like he did last Friday, ask to go on the DL with knees that checked out a-okay. No more having to look the other way when he jakes it down the first base line on a ground ball, like he did during Lackey’s near no-no. That almost caused both Dustin Pedroia and Terry Francona’s heads to simultaneously implode.

But the flip side is losing one of the best hitters in franchise - in baseball - history. Jason Bay can’t replace that, can he? Bay and Manny’s numbers are comparable, but until we see how the former Buc responds in this atmosphere, we still can’t answer the question: just how desperate was this deal?