Projo Sox Blog

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. The topics: Manny Ramirez, Jason Bay and Josh Beckett.

Here's what Sean had to say about what would happen if the Sox kept Manny:

"I would say that that's gotta be of some concern, because it seems like everytime Manny opens his mouth the last five days, he turns the rhetoric up a little bit, and you wonder about fallout and consequences of that going forward. Certainly the team looks pretty flat, whether that's the result of the distraction that takes place or coincidence, or facing a good opponent that happens to be riding high. We don't know -- what we do know is that they're not playing very good baseball. They've lost six of seven on this homestand and they need something to turn this around."

And on the trade that appears to be on the table:

"It's probably the best way to salvage the situation at this point, I guess. Bay is an intriguing guy. He has that same patient approach at the plate that the Red Sox promote and encourage with their own hitters. He's got a lifetime on-base percentage that's quite good. He's got power and he's signed through next year, so the question you have got to ask yourself is: Is John Grabow and Jason Bay better than waiting for a couple of draft picks next June? Because I think it's pretty clear that the Red Sox are not going to pick up the option if they hold on to Manny. They would end up getting two draft picks as compensation in next June's amateur draft, and instead they wind up with Jason Bay for at least a season and a third, and ... they get some bullpen help for the final two months here. Certainly Bay is not the hitter or offensive force that Ramirez is. We're talking about a Hall of Fame hitter here, and that's impossible to replace in the big picture. But I think in the short term it's probably a deal that the Red Sox should make, because of the situation that the Red Sox find themselves in with Ramirez and the need to replace that bat, both in the short- and long-term basis."

 Tags  Jason Bay Manny Ramirez Sean McAdam SoxTalk

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