A soon-to-be-released Manny Ramirez biography alleges that the team betrayed Ramirez in the press, and also claims that the team's traveling secretary had a history of insulting Ramirez in front of other Red Sox players. Ramirez got into hot water last summer after it was reported that he shoved the traveling secretary, Jack McCormick, to the ground during a dispute over tickets.

The book -- "Becoming Manny: Inside the Life of Baseball's Most Enigmatic Slugger" -- includes comments critical of the Sox by Gene Mato, a former agent for Ramirez; and by Ramirez's wife, Julianna.

Julianna Ramirez said of the McCormick affair that "Jack had a history of insulting Manny in front of the other players," and said that the team used the confrontation as an excuse to vilify and eventually dump Ramirez.

Francona said this yesterday, according to Sean McAdam of The Boston Herald: "I think we did everything in our power to protect Manny. At the same time, we wanted him to own up to his actions. We tried to do it privately but also make him understand that there were consequences for his actions. I thought we did the best we could. I think we bent over backward for Manny, like we did many times."

Ramirez remains a man without a team this morning as spring training creeps ever closer.