Projo Sox Blog

While Manny Ramirez's Dodgers teammates talk about what a great teammate he is, some of Ramirez's old mates in Boston seem to have a hard time getting the bad taste out of their mouths from Manny's acrimonious departure last season.

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, interviewed for April's edition of Esquire magazine, called Ramirez a "cancer" whom the Sox had no choice but to get rid of last summer.

"It just takes one guy to bring an entire team down, and that's exactly what was happening. Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. It's like cancer. That what he was. Cancer. He had to go," Papelbon is quoted as saying.

Speaking about Ramirez's confrontation with traveling secretary Jack McCormick and his suspicious injuries, Papelbon said that "It just takes one guy to bring an entire team down, and that's exactly what was happening," the right-hander told the magazine. "Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. ... He had to go."

 Tags  Jack McCormick Jonathan Papelbon Los Angeles Dodgers Manny Ramirez

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