In a Bizarre Scene, Manny Says He Wants to Stay in Boston

[Walter Cronkite]

"I'm just here to play and win. I'm a gangster. I'm still here. I'm here to win. I'm here to help this team win for 2005." -Manny Ramirez

Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez broke his silence on the trade talks surrounding him, interrupting the manager's Sunday morning press briefing to say, "I want to be with this team and win another World Series."

In a bizarre scene - even for the ever-tumultuous Red Sox - clubhouse clown Kevin Millar led Ramirez into manager Terry Francona's office before the game against Minnesota and said Manny had decided to talk. While Millar mock-translated Ramirez's easily understood English into gibberish, Ramirez said he had no problem with Francona, his teammates or the fans.

"I'm just here to play and win. I'm a gangster," he said about four hours before the non-waiver trading deadline. "I'm still here. I'm here to win. I'm here to help this team win for 2005."

Ramirez was not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins - the second consecutive game he has sat out to "clear his head." Francona said he thought the time off was working.

"You see him. He looks OK," the manager said. "He looks like he's handling things he wasn't handling a couple days ago. I wasn't sure about that yesterday; that's why he didn't play. I wasn't sure he was in a position to help us."

Ramirez leads the majors with 92 RBIs, but he's also one of the leading headaches in a Boston clubhouse that credits its chemistry for ending an 86-year title drought. Though both Francona and Ramirez denied there are any problems between them, the manager also acknowledged that he doesn't expect a 25-man roster to make it through a 162-game season without flare-ups.

"You can't have a perfect ballclub. You can't have a ballclub and not have raised voices. It's supposed to be like that," Francona said. "That's pretty much the way it's been every year. Have a couple fiascos and he drives in 140 - I hope it continues."

Francona said he didn't expect any more problems from Ramirez this season.

"They're done. You saw him," he told reporters. "I think it helped him" to have the time off.

Ramirez was booed by the Fenway Park crowd on Friday night and did not play on Saturday night. But when he came onto the field for the postgame handshake, a section of the crowd broke into a brief "Manny!" chant.

"It doesn't bother me, man," he said. "This is not my first time getting booed."

Added Francona, with a laugh: "It's not your first rodeo."

In a staged talk with sparks of spontaneity, Francona told reporters that Ramirez wanted to speak to the media with him to dispel reports that they didn't get along. The manager wasn't convinced it was necessary.

"Manny and I wanted to have an opportunity where me and him were together, so people don't think we're going to kill each other," Francona said. "He really wanted to speak to you guys with me. I think it was pretty cool."

Ramirez signed an eight-year, $160 million contract during the baseball-wide spending spree after the 2000 season. Ramirez has produced, winning a batting title, a home run title and driving in 306 runs in the past two seasons while becoming the franchise's first World Series MVP.

But the contract has become a burden for a team trying to remain in contention and under budget. Under general manager Theo Epstein, the Red Sox have repeatedly tried to trade Ramirez, famously dangling him in an aborted deal for Alex Rodriguez after the '03 season.

For his part, Ramirez has complained that he has not been comfortable in Boston since leaving the spacious and relatively low-pressure Cleveland clubhouse. He has asked to be traded annually, but few teams are able to take on the $64 million remaining on his contract for the next three years.

The Red Sox had been in talks for a three-team deal that would send Ramirez to the Mets, but those talks stalled over New York's insistence that Boston take on a large part of the slugger's salary. This could be the last chance for Boston to unload him, because after the season he will have the right to veto any trade.

With rumors swirling as the 4 p.m. trade deadline approached, Francona met with Ramirez before Saturday night's game and gave him the weekend to clear his head; an off-day Monday gives him three days off. Francona said he would avoid using Ramirez as a pinch-hitter, but Ramirez said he's always willing to pitch in.

"It's good I'm getting the day off, but I'm here," Ramirez said. "If they need me, I'll play."

Both Francona and Ramirez seemed relaxed in front of reporters, but the scene left Francona shaking his head.

"This place," he said as the media began filing out, "it's not boring."

Source: AP

[Kellie-Girl]

The Red Sox are the first team in MLB history to have a professional clown on the roster.

The guy is so immature that he should still be playing little league with the six year olds.

Either the Sox need to hire a babysitter, or trade him.

$20M per year!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I don't want to play."!!!!!

"I want to be traded."!!!!!!

Manny, get real, grow up and play ball, like a man, not a clown.

PS. Get rid of the clown hair too.

[AndySMC]

Manny speculation

I don't think Manny is being sat down for two games to "clear his head". I think Francona finally took the bull by the horns and suspended him for two games when you consider the following facts:

1. Manny left the field in the now famous "bathroom break" incident,

2. Manny refusing to play on his day off despite the Redsox needing him after Trot was hurt,

3. Damon stated that the matter would be handled "internally" within the team,

4. Schilling supposedly getting into it with Manny over the fact that Manny refused to play that day, and

5. Terry did say that it was in the "best interest of the team AND Manny" if he took a couple of days off to clear his head. Excuse me but that last bit by Terry smacks of 'doublespeak'.

It sounds like just the thing any boss would say to a good worker who got out of line and needs to be punished but not enough to justify firing them. I think Terry realized that a line had to be drawn with Mannys actions if he,Terry, was to remain in control of this team and he did just that by "giving Manny two games off" on the pretext of clearing his head. Like I said at the beginning, this is just speculation on my part, but I would be willing to bet that I am not too far off from the truth.