Manny being Manny

I guess I should really chuck in my two cents with the rest of the globe on the current Manny situation...

For the last couple of weeks, Manny's behavior on the field has been a little beyond Manny strange - the exaggerated flip, stare and stroll on HR's, the failure to put in even any effort running out pop ups (and one particularly spectacular effort at Fenway where on a line drive to the CF he was no more than a couple of steps outside the batter's box when the ball was caught), the now regular trips into the Monster between pitching changes - I had written these off in my mind as just Manny being particularly Manny. Does the news that Manny has submitted yet another trade request indicate that his heart really hasn't been in it for these last couple of weeks?

In tonight's post game, David Ortiz questioned the wisdom of Sox fans booing Manny in his first at bat - but to be fair to Sox fans, the reception that he received was far more positive than he could rightfully have hoped for, with the cheers seeming to far outweigh the boos by the time the majority of the crowd had voiced their opinion. I understand Ortiz's point - Manny has produced at a stunning level for a number of years, but what the players need to realize is that Manny has just told us, again, that he doesn't want us - that some fans want to boo him for that seems fair to me.

The latest news has the Sox in serious discussions with 2 AL teams, 2 NL teams and the now 'on-hold' 3 way trade with the Mets and Rays. The only thing that I would say to any of these reports is that Theo has typically operated under the radar in all his trade negotiations - and at this time of year, anyone that has held a baseball becomes "someone close to the negotiations" - I mean I am close to Omar Minaya if you really want to get down to it... about 25 miles from here to Shea has to count as close right?

If Theo is seriously considering a trade for Manny which involves us giving up not only Manny, but Shoppach and Sanchez, to get back Mike Cameron and Aubrey Huff... then I really would begin to believe that perhaps a pact had been made with a certain horned man to deliver the World Series last year. Thankfully, given his track record, I really don't believe that Theo is considering that type of trade - he is on record as saying that unless we get $ for $ value, he simply wont make the trade - that trade may be $ for $ value, but we wouldn't be talking about US$ for US$ - what is the exchange rate on the Zimbabwe $ at the moment?

The Sox still need pitching... and tonight's news that Miller was scratched due to stiffness in his pitching shoulder may only increase that need. In an ideal world, our lineup could do with an upgrade at 1B (I really do believe that Kevin Millar has completely lost his power stroke - how many 'big' hits have reached the warning track in the last ten days?), an upgrade at 2B, and given Trot's status, possibly an upgrade at RF. In the real world though... pitching, pitching and pitching would be nice... and an upgrade at 1B - sorry Kevin!