Manny era ends in Boston !!!

Blog Entry 5AD3968F-6096-4188-AA8A-27CC67022907 :
In what can only be construed as a last minute mega deal between the Red Sox, Pirates and the Dodgers, disgruntled outfielder Manny Ramirez was traded to the LA Dodgers in return of Jason Bay of the Pirates headed over to Boston and Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss of the Red Sox headed over to Pittsburgh alongwith a couple of minor leaguers from the Dodgers camp moving to Pittsburgh as well.

As a Red Sox fan, its always hard to digest the loss of a Yankee killer and a for-sure future Hall of famer and a player who has been instrumental in leading the Red Sox to 2 world championships in the space of last 4 years, but its a move that was best for all parties involved. Sure, the Red Sox lost a lot in trading Manny and it was never expected that they would get the same quality back in return, atleast offensively, but Jason Bay sure is a good hitter and has posted numbers similar to Manny for this season wid 60+ RBIs, 20+ homers and a .250+ average amongst some not so good hitters in the bucs organisation. It would be a good thing to see if Bay can match up to Manny Ramirez's talent offensively.

Will Jason Bay be as productive as Manny ? Will Bay be able to put up as good numbers in Boston in star-studded lineup as he did at Pittsburgh amongst not so good players ? Will Manny and Joe Torre be able to co-exist as a duo and help Dodgers win the NL West ? Are the Red Sox now even short-handed with the loss of Craig Hansen ?

These questions still remain unanswered and will only be answered as time goes on and as the season progresses. But, there's one thing for sure, Manny wiill continue being Manny, be it Boston or the sun and sand of LA, Bay will be a better defensive force than Manny in left field for Red Sox (remains to be seen how he plays the wall at the Green Monster) and the Red Sox, Rays and Yankees are gonna go down in a 3-way tussle for the AL East and wild card spot. Hoping that Red Sox would get over their recent Fenway slump and regroup now and have a solid last 2 months of the regular season.

By the way, Jason Bay made his Red Sox debut yesterday in the midst of a standing ovation by the Red Sox Nation at Fenway Park. He walked in his first at-bat, was walked again in his 2nd at-bat when a breaking ball by Duetschuer of the A's did not break and hit him on the back, struck out twice, and hit a clutch triple off the left field wall and came around to score the winning run at Fenway for a 2-1 win over the Oakland A's. Manny on the other hand ended the night at 2-for-4 for the Dodgers in a losing cause and the big unit earned his 292rd win helping the Dbacks maintain their lead at the top in NL West.

Go Sox !!!