Ramirez not waiting for offseason: seeking new agent to make a trade

[yankeessuck013]

Notes: Epstein expects Manny back

 

All-Star slugger departs clubhouse without discussing future

 

BOSTON -- With a bag of belongings in his hand and a Tim Brown Raiders jersey on his back, Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez walked out of the clubhouse early Saturday afternoon and declined interview requests from the masses.

 

Just as he was all season, the left fielder of the Red Sox was both polite and unwavering in his denial.

 

"No thanks," were the only words that came out of Ramirez's mouth.

 

So it remained ambiguous whether Ramirez is happy in Boston with three years still go to on his contract. Will he request a trade? Will the Red Sox look to trade him, something they would need his permission to do because he is a 10-5 man?

 

"I think Manny is obviously a huge part of this club. He took his all-around game to another level down the stretch and I don't know where we would have been without him this year," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "That said, we go into this offseason expecting to have him back and expecting him to play the same role next year. Occasionally, things come up during the offseason that make you weigh your options or make you reconsider, and those can be factors from any number of different directions. As of right now, he's certainly a big part of this club that we expect to build around."

 

In July, reports -- later confirmed by Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino --surfaced that Ramirez had requested a trade, citing a lack of privacy that comes with playing in Boston.

 

It was well known that the Red Sox and Mets discussed many variations of a trade that could have reunited Ramirez with former Sox ace Pedro Martinez in Flushing, N.Y., just before the July 31 trade deadline.

 

But when no deal was struck, Ramirez, in one of the precious few times he spoke to the media all year, said, "I want to stay here for 2005. I want to help this team win another World Series."

 

Never did he say anything about being happy in Boston beyond 2005, leaving the situation unclear heading into the offseason.

 

"I should not speak for Manny," said Epstein. "He likes to win and he likes to play ball. Every player we have is a human being with a personal life outside of the ballpark. Those [discussions] are kept private -- and they should be -- but I would never want to speak for any one of our players, let alone Manny on something so personal like comfort level in a situation."

[User Name]

I could me underestimating his intelligence, but I think, for someone like him, he wouldn't be so polite if he were dying to get out of Beantown.

[riverside sluggers]

guess what... that former article is believed to be a "tactical move" for other agents, not the truth

 

Sox' future on Manny's mind -- Wants powwow with brass

By Michael Silverman

Wednesday, October 12, 2005 - Updated: 06:29 AM EST

 

In case you thought you had Manny Ramirez all figured out, think again. In fact, try picturing picture this: A smiling Ramirez meeting with the Red Sox' top brass, poring over player projection charts, stat sheets and payroll estimates, nodding thoughtfully at free agent targets and trade possibilities and then helping himself to another Red Bull before clearing his throat and speaking his mind. In the latest episode of the long-running comedy/drama "Manny being Manny,'' the Red Sox' goofy, unpredictable and prolific slugger wants to sit down with the front office next month for a give-and-take session about the club's future, according to a source close to Ramirez who was authorized by the player to speak for him yesterday.

 

"I get the feeling that he wants to stay in Boston, but I also get the feeling that he wants to know what the direction of the team is going to be,'' said the source, who's been in daily contact with Ramirez since the season ended Friday. "They still have to address the Theo Epstein situation, his contract expires Oct. 31, and they have all the free agents to decide on. There are issues. He wants to sit down and get a feel for where the team is headed. Manny wants the team to get better, and he is concerned.'' How would Ramirez react if he heard something he did not want to hear or if he couldn't get a precise answer regarding his concerns? The source said there was no reason to suspect that Ramirez would use information from a meeting as the basis to suddenly request that the club pursue a deal that would get him out of town.

 

"They may have already made conscious decisions to let some players go, they may say that they're trying to bring somebody back,'' the source said. "Manny just wants to be able to give his opinion on certain things. He's an important part of the team, and like any star player on the team, he at least wants to know what they're planning.'' As a 10-5 veteran, Ramirez holds veto power on any trade the Red Sox may explore, but he hasn't even mentioned a trade recently. "He's given me every indication he's happy where he is,'' the source said. "He's upset that the Red Sox lost in the playoffs and he's upset that everyone's been talking about him when they shouldn't be focused on him.''

 

During the American League Division Series, Foxsports.com reported that Ramirez was considering switching agents, a move that could signal the slugger soon would be seeking a trade. The source dismissed the report. "Manny has not switched agents,'' the source said. "He said that was all a `bunch of crock. The report was a tactical move by other agents trying to stir up contract talks with other players.'' Ramirez has three guaranteed years remaining on an eight-year deal he signed nearly five years ago worth an average annual salary of $20 million. There is close to $60 million remaining on the pact, which the Red Sox have tried to get rid of at least three separate times: after the 2003 season, after the 2004 season and at the end of this July.

 

In the most recent talks, Ramirez was the focus of a three-team deal involving the Mets and Devil Rays. The talks intensified toward the July 31 deadline, which coincided with a Ramirez episode in which he declined to make a start when fellow outfielder Trot Nixon was injured. The episode roiled the clubhouse and sent Ramirez into a funk that precipitated a source close to Ramirez lashing out at the Red Sox and manager Terry Francona on the slugger's behalf just before the deadline.

 

By all accounts, Epstein and Francona were able to smooth over the situation to the point where on July 31, Ramirez goofily announced he was happy and that this was just another case of "Manny being Manny.''

[mosox]

I hope Manny shows up for the meeting.

[He Hate Me]

ESPN is speculating that the Yankees would trade for Manny in a 3 way deal possibly involving Matsui. I can't decide if this is a good or bad thing in all honesty.

[riverside sluggers]

ESPN is speculating that the Yankees would trade for Manny in a 3 way deal possibly involving Matsui. I can't decide if this is a good or bad thing in all honesty.

 

red sox would never trade within their own division, especially the runs producer that manny is. if anybody, it would be with the mets. but seriously i dont think any trade will happen anyway

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Trade Manny to the Yankees????? Thats just people saying stuff to get everyone talking. Never ever ever would happen. Let them have Sheff, A-Rod, Giambi, and Manny....why don't we just give them Ortiz plus Schilling and call it a day. Unless we are getting Albert Pujols and Barry Bonds in that 3-way deal...no thanks

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

Manny will never be a Yankee. There is alot of talk in NY about Manny to the Mets.

[User Name]

You can quote me on this, if Manny gets traded to the Yankees I will castrate myself with a rusty knife. I will. It just won't happen.

[schillingouttheks]

Okay. So if the Mets trade him to the Yankees I can quote you?

[riverside sluggers]

well this didnt last long. god damn it Manny stop with your mind changes as much as the new england weather does. now threatening if he is not dealt, he will not show up for spring training...

 

Ramirez again asks Sox for trade

Slugger threatens not to report in spring

By Chris Snow, Globe Staff | October 29, 2005

 

Gene Mato, one of Manny Ramirez's representatives, communicated to Red Sox owner John W. Henry yesterday that Ramirez wants to be traded, and will not report to spring training if his wish to be dealt is not met, according to a team source. Ramirez is a 10-5 player, meaning he has 10 years of major league service, five consecutive with the same team. That seniority entitles Ramirez to block a trade to any team he doesn't wish to join. With that in mind, Mato told Henry that Ramirez might decide during the process of being shopped that he wishes to remain with the Sox.

 

General manager Theo Epstein would neither confirm nor deny that Ramirez has requested a trade, but said late last night, ''Manny, his representatives, and the Red Sox have open lines of communication and will throughout the offseason. I think we all want whatever is in the club's best interest and Manny's best interest. [but] those conversations are private and completely confidential. For anyone to reveal the nature of those talks would be ridiculous. We have no comment."

 

This comes only three months after Ramirez asked to be traded by the July 31 deadline, which CEO Larry Lucchino revealed July 28 in his weekly radio interview with WEEI. Lucchino that day called the slugger's request ''not anything unusual," saying it was the fourth time since Henry bought the team that Ramirez asked out. But Ramirez wasn't dealt. He remained with the team and made peace -- or publicly made a showing of making peace -- the morning of July 31, when he popped into manager Terry Francona's office and told the assembled media, ''I want to stay here for 2005 and win another World Series."

 

He said nothing about remaining with the club beyond 2005. He is, of course, signed for three more seasons, at a total of $57 million, the balance on his eight-year, $160 million contract. Ramirez, along with one of his representatives, was scheduled to meet with Henry on Wednesday and discuss some of the issues in Ramirez's head. Henry, as of last week, wasn't expecting Ramirez to ask to be traded. A week ago yesterday, in an e-mail, Henry said he meets with Ramirez ''every six months or so, certainly every winter," and that he wasn't anticipating that this meeting would give rise to anything unusual.

 

That meeting, though, hasn't happened, because of the aftereffects of Hurricane Wilma in South Florida, where both Henry and Ramirez live. Ramirez, 33, struggled for much of the first half of the 2005 season but still tied a career high with 45 home runs. He knocked in 144 runs, his highest total since 1999, his last year with Cleveland.

 

Ramirez did much of his offensive damage beginning July 31, when it was decided that he would not be dealt. Beginning that day, over the closing 56 games, he hit .327 with 17 home runs and 52 RBIs. He also significantly elevated his all-around game over the closing weeks of the season, paying noticeably sharper attention to base running and fielding. Epstein said toward the end of the season that Ramirez had won his teammates' respect with his hustle.

 

''I think he really understood the impact that he has on our ball club," Francona said on the season's last day. ''How much we needed him." David Ortiz, meanwhile, benefited greatly hitting ahead of Ramirez. Ramirez and Ortiz combined to hit 21 homers in the team's final 22 games, finishing the season with 92 homers and 292 RBIs, a season after hitting a combined 84 homers and delivering 269 RBIs.

 

''I'll tell you what," Ortiz said before Game 4 of the World Series Wednesday, ''If you're going to let a guy like Manny go, you better bring someone in like this." He motioned to the man standing next to him, Atlanta's Andruw Jones, who led the majors with 51 home runs.