In July, Manny Ramirez began telling teammates he would do whatever it took to get out of the last two years of his Red Sox contract and get out of Boston. If it meant decking the traveling secretary, holding up his teammates by refusing to board a bus, forgetting which knee was bothering him when he said he couldn't play, he was going to free himself from the two $20 million-per-season options the Red Sox held after paying him $160 million. And during that time, he told teammates he was going to get a four-year, $100 million deal or a six-year, $150 million deal.Now, Ramirez has a problem. He's one more flunked test from being suspended for 100 games.
What owner in his right mind would invest three years in someone who could miss two-thirds of a season?
And there's another problem. Look at the numbers that go with the current suspension:
| Time period | Avg. | OBP | SLG | OPS | ABs per HR |
| 1999-2006, ages 27-34 | .322 | .424 | .626 | 1.050 | 12.9 |
| 2007-July 31, 2008, ages 35-36 | .297 | .392 | .508 | .901 | 21.2 |
| Aug. 1, 2008-May 5, 2009, age 36+ | .380 | .490 | .710 | 1.200 | 12.1 |
From 1998 through 2005, Ramirez averaged 41 homers a season. When he was traded on July 31, he was on a pace to hit 27 homers, a season after hitting 20.
Maybe it was all because he felt claustrophobic in Boston, and he didn't feel like moving four miles to the peace and tranquility of Red Sox owner John Henry's neighborhood in Brookline, Mass. Maybe it was traveling secretary Jack McCormick's fault for not giving him everything he wanted. Maybe he is as innocent as John Boy, as talented as Albert Pujols.
But it's going to be very difficult for any owner to look at the numbers, get the report from MLB and give him what the exile from Boston Common was all about -- long years and big dollars. He will win back the Dodgers fans who tormented Barry Bonds if he leads the Dodgers to a world championship, which is entirely possible.
But the way it looks today, he belongs to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who is dying to bring the Dodgers back to their pre-eminence as a franchise. And now McCourt is faced with Ramirez's betrayal of his marketing scheme and doubts about the cold hard facts of his $45 million investment.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
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Peter Gammons
Hall of Fame baseball reporter Peter Gammons has worked for ESPN since 1988. He primarily serves as a studio analyst for "Baseball Tonight," but he also does regular spots for "SportsCenter," ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio and contributes to ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine.
Gammons was voted the National Sportswriter of the Year for 1989, 1990 and 1993 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and was awarded an honorary Poynter Fellow from Yale University. But his highest honor was the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award, voted on by the BBWAA and awarded at the Baseball Hall of Fame for outstanding baseball writing.
Gammons, a 1969 graduate of the University of North Carolina, began his career as a reporter for the Boston Globe in 1969. He has also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the NHL, college basketball and major league baseball (1976 to '78, 1986 to '90). In 1986, upon his return to Sports Illustrated as a senior writer following a second stay at the Globe, he wrote numerous stories covering some of baseball's most important news events and authored Inside Baseball, Sports Illustrated's weekly baseball notebook. Gammons is also the author of "Beyond the Sixth Game," a look at free agency.
Gammons is a gifted musician, and his debut album, "Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old," was released on Rounder Records. With the assistance of a crack band of Boston rockers, Gammons trades in his typewriter for a Stratocaster and delivers a rousing set of vintage classics, originals and rock obscurities -- all to benefit Theo and Paul Epstein's Foundation to be Named Later, a charity that raises funds and awareness for nonprofit agencies serving disadvantaged youth in the greater Boston area.
Gammons' vocals and guitar are featured, along with guests such as Theo Epstein, Juliana Hatfield, George Thorogood, Little Feat's Paul Barrere, Kay Hanley and an all-star chorus consisting of past and present Red Sox players, including Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Trot Nixon, Lenny DiNardo, Tim Wakefield and Bronson Arroyo, and NESN broadcaster Don Orsillo. Get more information from Rounder Records.
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