Trading Manny?

As the pennant races heat up and the non-waiver trade deadline approaches, the insanity begins.

This was evident on Friday night when Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox left Fenway an hour before facing the New York Yankees. He left the ballpark without formal notification because of continued soreness in his right knee. This was a culmination of events revolving around his sore right knee going back to Wednesday in Seattle.

Needless to say, the Red Sox organization has had enough.

Yes, this was a classic example of "Manny being Manny." It has gone to the point of ultimate tolerance even in the offices of John Henry and Larry Lucchino. Now, there is talk of trading Manny elsewhere.

Manny welcomes this open discussion of trading him elsewhere. He even waived his 10-5 Rights (10 years service, 5 years on the same club) of his No-Trade clause for Theo Epstein to make it happen. In his own words, Manny still loves the Sox, but "enough is enough."

I am not at the point of saying "good riddance." Henry made it clear that any distraction from the pennant race is unwelcome, whether it was the drama over his right knee or the hornet's nest revolving around his possible departure out of Boston. This is what the Red Sox Nation must undertake as a priority.

The point being that any trade to send Ramirez elsewhere will have to come as a sacrifice for the Red Sox. But, who would be resilient enough to fill his shoes in such a trade. What team will sacrifice not only paying more than planned on acquiring Ramirez, but send off their finest players for the outfielder's services?

Trading Ramirez is not going to be easy.

So far, the best trade of the deadline season was the Milwaukee Brewers' acquisition of former Cleveland Indians' starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia. Once the biggest prize of the deadline, that trade benefited the Brew Crew greatly as Sabathia is on a roll with shutouts and complete games under his belt. Now that Manny Ramirez has been touted as trade bait, the Sabathia deal could become a footnote to a larger drama in the game.

Then again, Ramirez could remain in New England and suck it up for another run at the postseason. This is probably the smartest thing considering the potential fall out of such a transaction.

So, even if Manny isn't going to Iraq as he offered up in an interview recently, one would hope that clarity will ensue between Ramirez and the Red Sox as they weigh a legitimate reason to pursue a transaction. In the end, emotions aren't enough for a reason to make a trade.