Man-Ram goes West

Manny Ramirez has been traded to the Dodgers via Pittsburgh. Initial thougths --

(1) If I have this right -- the Red Sox gave up the best hitter in baseball and two promising minor leaguers and received one player in return. Not the way I would have drawn it up, so hopefully they were able to get the Dodgers to eat Manny's remaining salary.

(2) Like Nomar in 2004, this was a trade that had to be made. An underperforming superstar feigning injury and missing critical games in a tight division race -- and making numerous derogatory comments about the team's ownership with for no apparent reason -- can't be considered an asset in any clubhouse. He would have been gone at the end of the season anyway, and the way the Sox have played since the All-Star Break, this clearly was a team that needed to be shaken up.

(3) The question now remains if the Red Sox can make the playoffs and advance with Jason Bay in LF. He's 7 years younger and can't help but be an improvement defensively while being less of a distraction, but he's nowhere near the hitter Manny was.

Be that as it may, Manny's Red Sox made the playoffs four times during his seven (full) yeas in Boston, not to mention two rings. All good things must come to an end; will there be more good times in the future?