Jane, You Ignorant Slut!

The title of this post goes back to the late 70s Saturday Night Live comic greatness of Dan Ackroyd and Jane Curtin, in their weekly video segment "Point-Counterpoint." A place where both opposing views of a topic are hilariously demonstrated. And this IS a different view from the last post, just below this one, and also concerning Manny. I'll let you read an excerpt, and thanks to MSNBC online.

"The Boston Red Sox have been down this slippery slope before. A couple of times, actually.
Sometimes, it’s their idea. Like when they tried to give away Manny Ramirez and his remaining contract, but couldn’t. They put him on waivers a couple of winters ago, and nobody claimed him.
Sometimes, the prompt comes from Ramirez, the unpredictable yet talented designated hitter masquerading as a left fielder, who every once in a while says he wants out.
And so Ramirez has played six seasons in Boston, averaged .316, 39 homers and 119 RBI, been a key part of a World Series champion, won a batting title, a home-run title and five Silver Sluggers — and otherwise caused enough commotion to, as Phillies general manager Pat Gillick politely put it recently, be a distraction.
But in the wake of the game’s economic health and escalating salary scale this winter, the possibility of Ramirez actually wearing another uniform soon has gained momentum. That is, if he really wants to — because no matter how many trade offers the Red Sox may find acceptable this winter, it all eventually will come down to Ramirez and his 10/5 trade veto rights. And predicting what he might do is impossible. Ramirez has begun to hit the downside of his career. He will play most of next season at 35, and four more guaranteed years likely would mark the end of the line for him.
But there are obvious drawbacks to leaving Fenway Park — especially considering who might be interested in making a deal for him, as that list reportedly includes the Dodgers, Giants, Rangers, Padres and Angels.
Changing leagues at this point is wrong from both Ramirez’s perspective, and any National League team thinking about trading for him. His defense is an adventure even in the smallest left field in the majors. Take him out of Fenway and put him in any of the three NL pitchers parks on the potential trades list — Dodger Stadium, AT&T Park and Petco Park — and you get what you deserve. (Of course, in the Giants’ case, the change would be minimal, given Barry Bonds’ statuesque interpretation of playing the position these days).
Not to mention having to learn a whole new set of pitchers, and be put in a new lineup that won’t score nearly as many runs as the Red Sox will with Ramirez, David Ortiz and likely J.D. Drew in the middle. If Hall of Fame credentials mean anything to Manny — and he’s sitting on .314, 470 homers and 1,516 RBI lifetime — these are two more reasons why staying in the DH league is the better option at this point.
Then there are the Texas Rangers, who have a clear need for another bat in the middle of their lineup, and need a big strike to reverse a horrible off-season to date, one in which they have seen Carlos Lee, Gary Matthews Jr., Adam Eaton and Mark DeRosa leave as free agents for a combined $187 million. It would be worse if Rod Barajas hadn’t backed out a reported two-year, $6-million deal with Toronto, but he will land elsewhere soon.
The Rangers have closer Akinori Otsuka to offer, which would fill a primary Red Sox need, and also young starting pitching. The Red Sox also still need a shortstop (Julio Lugo?), a second baseman, a backup catcher and maybe another reliever.
Ameriquest Field also is hitter-friendly, and the advantages of staying in the AL — same pitchers, DH possibility, familiarity, etc. — all hold. The real question now is what will Manny want to do?"

Peter here. HHMMMMMM, a good question. We've all tried, at one moment or another, to try to ooze inside Manny's brain and try to decipher the thought process. No success so far, at least for me. But I do think if he goes anywhere, he would want (?) to stay in the AL. Outfields other than Fenway Park's leftfield scare him! I'm convinced. This is ongoing, but so am I. I'd love to see some comments on this post, and the preceding one. And thanks. Hope you all have a safe and happy weekend, the first of my birthday month, number 12, December.