Thursday, July 31st — Manny Ramirez for Jason Bay

Today I Learned…

…that Manny Ramirez and Jason Bay have very similar statistics this year.

My favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, traded enigmatic and problem-child superstar slugger Manny Ramirez at the trade deadline after the relationship between Ramirez and the team’s ownership and management deteriorated beyond repair.  The deal is a three-way deal between Boston, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Ramirez goes to the Dodgers (where he is reunited with former Red Sox teammates Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Lowe, as well as former nemesis manager Joe Torre).  Boston gets Bay from Pittsburgh, while the Pirates get Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen (thank GOD he’s gone) from Boston as well as Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris from Los Angeles.

EDIT: Thanks for correcting me on the details, commenter Frank.  I knew that sounded weird when I wrote that.

At first I was skeptical about the deal — I’m a Manny fan, and I wasn’t sure Bay could even come close to replacing him in the lineup.  But two things brought me around to liking the trade.

1. CRAIG HANSEN IS GONE!  He was once a promising pitching prospect, but he never really panned out as a closer and I had a heart attack every time he came into the game.
2. What I actually learned today: Manny and Bay have put up remarkably similar numbers so far this season.

Ramirez’s line: .299/.398/.529, 20 HR, 68 RBI, 66 R, 1 SB (that’s batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage, for those not aware)

Bay’s line: .282/.375/.519, 22 HR, 64 RBI, 72 R, 7 SB

Bay is also a better defender, but the big downside is that he has to get used to American League pitching, which could take some time.  All in all, I’m still cautiously optimistic about Boston’s chances at the postseason — they’ve got the talent, but they’ve really got to start playing better ball, and soon.