The other day, I made a cynical, joking reference to Brian Cashman’s obsession with the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and now there is a chance that my reference — about Manny Ramirez — could come true. Oh, great. Can’t I make a winning the lottery reference and have *that* come true instead?
Here’s what I am talking about: Kevin Youkilis was the eighth member of the 2004 Red Sox to become a Yankee — not a coincidence. And Cashman said recently regarding Youk’s signing that he did “so much for Boston over the years.” Anyhow, I wrote Wednesday: “Did Cash understand that Boston traded him because he wasn’t really any good anymore? Manny Ramirez did a lot for Boston over the years, too, but I don’t want him as a Yankee in 2013 either.” That was a joke, of course, because as of June 19, Manny was a washed-up has-been playing in Taiwan. But as of June 20, Ramirez is leaving Taiwan, and says he wants to play Major League Baseball again.
And you know what that could mean — Manny as a Yankee. MLB.com’s Richard Justice’s, perhaps the biggest Cashman suckup in sports media — and that is saying something — wrote a column talking about Ramirez being a Yankee that starts with this:
If you don’t like the idea of Manny Ramirez playing for the New York Yankees, you have absolutely no sense of adventure.
Sure, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has steered the franchise far from players with the kind of baggage that accompanies Manny.
Well, other than signing Youkilis — a Red Sox who wasn’t exactly a BFF of the Yanks, and who threw temper tantrums all the time. Or bringing back Home Run Javy Vazquez. Or trying to bring back Carl Pavano, arguably the most despised Yankee of all time. Or getting Raul Mondesi. Or bringing back Roger Clemens, me-first “family days” and all.
Justice goes on to talk about what a low-risk, high reward move signing Manny would be, blah blah blah, and does his usual Cashman suckup stuff. Then he writes this jaw-dropper:
Here’s where Cashman can lean on the franchise he has built. In going for Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay, Travis Hafner and others, Cashman went for guys with a team-first attitude who would understand that playing for the Yankees is a privilege. Manny is a lot of things, but dumb isn’t one of them. He knows what the Yanks represent. Ramirez surely would know that they could provide him with the opportunity to put a better finishing touch on his career. He would also know they wouldn’t put up with him misbehaving.
1. Actually, the people cited there were just happy that any team wanted them. That’s more to the point than the team-first hooey Again, Cashman tried to re-sign Carl Pavano, the antithesis of team-first.
2. Actually, Manny is pretty dumb. I think this is a well-known fact (although I did joke for years that he secretly was a genius who was doing complicated math equations in the Green Monster!)
3. Whether or not Manny misbehaves isn’t an issue (although it is fascinating to see Justice write such a puff piece on Manny, given how much he has described A-Rod as history’s greatest monster.) The real issue is that Ramirez is 41 years old, hasn’t been a good major league hitter for years, and has failed three PED tests.
Think about that for a second, if the Yanks do try to get Ramirez. If they go after him at the very same time they are acting like the victims when it comes to A-Rod’s links to BioGenesis, they would be the biggest hypocrites ever. Not that Justice or any of the other suckups in the New York media would ever point out such a thing.
Anyhow, over the next few days, expect Cashman’s minions in the media, and on other Yankee blogs, to talk about what a great, savvy move it would be to sign Manny Ramirez, paving the way for the inevitable. After all, Manny would be a quintessential Cashman signing — he’s old, past his prime, a steroid user, an ex-Red Sox, and he killed the Yankees time and time again. Why not overpay for him to supposedly stick it to the Red Sox, Cash will think. Good grief.
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