Trade Deadline Blog: Manny Being Dodger

Yes, Manny has gotten his wish and he's headed for La-La Land. No, wait, hasn't he been in La-La Land for, oh, I don't know, 36 years? Manny and Joe Torre...interesting concept. All kidding aside, Manny is a great hitter and there will be times when his 500+ home run bat will be sorely missed. However, the Manny Melodrama of the past week was becoming toxic to the team. It was evident in last night's game how distracted the team was. The Boston Globe said that "one day after a near no-hitter, they played a no-fielder" Everyone from Manny's teammates and manager to the front office, to Red Sox Nation had had enough, so they shipped him out of Boston and brought on a new left-fielder from the Pirate ship, Jason Bay.

Bay, from what I've read, is 29 years old, bats .282 with 22 HR and 64 RBI. He's been described as a player with all-around baseball skills, from the bat to the field to the base paths. It will be interesting to see where Tito bats him tomorrow night. I'm thinking he bats 5th or 6th as they see how he will produce in Boston. Here are my predictions for possible lineups.

Lineup #1:

Pedroia
Youkilis
Ortiz
Drew
Lowell
Bay
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

Lineup #2

Pedroia
Drew
Ortiz
Youkilis
Lowell
Bay
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

Lineup #3

Pedroia
Youkilis
Ortiz
Lowell
Drew
Bay
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

Lineup #4

Pedroia
Drew
Ortiz
Lowell
Bay
Youkilis
Lowrie/Cora
Varitek
Ellsbury/Crisp

There are other possibilities, but this blog is getting long enough! Also on the move are Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen. Mossy was great with the Sox, but there was no room for him in the outfield and he's good enough to be a starter on another team (namely, the Pirates). Hansen was still finding his way as a reliever and may be better off in the smaller-market Pittsburgh.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! WELCOME, JASON BAY!!!