Manny will be Manny in L.A. now

[BeyondGeography]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/07/31/manny.sweepstakes/index.html?eref=T1

[Shakespeare]

1. Holy shit!

Dodgers will be even more fun to watch. And Nomar and Manny and Lowe on the same team? It's like the Red Sox West...

[charlie and algernon]

11. and managed by Torre!

Heads are exploding all over New England tonight

[SoxFan]

17. Actually, no

I've been listening to fan reaction on WEEI (Boston) and WGAM (Manchester), and the response has been one of relief. Manny pushed things too far too often, adn everyone was ready to move on. Manny was a distraction, and his lack of hustle was grating on dirt dogs like Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Dustin Pedroia.

Jason Bay is a solid outfielder who finally gets to play with a good supporting cast. In a lineup that has Lowell, Pedroia, Papi, Ortiz, etc, he's going to do just fine.

[Phillycat]

2. Oh, hell.

:grr:

[DS1]

3. How many more home games will he play?

I'd be interested in seeing the crowd reaction

[flvegan]

6. Probably none.

They're off tonight, next game is Friday. He's probably out by then.

[sniffa]

7. Against the Sox?

Zero... unless they meet in the WS.

[ellisonz]

4. If we gave up Kemp I'm going to be pissed...

[KamaAina]

9. Looks like you're in the clear

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3513383

Jason Bay is going to Boston as part of the deal, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported. And the Pittsburgh Pirates get four minor leaguers as part of the three-way deal.

Third baseman Andy LaRoche and right-handed pitcher Bryan Morris will go to the Pirates from the Dodgers. Outfielder Brandon Moss and right-handed pitcher Craig Hansen will leave the Red Sox organization for Pittsburgh, ESPN.com has learned.

No mention of Kemp.

[flvegan]

5. Holy shit!

Now THAT was absolute last minute.

Welcome Jason Bay! :hi:

[Westegg]

14. The "sports pundits" are dissing Bay hard-core...

...saying that he's never played in any meaningful games. Which may be technically true, given the state of the Pirates for the last, oh, 15 years or so. But my guess is that Bay will rise to the occasion and surprise some of these "experts," who are so quick to label him a Hall of Fame reject. Not so fast, lads.

As for the Pirates? Well, it looks to be a "rebuilding year." Sigh...

[KamaAina]

15. If you look at the stats, the Sox aren't really taking that much of a hit

Manny: .299, 20 HR, 68 RBI, .398 OBP, .529 slug
Bay: .282, 22 HR, 64 RBI, .375 OBP, .519 slug

A small price to pay, it would appear, to cancel baseball's longest-running soap opera. :eyes:

[Westegg]

16. I agree! But hey, soap operas have their place...

... and I can assure you that, here in NYC, where I now live, lots of locals are going to miss having Manny as a punching-bag/target of derision, what have you.

The idea that Joe T.'s gonna manage him now has plenty of New Yorkers bent all the hell out of shape. I have to laugh at that. Personally, I think the Sox are in great shape now. I was never a hard-core Manny hater, because I'm not a native Yanks fan, but his shit in Boston got old long ago, and I just thought it was bad for baseball in general. Will he get his act together all of a sudden? Doubtful-- a leopard doesn't change his spots, and I think he's a natural ass (to mix animal metaphors), but maybe he'll wake up a little bit and get a clue. L.A. is a very different stage from Boston, to be sure. He's not gonna be the only game in that town. Forced humility often has a positive impact on arrogant jerks.

[underpants]

8. Don't the Dodgers have appearance clauses in their contracts?

:shrug:

[ellisonz]

12. No.

[KamaAina]

10. On the one hand, this hurts, rather than helps, a cheesy expansion team

the Poisonous Snakes now have more to fear from the Manny-enriched Dodgers, plus the Mercury-Laden Fish don't get that big bat.

On the other hand, we will now be treated to the spectacle of oh-so-old-school Joe Torre managing Manny... :popcorn:

edit: 'mangaing'? Maybe in the Japanese leagues... :dunce:

[azmouse]

18. *cough, cough* That 'cheesy team' won a WS in 2001.

:7
I love the Dbacks. They won last night. The Dodgers are now 2 games back. :hi:

[Tektonik]

13. Sweet, even if Manny plays half assed he'll be 10x better than Andruw