Comments on: The Athletics are “very interested” in Manny Ramirez

By: ptfu

ptfu — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:18:31 +0000

Maybe Beane’s exploiting a market inefficiency. Wring the last few drops out of an aging player on the cheap–see David Justice in Moneyball.

By: bleed4philly

bleed4philly — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:30:24 +0000

What they should do is bring back Johnny Damon if they’re seriously considering Manny. But Manny will be bottom line cheap there won’t be any risk at this this point. Remember when the A’s made a run at Berkman last year when his stock was low?

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:19:35 +0000

While “fat, lazy, and stupid” truly is no way to go through life, there are a lot of people that have done a lot worse things than Manny.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:01:25 +0000

I think this is tragic. Manny belongs in Baltimore.

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:20:46 +0000

You put Jason Varitek on Steroids and then compare the numbers.

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:19:46 +0000

Wasn’t it the old Kansas City Athletics that used to sell all their talent to the Yankees? They acted as a farm team for them.

By: txnative61

txnative61 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 08:34:02 +0000

I’ve tried but failed to imagine a worse role model for children. Possibly any Owner that enables him.

By: muckthefets23

muckthefets23 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:55:08 +0000

Ok sorry for the outburst, but I couldn’t help myself. Manny is just bad for the game as a whole IMO. I understand that this is a business move by Beane and company, but Christ is it really gonna make that much of a difference??

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:38:31 +0000

One of the imperatives of running a franchise is the necessity to actually maintain the franchise, not see it swirl down the drain along with the owner’s investment. To that end, the A’s challenge is different from the Yankees, Phillies, or even the Dodgers: keep dog paddling until the stadium question is answered.

That means a lot of things, not the least of which is keeping fans coming to the Mausoleum during this interminable period of waiting while Air Bud’s glacially paced committee does whatever it is doing.

Ok, so Manny is a circus on two feet. He used some kind of drug. And the A’s are a stranger to that how? The only thing Beane cares about is can I flip this guy for a profit before the trade deadline, or drop him without financial pain if I need to.

That’s the baseball plan. The drug thing will be sorted out by MLB and the CBA. The business plan is a big name like Manny will draw a few more gawkers, at least initially, maybe even continually if he gets a few hits. That’s good for the owners, who like a profit.

The owners aren’t moralists. Neither is the front office. Some fans may be. Chances are they stopped coming to see the A’s after the Mitchell Report and BALCO, if not before. Last year the A’s actually showed a tiny gain in average attendance, from just under 18,000 per game to just over. And Wolff/Fisher made a nice profit. They like that. They’d like more. If Manny helps them with that, he might get to play a little.

By: crisisjunky

crisisjunky — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:35:28 +0000

I’ve always found the grinder attachment on my Kitchenaid works best for sausage
and comments with blatantly self-serving adverts attached.

By: muckthefets23

muckthefets23 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:19:10 +0000

I’m saying saint Bernard Cur, and also i think that manny IS the contents of those bags. This guy doesn’t deserve to save face with fans or the league! It’s bad enough that your a damn cheater but you just had to add MAJOR douche bag to the mix didn’t you Manny, go be you somewhere that’s not in the vicinity of North America…

By: shaggytoodle

shaggytoodle — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:55:25 +0000

I knew something goofy like this was going to happen, thats why you don’t let Brad Pitt be your GM.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:27:06 +0000

You must have a big dog to get that much dumb in it.

By: muckthefets23

muckthefets23 — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:12:13 +0000

God dammit Billy Beane!!! You can’t pay attention to him!! He’s like a kid, of you don’t give him the attention he’ll go the hell away…

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:18:14 +0000

Manny Ramirez, last three seasons
768 PA .287/.406/.489 OPS+ 142, Bad defense

Jason Varitek, last three seasons
798 PA .216/.306/.414 OPS+ 87, Bad defense

If you think for one millisecond that Ramirez and Varitek are competing for the same jobs, you’re dumber than the contents of the bags I throw away after walking my dog in the park.

By: btwicey

btwicey — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 02:44:03 +0000

Nothing to lose with manny. Give him a go

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:46:02 +0000

The A’s only have either really young players or the washed up ones. This must really bother Varitek that manny is getting a job……..

By: dw3dw

dw3dw — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:38:23 +0000

Pitiful franchise? As a franchise, the Oakland A’s are one of the most consistent winners, having successful runs from 1970-1975, 1980-81, 1987-1992, and 1999-2006. I think most A’s fans are happy with that. As far as trading players “when they near serious money,” actually the recent trend has been to trade young, affordable pitchers and players (Gonzalez, Cahill, Haren, Ziegler, Swisher, etc.) long before they reach free agency and arbitration. Is the ownership group cheap? Hmm . . . maybe. The A’s do play in the one of the oldest stadiums, which they must share with the Raiders, and have been waiting for nearly three years for MLB to give them permission to move. I suppose you could argue that Lew Wolff is trying to drive fans away (tarping the upper deck, etc.) to drive down attendance and give him leverage for a move, but I’ll give him a pass until Selig’s blue ribbon commission hands down its ruling. He has made a few big money offers to free agents (Adrian Beltre) and been refused. Finally, the A’s do have a recent history of signing aging hitters (John Jaha, Frank Thomas, Nomar Garciaparra, Mike Piazza, Jason Giambi) and trying to get one last good season from them, so I guess Manny fits that model, but it seems like a longshot. Also–it is just one rumor, from an unnamed source, and the A’s didn’t even watch Manny work out, so it might be prudent to wait and see before blasting them. Finally–didn’t the Phillies have a “wife beating tool,” Brett Myers, on their roster for a while? But you’re right about one thing–the A’s aren’t going anywhere this season. They are hoping to contend again in 2014-15, when (if) they get into a new ballpark, and making moves based on that long range model. We’ll see.

By: Chris K

Chris K — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:13:02 +0000

Somewhere Ben Sheets is running his palms together, “Gooooood, gooooooood!”

By: hackerjay

hackerjay — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:28:06 +0000

Because there is no downside to it. He’s not going to cost much, so if he’s doing well come July they can ship him off to a contender for a prospect, and if he’s doing badly they can just drop him. It’s not like the A’s have any huge prospects that he would be blocking. I think any AL team that isn’t going to be in the race should be taking a look at Manny.

By: dgrindsports

dgrindsports — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:22:55 +0000

Manny Ramirez back in the MLB…kind of funny. Who would want Manny at 38 years old and suspended for 50 games for cheating. Why? Just dumb. Billy Beane dumb.

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