[bigben]

4-way Manny frenzy « Thread Started on Today at 5:28 »

Manny Ramirez is eager to forget Boston, and Mets want him. The Mets have been engaged in ongoing talks with the Devil Rays about reliever Danys Baez, but, according to multiple baseball sources, those discussions could bloom into a blockbuster four-team trade scenario in which Manny Ramirez winds up at Shea and similarly disgruntled slugger Miguel Tejada lands in Boston. According to sources, both the Red Sox and Orioles have resigned themselves to accommodating the trade requests of Ramirez and Tejada, who want off of their respective teams. But since the Orioles have signed Jeromy Burnitz to complete their outfield, they may not have a match with the Red Sox in a straight-up Tejada-for-Ramirez deal, so several baseball executives said they'd have to get other teams involved. That's where the Mets and Devil Rays come in. The basics of the four-team deal that had the baseball executives buzzing yesterday and would appear to satisfy the needs of all four clubs would have Tejada and Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright going to the Red Sox to fill Boston's holes at shortstop and center field. Ramirez and Baez would go to the Mets, giving them one of the game's best sluggers and a setup man. The Orioles would satisfy their need at shortstop by getting Julio Lugo from Tampa Bay and add pitching by getting Matt Clement from Boston and possibly Kris Benson from the Mets. The Devil Rays, who have always been difficult to deal with, especially in complicated transactions, are seeking top prospects and young pitching and would be satisfied in that regard by getting third baseman Andy Marte from Boston and Jae Seo and Aaron Heilman from the Mets. In addition, the Mets would send Kaz Matsui to Tampa to give the D-Rays a stopgap shortstop replacement until prospect B.J. Upton is ready. An executive with one of the teams called the four-team scenario far-fetched, but an official with another of the teams said he expected to broach such talks. The Mets and GM Omar Minaya long have coveted Ramirez, a nine-time All-Star. Ramirez has said he wants to leave Boston and the Mets are one of the few clubs in baseball that could take on all or part of his monster salary - Ramirez is due $57 million over the next three seasons. Money, of course, could complicate the deal. In addition to Ramirez's hefty price tag, Tejada is owed $48 million and part of a $12 million signing bonus for the next four years. Independently, the Mets have been talking for weeks with the Devil Rays about Baez, who was 5-4 with a 2.86 ERA and 41 saves as a closer last season. Seo and Heilman have been mentioned as possible matches in a potential one-for-one deal, but two Mets sources said yesterday they would "absolutely" not part with Heilman for Baez. However, if talks expand and include bringing Ramirez to the Mets, Heilman might have to be sacrificed. If the Mets got Baez, he would set up for new closer Billy Wagner. But Baez doesn't seem to want to switch jobs. In an interview yesterday with the St. Petersburg Times, he said, "I don't know if I want to be a setup guy. I want to be a closer. "But if they trade me, I don't have a choice. If they want me to be a setup guy, that's what I'll do."

[bigben]

Bring it ON this Blockbuster deal tejada wud look great here at fenway park
hate to see the superstar manny goooo but hey yah give to get

[Tommy]

Man, I guess the Mets want to try and buy championships like the Yanks. It is about time that the Mets start competing with the Yanks. I don't live in NY, but I would assume that 70% of NYers are Yankee fans.

New look for alot of teams this year, should be interesting.

Boston losing Manny is not good, but put Tejada in front of Ortiz and I think Ortiz only drops off a bit from last year. They will still have a very nice batting lineup and still compete with the yanks in the AL East. fair trades for everyone.

[Moldoveanu]

it does not really matter about hitting

all you need is pitching!! because u can score a run or 2 and win the ball game 1-0 or 2-0!! if they have pitching i am sure with any MLB team out there with good pitching they will score runs!! but with that team out there

Boston really wont lose much if they deal Manny for Texada! they need pitching!!

i really would like Manny to go to the ny Mets because i am a met FAN!
and its goig to be interesting with yankees getting Healthy and probably get back to the world s eries this year!!

and i want manny to go to New York which means a play off team 100%
and probably a rematch with the Ny Yankees!! that would be shocking!

[Mark's Moneymakers]

i agree with the mets trying to buy a team. i don't care who they sign, they just don't seem to get the chemistry right to win. something always goes wrong for them. speaking as a phillies fan, i am not even worried about the mets next year. if the phillies stay as healthy as they were this past year, they are going to win the nl east. mark it down.

[Moldoveanu]

anyone hears anything about this deal!!

is this going to happen manny to the metz or is this off!

are they still discussiing this trade or not??

[Mark's Moneymakers]

there has been so much talk about manny that i don't know what to believe anymore. i don't believe any rumors involving this guy anymore. i would love to see him come to my phillies. i heard talk early on about that, but it died.