The Big 4 Moves At Deadline, And What It All Means

So I don't know if you have heard yet but Manny Ramirez was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Boston Red Sox finally said, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Ramirez was dealt in a 3 team trade involving the Pirates, Dodgers and the Red Sox. In exchange for Manny, the Red Sox get Jason Bay from the Pirates and the Bucs get Andy LaRoche, Bryan Morris, Craig Hansen, and Brandon Moss.

So now lets break it down. The winner in this trade, surprisingly enough in my opinion its the Pirates. Pittsburgh now have a young third baseman (who is playing across the diamond from his older brother) and their outfield for the future set. Brandon Moss is a stud in the making, and add that with McLouth and possibly Steve Pearce and you have a productive young outfield for years to come. A healthy Freddy Sanchez along with their young pitching staff and I can see the Pirates as a contender in a couple years.

The Red Sox are the big, big loser, there was no way they were going to replace the production and value that Manny had in that line up. Ortiz will be walked like no bodies business now because no one is scared of Jason Bay. Ortiz and Ramirez were the deadliest 1-2 in baseball. Somehow Ortiz and Bay just doesn't have the same effect on me and rest of the AL. Bay started off his Red Sox career tonight with a walk and scored the games first run. Bay in his career at Fenway Park in only 3 games he is hitting .250 with a slugging % of .417 and an on base % of .357. And now to the man of the week, (not Brett Favre) Manny Ramirez. Ramirez said he wanted to leave and the Sox gave him is walking papers, Manny...welcome to Hollywood. Ramirez now goes to play for Joe Torre and fills a big void of power in the Dodgers lineup. Ramirez at Dodger Stadium in 3 games, Ramirez has 1 home run, 3 RBI's a batting average of .222, an OBP% of .300 and a slugging % of .556. The leader in HR's on the Dodgers is Matt Kemp with 12, Ramirez has 20. How will Ramirez fair in tinsel town, probably well, sub par pitching in the NL and a laid back atmosphere, have fun Manny, My Yankees don't have to deal with you till October.

The other news besides the Manny deal was another future hall of famer dealt, Ken Griffey Jr. Junior was dealt from the Reds to the White Sox. Kenny Williams the GM of the Sox has said that Griffey will play center field. This is a nice move for the Sox and Griffey as they get experience in center and another power bat to add to the middle of the line up along with Swisher, Thome, and Dye.

The Yankees made another move besides the other day acquiring Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte for RHP Dan McCutchen, RHP Jeff Karstens, OF Jose Tabata and RHP Ross Ohlendorf. It was previously reported that there were other players involved in the trade but once everyone took and passed physicals the Pirates had a list of players to chose from. After adding Nady and Marte the Yankees decided to make another big move and aquire a future hall of famer for themselves. The bombers traded the inconsistent fireballer Kyle Farnsworth to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Rodriguez comes in an fills a void as Jorge Posada is out for the rest of the season. Rodriguez has said time and time again he thrives under pressure and there is no other place where the lights are as bright as the ball park in the Bronx.

Last but not least the Angels got themselves quite the first baseman the other day. In return for Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek the Halo's received Mark Teixeira. It is believed though that Teixeira is a rental for 2 months and the playoffs because of how much he will cost at the end of the season. The Angels will have to resign Teixeira, K-Rod and Vlad, and the Angels just do not have that many resources to get all 3 of those guys back. But for the stretch run it is hard to say that the Angels are not a top 3 favorite to win the AL.

And speaking of the AL, with this trade I do believe the Red Sox have taken themselves out of the playoffs and now its a race to the top between the Rays and Yankees. In the NL the Dodgers are only 2 games back of first place of the Diamondbacks. And with the addition of Manny I think they have secured themselves the NL West.