In the past few days, two big (or at least recognizable) names have been floating around as possible players to be taken off waivers, both being ex-Red Soxers: Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. Interestingly enough, it was Boston who was trying to get Damon back, while all signs point to the other Sox trying to get Ramirez.
To be honest, I can kind of understand the Red Sox trying to get Johnny back, while at the same time not understanding it at all. On the one hand, he was instrumental in breaking the Curse of the Bambino with his grand slam in the 2004 ALCS that helped his team beat my Yankees, not to mention the home run he hit in their sweep of the Cardinals in The Show to drive Boston to its first championship in 86 years. Considering how their hopes to make it back to the postseason are dwindling faster than Tim Lincecum's chances of getting back-to-back Cy Young awards, it's no surprise they want to get the old gang back together for a late season run at October. On the other hand, though, Damon's on the wrong side of 30 and his abilities, while still impressive, are nothing like they were even in his last season in the Bronx (all of the same could be said about Los Angeles' Ramirez, but I'll get to him in a moment). Even bringing back one of the "Idiots" of '04 probably wouldn't assuage their injury woes (both Dustin Pedroia and Mike Cameron are out for the rest of the season, and Jacoby Ellsbury may as well call it quits as he only played around 10 games this season between extended stints on the DL), which bodes very poorly for their playoff wishes. I think Damon made the right decision by staying in Detroit; aside from the fact that Boston fans hold grudges (remember the shirts they made when he left for New York that said "Looks like Jesus, Acts like Judas, Throws like Mary"? Forgive and forget indeed), he wants to stay with the Tigers not to shine, but rather to help the next generation of players become the best they can be. Coming from someone who hated the caveman when he played at Fenway, I have to say that I really admire that about him (it doesn't hurt that he won a World Series with the Yanks to boost my opinion of him, but I think that goes without saying at this point). Hey, anything that is to the disadvantage of the Red Sox is all right with me.
Speaking of disadvantegous things, even though it's looking like Manny Ramirez might be headed to Chicago, the question is why any team would actually want him now. He's also spent a lot of time on the disabled list this season; even if he were healthy, he's been in a slow decline. His batting average and home runs are both very low for him (I can't believe I'm calling a .313 average low, but he's only batted in 60 games and actually played the field in 45 this year), and let's not forget that he's 38. But no team tries to get any player unless they believe that guy can make enough of an impact to boost their team as far as possible. I just don't really get why the White Sox, who are 5 games behind the Twins but could still feasibly make a respectable run at the playoffs, would want a constantly-injured, almost 40 year old player who's still good but is definitely way past his prime. Even more confusing is what Ramirez would be doing: the ChiSox already have a pretty strong outfield (Juan Pierre, Alex Rios, and Carlos Quentin may not be the first choices for the All-Star game, but they're solid offensively and defensively), so he'd most likely be a designated hitter. At his age, that may not be the worst decision, but he'd have to get a good bit of the power he's lost back somehow. Hell, for all we know, this could just be Ozzie Guillen's newest attempt at shock value: if you put a cocky, obnoxious player on the same team as a cocky, obnoxious manager, you're sure to earn yourself some airtime on the local and national sports networks for something outrageous. But until the deal is done, I wouldn't recommend holding your breath waiting for Ramirez to be the World Series MVP with the White Sox.
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