Selig Investigating Manny & Boras Friday, August 8, 2008
Aaron Gettings
bostonsportz.com
Not that anything will ever come from this, but it's being reported by The Globe that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is investigating Manny's final days with the Red Sox.
The commissioner's office is investigating the circumstances of Manny's final hours with the Red Sox. The Globe has learned (from a source with direct knowledge of the inquiry) that Bud Selig directed Major League Baseball executive vice president Rob Manfred to contact all parties for an explanation of how things unfolded around last week's trading deadline.
Basically, as if you didn't already know, the Sox had $20 million options for Manny for the next two seasons. Manny didn't like the leverage the Sox had over him, and neither did Satan's Spawn, Scott Boras, his agent (who did not negotiate the initial contract). Looking to get Manny out of the less-than-desirable-for-him contract so that he could negotiate a new contract (and make a hefty commission),
Boras most likely told Manny to quit on the Sox to force their hand.
From Dan Shaughnessy:
Manny's only leverage was withholding services and playing at half speed. So that's what he did. Sitting out games against Seattle and the Yankees, jogging down the first base line (and maybe even looking at those three strikes against Mariano Rivera), he sent the message that he wanted out. He made sure the Sox knew he could not be trusted to play hard if they kept him until the end of the season with the options intact.
After the trade, the Globe reported that Boras called the Sox and said Manny would stay and play hard for the rest of this year if the club merely dropped the options.
It's nice that the MLB is looking into this, but honestly, what's the worst that could happen? They fine Boras (and maybe Manny) a few hundred thousand dollars, that they immediately make up for by signing a $15million+ contract this offseason? That doesn't put runs on the board for Boston.
Worse, yet, the Sox need to tiptoe around Boras because he represents several of their players, including JD Drew, Matsuzaka and the Captain, Jason Varitek (who will be a free-agent after this season).
Update on Friday, August 8, 2008 at 03:14PM by Registered CommenterAaron Gettings
The LA Times is reporting that the commissioner's office is, in fact, not investigating the Ramirez situation.
Pat Courtney, the spokesman for Selig, said the commissioner had asked for clarification on several issues involving the trade and did not order a formal inquiry into the matter.
"There were some follow-up calls," Courtney said. "It's closed. It's not ongoing."
Like I stated earlier, it really doesn't matter... nothing fruitful would have come of it anyway. In fact, it may have simply publicized Boras more (if that's possible) and his ability to screw over franchises to fatten his wallet.
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