Wham, Bam, Thank You Man-Ram

You’ve gotta be freaking kidding me.
That’s the initial reaction to today’s news that the Dodgers have traded for Manny Ramirez after ESPN reported all day that he was either going to the Marlins or going nowhere.
Which got me thinking:

• Am I wrong, or didn’t Joe Torre used to manage the Yankees and despise ManRam?
• Didn’t Manny walk straight to the dugout after a pair of fly balls against the Angels last night and also walked down a pair of shots to him in left field?
• Didn’t Manny stop, drop and roll on a shallow fly ball to left field against the Angels the last time around, making the error of all fielding errors?
• Wasn’t Torre supposed to be a baseball “genius” who cared about the finer parts of the game?

Instead he’s building a circus an American League-type, mash-first-ask-how-to-field-a-fly-ball mentality to Los Angeles.
Next they’re going to build a Blue Monster in left, so Manny doesn’t actually have to play defense and avoids embarrassing himself three times a night in the field (not that 66 errors for a left fielder is bad).
MEMO TO JOE: You're not in the AL any more.
“You wish you had the DH,” Torre admitted Thursday after the deal was announced.
Next thing you know, Torre’s going to start playing Andruw Jones every night despite the fact he’s hitting .167 with two homers and 13 RBIs. Oh, wait, that’s already happening.
All rants aside, while it might be a horrible move for their outfield, it’s a much-needed move for the Dodger lineup. You have to take the good with the bad, and Manny should push L.A. over the hump in the NL Worst. If not, the move is a complete and total joke.
So I have no doubt the trade will work out for L.A. The Dodger lineup was as desperate to add a big bat as the Red Sox were to unload a cancer in its clubhouse.
It’s reminiscent of Oakland trading Randy Moss to the Patriots for a fourth-round pick. Moss went through the motions in Oakland to all but force a trade, then became a perfect saint and the opposition’s worst nightmare in New England. Same thing should happen in L.A., but there’s always a chance history repeats itself – only next time it’ll come with a much heftier price tag.