Easing in with an easy gripe

The big baseball news today is that Manny Ramirez is finally ready to sign a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal is worth $45 million over 2 years: $25 million in 2009 and $20 million in 2010. Manny can opt out of the deal (an Official "Eff you team/fans/owner" clause, as opposed to the unofficial version he pulled in Boston last year) after 2009. The Dodgers will pay ManRam in 4 annual installments of $10 million and a 5th payment of $5 million, with no interest accrued.

Awesome. He's 36. He's the best righty hitter you've seen if you were born after 1990. He just made the Dodgers the odds-on favorite to win the NL West.

For Red Sox fans, it's easy for us to hate Manny Ramirez. We showered him with love, we put up with all of his antics (in fact, they just made us hug him closer), and he was the face of our first World Series title since Scipio Africanus and Cicero hit back-to-back bombs for the Calzettoni Rossi in 259 BC. But you should hate him too, and here is why.

When Terrell Owens wants more money, he runs his mouth constantly. He bitches about everything from how many passes he gets to the type of peanut butter his butler puts on his toast (stick with Peter Pan, Jeeves). When Manny wanted a better deal, he quit on his team. Midseason. In the midst of a playoff race. And this offseason he jerked the Dodgers around. You don't even need to play games with the Dodgers. They are perfectly capable of screwing themselves (Jason Schmidt, Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones...). Yet, Manny gets off easy because he lets his agent do the dirty work for him. I know Scott Boras probably told Manny to stay home and shut up, but Manny doesn't have to listen. If he had a soul he is perfectly capable of stepping up and speaking for himself.

So while T.O. may be the Biff Tannen of the NFL, but at least he has the self-respect to say it with his own mouth. Even A-Roid had the self-respect to talk to Peter Gammons face-to-face about how he admires Derek Jeter's sideburns cheated.

Congratulations Manny. You're my first Gripe. I'm sure you'll show up here again soon.