What would it take to get Manny?

Manny is an unwelcome potential distraction, this Halos team is raking now that they’re finally healthy!

Really?

They wouldn’t want Moseley, Bootcheck Thompson or S-Rod. They would take Rivera, but as an additive to a bigger deal.

Think Saunders, Wood, Adenhart, Rivera. Maybe slightly less, but thats what kind of deal they would expect.

Also, dont you notice that ESPN “reports” these possible Manny trades every year, no fail? Its called getting ratings and more attention to its cash cow, The Boston Red Sox. Everyone across baseball would be shocked if he was traded. It won’t happen, you are falling prey to ESPN and their “trade-deadline sweeps tactics”.

...either for someone in the front office, or preferably for Ramirez.

or Francisco Liriano

or Jered Weaver

In other words … pray they keep him.

frankly, I just want to see that guy making an ass out of himself in an Angels uniform. He can rake, no doubt, but we have some legitamate arms in the outfield thus eliminating the need for a cut-off man in LF.

are approximately nil. Let’s consider the following things:

1) The Red Sox are in a playoff race.
Unlike the Angels, who are running away with their division, Boston has to compete with two strong teams (Rays and NYY). LAA can play .500 baseball the rest of the year and still win the division, so why would your FO want Manny? Meanwhile, the Sox need Manny to keep up their offense. Trading him without adequately replacing his production could well keep the Sox from making the playoffs.

2) A Manny deal is hard to swing.
Manny, as a 10-5 player, is going to demand the acquiring team pick up his option years, at the very least (he could also demand a further extension). Otherwise he’d block the trade. Those two option years are $20 million each, btw. Since the Sox would want to replace 75-90% of Manny’s production (think Teixeira, Dunn, Burrell) to stay in the race, a third team would be needed for a successful trade.

3) The Sox and Angels are quite likely to meet in the playoffs.
Less so if Manny is traded, but it’s still a possibility. If the Sox win the division you face us in the first round; if we get the wild card, we face you after you sweep the Yankees / Rays out. Why in God’s name would we trade our best hitter (thus far) to a prime playoff rival?

4) A deal would be costly in players.
From what little I know of the Angels’ farm system, it seems that your top assets are in the majors. Manny is a valuable player, and you can’t just give up AA or A prospects to get him – you have to give up your best assets. I’d imagine that a Manny trade would see 1-2 top pitchers (Santana, Saunders, Weaver?), a major league contact hitter (Kotchman, Kendrick), and some other players (Brandon Wood?) leaving the Halos. The Sox would then spin them to get someone like Matt Kemp, Burrell or Teixeira.

5) There’s no pressure to make the deal.
Whatever pressure Theo may be feeling on Manny (and he’s pretty well-insulated from pressure now), it isn’t going to force him to make a bad decision. Manny’s been making noise like this for years, and he’s still here. You won’t get a bargain on him, and any deal would have to involve another team, further complicating it.

Add all these together and a trade to LAA seems impossible. What is most likely to happen is that Manny’s first option year is picked up in the offseason and he is traded somewhere else (a la Sheffield). Maybe you could get him then, but the costs would still be high.

He’s obviously acting out because Boston won’t guarantee his release at the end of the season—where Boras can sticker price him at 4/$100M.

Also, not that a trade would ever happen, but “I think all of us can speculate” that Bill James and Theo Epstein would be shooting a little higher than Moseley and Rivera.

Flat Bill?

But if [the Orioles] do trade [Sherrill], there are two interested teams that have the young shortstop the Orioles are targeting as the centerpiece of any deal—the Angels and Phillies.

Indications are that the Orioles like both of the Angels’ big-league shortstops—Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis.

Well if all it took to get A-Rod was Madonna, then we could offer a package of Lindsay Lohan, Brittney Spears, and Kim Kardashian…......that should do it, and we would’nt even have to give up any big stars.

If any of them were in the least way attractive, maybe….

and we don’t want him anyway