Thursday, July 31, 2008

Manny to LA, Bay to Boston

Manny Ramirez is going to the Dodgers.
The Red Sox, Dodgers and Pirates agreed to a deal on Thursday, according to sources, in which Ramirez will go to Los Angeles, outfielder Jason Bay will go from Pittsburgh to Boston and the Pirates will receive outfielder Brandon Moss and pitcher Craig Hansen from the Red Sox and third baseman Andy LaRoche and pitcher Bryan Morris from the Dodgers.



The Pirates have called a 5:30 p.m. ET news conference. The Dodgers were expected to announce the trade following a World Baseball Classic news conference being held Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Ramirez, the mercurial slugger who recently feuded with Red Sox management, signed a contract with Boston as a free agent during the 2000-01 offseason. He has club options in 2009 and 2010 at $20 million each. He received a $1 million relocation bonus for the trade. The Red Sox will reportedly pay the $7 million remaining on Ramirez's $20 million salary for this year.

"He's one of the best four or five hitters in baseball," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said on Wednesday. "I like him, yet he marches to his own drummer. I had him in the All-Star Game. It doesn't make sense to me [that he would be available]."

The blockbuster move, which is reportedly pending approval from the Commissioner's Office because of the exchange of money, literally came down to the buzzer, just like it did in 2004 when the Sox traded Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs.

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