The Contraction Files

The latest grumbling in the off-field world of baseball seems to be contraction. That is, eliminating a couple of major league teams. Chris Kahrl of Baseball Prospectus wrote some good thoughts on the matter that I couldn't have done better myself:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/2...

Guess what Peter Gammons wrote about this week? The Red Sox! Big surprise! That's right, another article about how the Red Sox have a chance this year. Actually, it focuses on Manny Ramirez, how he was protected in Cleveland, and how the pressure of being the Star could affect him.

http://espn.go.com/gammons/s/2001/0304/1...

I've got a question: Has anyone directly pointed out that Manny now claims he decided last year that he would not re-sign with Cleveland because of the way they treated him, in spite of the fact that his agent negiotiated with Cleveland up until he signed with Boston? So is Ramirez fabricating about his intentions to leave Cleveland, or was his agent just playing with Cleveland to up the bidding? My money is on the first option. Congratulations, Red Sox.

Another note about Ramirez. Ramirez claims to have been mistreated by Cleveland when owner Larry Dolan, GM John Hart, and manager Charlie Manuel questioned his desire to return from the DL last season. Well, Ramirez was bashing the ball at Triple-A playing DH, but he kept saying that he wasn't ready to return. All the while, his teammates were desperately trying to grab a playoff spot (which they didn't get.) Within a couple of days after the comments from the brass, Ramirez decides that he can play. Sound funny to you, too?

This is the same Ramirez who will not play left field for the Red Sox, although manager Jimy Williams wants him there, and the Red Sox would field their best lineup with him there. When Mike Hargrove was the manager of Cleveland, Ramirez wouldn't bat clean-up when Hargrove wanted him to because Manny didn't feel comfortable there.

It will be interesting to see how Ramirez handles the pressure of being paid super-star money in Boston without providing any leadership what-so-ever.

Speaking of former Indians, Albert Belle is most likely done with baseball because of a degenerative condition in his hip. It has been reported that Belle will not retire (thus releasing the Orioles from his contract.) So the Orioles will have to release him or put him on the DH, but they will still be paying him $13 million per season for three more years.

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