The trade deadline, Thursday at 4PM, got a lot more interesting late last night when The Star-Ledger reported that sources have indicated the Mets and Phillies “were both in serious pursuit” of Manny Ramirez. Of course, publicly both teams have denied interest.
The Ramirez situation had been spiraling out of control over the previous 72 hours, at least until Manny settled things down with his 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI performance to stop the bleeding against the Yankees on Sunday night.
Having two teams, better yet, two division rivals both after Ramirez is the key ingredient missing in the past attempts to send Manny out of town.
Lou Marson, a solid all-around catcher with great on-base skills, is tearing up double-A for the Phillies and would be considered the heir apparent to the catching throne in Boston after a possible season of Kottaras/Brown.
Marson would probably be the most intriguing prospect the Sox could acquire for Ramirez… at least until The Star-Ledger threw out the possibility of the Mets taking the “off limits” sign away from ultra-raw, ultra-toolsy Fernando Martinez.
If both players were offered in separate deals it would really be a tossup as to who you would take. Would you want to wait and see if Martinez turns into that 35-homer hitting corner outfielder, or do you take the up-and-coming catcher who fills a major void at the hardest position to find in baseball?
Ultimately I think Ramirez stays and we collect the two top picks for him at the end of the season, but when prospects like these start being floated I get very interested and would not be gun-shy to accept a deal.
