Bay is not a great defender, but he’s probably better than Manny. But Manny knew how to play that monster better than anyone.

Bay is a very good player. Nobody is denying that. But Jason Bay is not – and never will be – Manny Ramirez.

He doesn’t have anywhere near that same presence in the lineup. Bay hits good pitching, but Manny hits great pitching and is unquestionably one of the best pure hitters of our generation.

You can’t replace a guy like that. He also made David Ortiz what he is today.

I don’t really buy the money argument, though because it’s not like Boston was on a budget anyways. They can spend as much money as they want regardless of what they might say about the Yankee payroll.

Boston is anything but poor or a small market, so that $12M they will save from Manny’s contract next season is irrelevant if you ask me.

So does RSN blame the front office more than Manny himself?

In my opinion, the Red Sox organization are as much to blame for letting Manny being Manny as much as anyone. They let him do whatever he wanted and it just got out of control.

But in this instance, all the front office wanted Manny to do is come to the park every day and play hard. It doesn’t seem like that’s asking a lot of anyone.

I get that Manny was probably pissed about the front office announcing that they weren’t going to pick up his option, but Manny could have said fine and just mash all season playing for a new contract and go somewhere else next season.

Players do that all the time, but Manny decided to be Manny and made himself look like a fool by his antics and destroyed a lot of goodwill he had with the fans.

I really am fascinated by this coming from Yankeeland, so I’d be curious to hear what RSN really thinks about the whole situation.

It’s that we recognize the immense greatness (as much as we hate to admit it) of Manny Ramirez.

A similar parallel will happen in a couple of years when Mariano Rivera decides to hang up his cleats and retires. I don’t care who his replacement is – he’ll never be Mariano Rivera and that will make the Yankees a bit weaker as a result.

Manny had that aura about him and scares the hell out of every AL pitcher. Mo has a very similar aura about him to opposing hitters when he jogs in from the outfield to the roars of the crowd and Metallica blasting away.

There’s also a clutch and October greatness about both Manny and Mo that few players have achieved over the last decade.

That’s why the Red Sox are a weaker team with Jason Bay as opposed to Manny Ramirez.

Listen, I loathe the Red Sox with every bone in my body and I hated Manny as well. But there’s no denying how great of a hitter he is and how much he meant to that team.