Bill Simmons: Manny Ramirez is underrated
ESPN.com’s “Sports Guy” Bill Simmons writes that Manny Ramirez is vastly underrated.
…Forget the sheer entertainment value that comes from following Manny on a daily basis. Just look at the stats. He’s three quality seasons away—90 HRs, 300 RBIs, 550 hits and a .900 OPS—from becoming the greatest righthanded hitter ever. Add those to his career numbers, and he’s sitting in the top 10 in career OPS and slugging, the top three in RBIs, the top seven in homers and closing in on 3,000 hits. And no one who saw him in all his Ruthian glory with the Dodgers last summer or reach base 24 of 36 times in October can honestly say he’s washed up. Say he tanked it in Boston, but only after you concede that he played 22 of 24 games for them in July and had the best offensive month of anyone on a team he was allegedly quitting on.
Whatever. The guy was created to hit baseballs. Even at 36, he can perform this task at an abnormally high level, make any decent team good and any good team great. And yet nobody wants him after his messy divorce with Boston—a divorce that, by the way, the Red Sox cannot escape without blame. Manny gave them seven quality years and two titles, and they yanked him around in Year 8. No, he didn’t handle it well; I’m not sure I would have handled it well either.
So he’s spent the winter sitting on the open market like a sofa on Craigslist. The Angels, who need him more than anyone, claim they’re fine with Juan Rivera. Really? Juan Rivera? That’s what you’re telling your fans? I don’t get it.
All I can tell you is this: Manny is immensely fun to watch day in and day out. He’s a monster offensive force, a historic one, even. And he is exceedingly, incredibly available. He will draw fans to any ballpark, and nobody is interested. You can say it’s because he’s a cancer; I say it’s because he’s unequivocally underrated. He will soon find a team and prove one of us right.
And it’s going to be me.
To me, underrated means that a player is better than what is perceived of him by the general public. (The general public being fans and the media.)
Therefore, Manny isn’t underrated. Everyone knows he’s one of the best hitters baseball has ever seen and everyone knows that his offensive numbers are phenomenal. If people only focused on his goofy behavior and his bad defense, then I would say that he’s underrated. But they don’t. The majority of the public always rushes to say that Manny is an offensive juggernaut.
Simmons is reaching here and what’s funny is that he’s setting himself up for a future column. He knows a determined Manny will produce next season no matter where he ends up and when he does, Simmons can say, “See! I told you this guy was underrated!”
No, he’s always been that good. Everyone knows that.
great point – everyone knows Manny is a stud.
As for him not being signed, blame Scott Boras and his ridiculous contract demands. Manny is great, but he doesn’t need the money, and he could easily sign a contract for millions. Between him and Boras teams aren’t willing to break the bank.
“And it’s going to be me.”
Who says crap like that? This guy gets paid to write a column about stuff everybody knows and has been saying this entire offseason.
Like G said, it’s not about his talent. This is all purely about the money and I appreciate that his suitors aren’t playing the Boras game.
I think everyone realizes that the dude really tanked it in Boston and thats the Cardinal Sin. He Quit on Boston ….. then he poured on those great numbers in LA. It’s too obvious and teams don’t want to pay a gazillion dollars for a guy who might quit when he goes MANNY on them.
Maybe BorASS will take one on the chin. I hope so.
Bill Simmons is the only columnist I’ve read who seems to have a balanced perspective on Manny Ramirez. Of course he’s one of the greatest right hand hitters in the history of baseball! Manny was treated shamefully by the Sox in his 8th year. Without him they would never have won two World Series. I think the negative publicity the Sox encouraged on Manny is disgusting–tantamount to a witch hunt. Moreover, by trading Manny they broke up one of the greatest hitting duos–and left Pappi without the player who helped make him great. I am no longer a Red Sox Fan.