In a discussion about the glut of Boston Red Sox outfielders recently, amidst the talk of JD Drew's offensive slump and monolith contract, the future of Coco Crisp and where to put Jacoby Ellsbury, a simple but overlooked fact became apparent to me. For the past six-and-a-half seasons, we have enjoyed a left fielder regarded as one of the best in the bigs. For the past six-and-a-half seasons, we have enjoyed an average of 36 home runs per season and 113 RBI's. For the past six-and-a-half seasons, we have enjoyed a person who's actions are so bizarre yet genuine, that they defy description.

We have enjoyed Manny Ramirez and in roughly 14 months, he will not the everyday left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. Let that one sink in for a minute. The eight-year, $160 million contract that Manny inked in 2000 will finally run out after next season. All of the shenanigans, the olive branches toward the Yankees and the entire Manny being Manny persona will be gone (in addition to all of that offense). If you're a Sox fan, how do you feel about that?

While Ramirez' offensive stats have dwindled over the past few seasons, they still are pretty damn good. Essentially, you've been able to bank on over 450 AB's per seasons, over 110 RBI, 30 doubles, 100 walks and 30 hr's. Offensively, he is changing (less hits, more walks) but he's still a threat when he steps in the box.. While this season is an amazing offensive anomaly for Man-Ram, I think David Ortiz's struggles and the ever-shifting fifth postition in the batting order have a lot to do with it. Granted, his league-leading double-play numbers with RISP are extremely disappointing. but my guess is that after the season, you'll see a final line of .304, 26 HR's and 104 RBI. Not what you expect for almost $20 million, but not horrendous either.

That last sentence unfortunately sums up a good portion of Ramirez' Sox career. At the time, then-Sox GM Dan Duquette made one of the trademark moves in his career in signing Manny away from Cleveland to one of the largest deals in history: eight seasons and $160 million. While a huge signing at the time that paid off immediate dividends (.306/41 HR's/125 RBI his first season), his salary was always brought up as crippling the front office's ability to get other players. When the Moneyball era of Epstein and Co. emerged on the scene, the mindset of getting several players for the $20 million Manny took up spread like wildfire. The off-field bizarreness that is Manny suddenly wasn't that cute anymore and when the Sox put Ramirez on irrevocable waivers in October of 2003, the shots were fired: we don't want you here anymore.

That brings up the flip side of the coin: Manny being asked to be dealt. Seemingly such a common occurrence now that it isn't even a story anymore, the first reports of Manny asking to leave were shocking to Red Sox Nation. Why would he want out? What's the matter with him? What's the matter with us? When the rumored Alex Rodriguez-for-Manny trade almost came about in 2004, fans were salivating, especially with the thought of Aaron Boone's home run still fresh in their heads. Get rid of a malcontent head-case for the game's best player? I'll drive Manny to the airport...hell, down to Texas! Well, we all know how that one turned out.

(By the way, despite speculation of how Ramirez would perform considering the disasterous trade negotations, he just hit .308 with with 43 homers and 130 RBI's, good for 3rd in AL MVP voting.)

But in a little over a year's time, that won't be a concern. It's hard to imagine that Epstein will make a move to keep Manny, unless it's at a drastically reduced price. However, the amount of young talent in the minors combined with the current contracts in place would seem to make it even more highly unlikely that 24 will remain on Manny's back in a Red Sox uniform past 2008.
What his legacy will be is most interesting to me. His off-field antics aside (Grillgate will always be a highlight for me), there's part of me that will miss him. I fear that people will be all too quick to write off this offensive machine who just the World Series MVP in 2004. It has become easy to dismiss him as stupid and dim-witted, but I feel that years from now, we will hear a much different story. We'll hear of someone that just didn't understand the intensity of playing baseball in Boston, but did his best to thrive in spite of it. We'll read about someone that loved the people here, but just not in his face every single day. Finally, we'll read his stats upon his Hall-of-Fame inclusion and say, "Wow. We saw one of the best for eight seasons. Why did we want to get rid of him again?"

For six-and-a-half seasons, we've enjoyed one of the most unique personalities in baseball history, patrolling the Monster and hitting home runs over it. But in 14 months, we won't have Manny to kick around anymore.

And as a Red Sox fan, I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.