Manny Being An Asshole

$20 million, divided by 162, comes out to $123,456.79.

I just thought you might want to know what the Red Sox paid for the privilege of watching Manny Ramirez sit during the most important game of the season.

(Bonus: throw in the Seattle game, and it's $246,913.58.)

In baseball world, that's actually not a very large amount of money as an absolute figure. But it is a number, and it's finally something that you can pin on Manny Ramirez. Sure, he's a terrible clubhouse presence and many of his teammates don't seem to like him, but it's hard to tell just how much, if at all, this detracts from the team's ability to win baseball games. Sure, his defense is terrible, but defensive liabilities are hard to put a number on, and they are surely outweighed by an .884 OPS and a .304 EqA. When Manny's being Manny, it's hard to put a concrete cost on it, and even if you could, that cost wouldn't even put a dent in his offensive production.

Last night (although it should be noted this isn't the first time Manny has sat out a game) changed all that. The gaudy stats weren't there; they were sitting on the bench while Coco Crisp and his .261 EqA took their place. And this time, there was a cost. A 1-0 loss, and $123,456.79. It's the 79 cents that really get to you.