New Info Comes Out on the Manny Saga in Boston

ESPN is reporting that the Red Sox sent a letter to Manny, MLB, and Scott Boras in July saying that Ramirez would be suspended if he did not play in the next game. Manny quickly called team execs and said he would play.

According to multiple sources, Boston management had drafted an official letter of suspension for Ramirez, and delivered it to him at Fenway Park at around 11 p.m. on Friday night, July 25. For the second straight game, Ramirez had refused to play that evening, and the Red Sox lost 1-0 to the rival New York Yankees in front of a boisterous and sold-out home crowd.

The letter informed Ramirez that the suspension was to go into effect the next day, Saturday, July 26. It said Ramirez was being suspended without pay for being unwilling to play. Copies of the letter were also sent to Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association and Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras.

Within two hours after Ramirez received the letter of suspension, the Red Sox received two calls, according to sources. The first call was from one of Ramirez's teammates. He told a member of Boston's front office that Ramirez would play in Saturday afternoon's game against the Yankees. Within minutes, the second call came in from Ramirez himself, who confirmed that he would be available for Saturday's game.

Why is this information just coming out now? Are some members of Red Sox management trying to hurt Manny's free agent value? This could certainly give some teams some pause before throwing crazy money at Ramirez but even with the new information about the suspension threat by the Red Sox, Manny can still hit and teams will need good hitters.