His act is wearing thin on his management, team-mates, and now finally fans.  But we’ve seen all that before of course - still there seems to be something a bit different about this latest set of troubles for Manny Ramirez.  After settling in for a couple years with no complaints, it seems Manny Ramirez is finally at the point where (in his words), “enough is enough”.

“I don’t want to talk to them about contracts right now. So what? I know they got me, but enough is enough. I’m tired of them, they’re tired of me. After 2008, just send me a letter or whatever. You don’t even got to call my agent or whatever. ‘Hey, thank you for everything. You’re going to become a free agent. We’re not going to pick up your option in ‘09.’ I’m happy, but enough is enough, you know? That’s it… (what does that mean?) They know, you got to ask Theo and John Henry, they know. I gotta go hit guys. Don’t worry about it. Enough is enough… ’09, I move on.”

But apparently it isn’t just 2009 and free agency that he’s looking forward to.  Seems Manny has given the team the full “okay” for them to trade him by waiving his no trade clause.

So, with the Red Sox in contention, and Manny hitting .300 with 20 home runs (almost), the question remains - could they possibly unload him this season?  With all of this nonsense, it seems probable they won’t pick up his options - or at least they won’t keep him even if they do pick them up - so we have to wonder, will Boston try to maximize his value and get something huge in return?

We’ll see.

In a related note, Peter Gammons says that maybe something is on Manny’s mind:

“I don’t think there’s any question it’s a distraction and it’s not a humorous distraction because Scott Boras put it very well, ‘for $160 million for eight years, there is an obligation to perform for the team,’ and Manny doesn’t seem to understand he has an obligation to the Red Sox, he only sees an obligation to himself and for the first time other than 2006 when they were out of it, I think it’s really come to a head here and I have no idea how it’s going to resolve itself because he’ll be very happy to walk away; not care less about whether the Red Sox win another game and try and go out on the market this winter and get his fantasy of $100 million for four years, which I don’t think is possible. … I don’t think the Red Sox will get anything back [in a trade]… I don’t see it happening…

“I find it a little different this time around. I don’t sense that this rallying of ‘poor Manny’ [in the clubhouse]. There’s a sense that… they’re trying to fight for their lives, they’ve had a lot of guys hurt, they’re out on the road… ‘let’s see, I’m not going to play the two games this season against [Mariners pitcher Felix] Hernandez. He didn’t play the two games against [Yankees pitcher Joba] Chamberlain, He didn’t play against [Reds pitcher Edinson] Voquez, he didn’t play against [Tigers pitcher Justin] Verlander. I think other teammates look at that and say ”oh, he doesn’t want to play against the hard throwers,’ take the day… I think that’s also worn people out. …

“Apparently $168 million isn’t enough. I know there’s been frustration on ownership’s part in the past. I think the frustration is now anger and I’m not sure it’s resolvable.”

We’ll see - but don’t expect this story to go away.