AP fileBOSTON - Manny Ramirez apparently wants out of Boston, and the Red Sox aren't too happy to be reading about it in the newspapers.
Ramirez has asked to be traded from the Red Sox, the Boston Globe reported Saturday. And on Sunday, Red Sox owner John Henry said he was upset about leaks to the media, and said the story didn't come from team sources, the Boston Herald reported.
Gene Mato, one of Ramirez's representatives, communicated to Henry on Friday that Ramirez wants out of Boston and will not report to spring training if his wish to be dealt is not met, the Globe reported, citing a team source.
Ramirez, who has 10 years of major league service and five consecutive with the same team, can block a trade to any team. With that in mind, The Globe said Mato told Henry that Ramirez might decide during the process of being shopped that he wishes to remain with the Red Sox.
Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein would neither confirm nor deny Ramirez has requested a trade, the Globe reported. But he did call the leaking of private e-mails "ridiculous."
“Manny, his representatives, and the Red Sox have open lines of communication and will throughout the offseason. I think we all want whatever is in the club's best interest and Manny's best interest. (But) those conversations are private and completely confidential. For anyone to reveal the nature of those talks would be ridiculous. We have no comment," the newspaper reported.
Henry seconded those comments to the Boston Herald.
"I echo Theo's remarks that deplore leaks to the media regarding private conversations," Henry wrote in an e-mail, the Herald reported. "I was able to ascertain that (Saturday's) story on Manny did not come from the Red Sox."
There are reports Ramirez would like to be dealt to the Anaheim Angels or Cleveland Indians.
The request comes only three months after Ramirez asked to be traded by the July 31 deadline. CEO Larry Lucchino told The Globe the slugger's request is ''not anything unusual," saying it was the fourth time since Henry bought the team that Ramirez asked out.
Thus ended one of the most bizarre weeks in the history of an always tumultuous team.
Ramirez signed a $160 million, eight-year contract during the baseball-wide spending spree after the 2000 season. And even though he has produced, the contract has become a burden for a team trying to remain in contention and under budget.
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He has complained that he hasn’t been comfortable since leaving the spacious and relatively low-pressure Cleveland clubhouse. He has asked to be traded annually, but few teams are able to take on the $63,885,246 remaining on his contract for the next three years.
The Red Sox had been in talks for a three-team deal that would send Ramirez to the Mets, but those talks stalled.
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