This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on July 29, 2005.

By Nick Tavares

Whenever Manny makes headlines on an off-day, it's never good.

Be it chatting in a hotel lobby with a Yankee, skipping the All-Star game or lamenting possible trades to Texas, Manny Ramirez making noise without his bat or his creative glove is not a pleasant experience.

You've probably heard Manny wants out of Boston again. Reports are he doesn't appreciate the lack of privacy he receives in Beantown and would like very much for a change of scenery.

And, coincidence or not, he didn't volunteer to play on his scheduled off day Wednesday night, forcing Terry Francona to put Kevin Millar in left field and Adam Stern in right.

There shouldn't be resentment towards Manny for getting a day off from the team. Players get run down and, more often than not, the extra bit of rest serves them well in the long run.

However, with Trot Nixon ailing and Gabe Kapler still in Pawtucket, this should have been a no-brainer. He should have played, period.

He didn't, and the mixed-message was loud and unclear.

"It's hard to know if the events of the last couple of days are the result of sort of psychological and physical needs for a sustained period of rest or it's some calculation or some move to encourage us to trade him," Sox president Larry Lucchino said on WEEI yesterday.

So, will Manny be traded in the next two days? Or will he once-again convert from Sulking Manny to Happy Manny?

"Because of the size of his contract, obviously, it's hard (to trade him)," Lucchino said. "There aren't a lot of clubs that are going to be interested, but it depends how little you're willing to take in return with respect to trades."

It should be noted Manny's contract was the work of former general manager Dan Duquette, not Lucchino and Theo Epstein. Lucchino also stated this was the fourth time Ramirez had requested a trade from Boston's brass.

He was placed in irrevocable waivers prior to the 2004 season and had no suitors. It would be interesting to see if he would have more value now in the middle of the season than he would in the winter, but it would be nothing short of shocking to see the Sox pull that move again, especially now.

He's likely not going anywhere, as he means too much to the offense and he makes too much to be widely attractive. And the teams that could conceivably take him -- the New Yorks, for example -- won't be in a position to grant him any more privacy than he currently has here.

Maybe this is just Manny being Manny. Maybe this will all blow over. Maybe this is just another non-story that will disappear come August. If that's the case, then this will all be nothing more than an interesting footnote in a run for the playoffs.

In the event he isn't traded and he continues to sulk, a temporary suspension might not be such a bad idea. Granted, taking the best RBI producer the game has seen in the last 20 years might not necessarily be conducive to winning, but it would send a message, much like the one-game suspension Grady Little levied on Manny in 2003.

But at the end of the day, they're not a better team without him, at least not without some incredible compensation in return. Manny, happy or not, will keep hitting the cover off the ball and the team will be better for it, as far as wins are concerned. But it won't last much beyond this season.

The next two-to-three months could be the sunset of the Manny Ramirez era in Beantown.

Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at ntavares@s-t.com.

This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on July 29, 2005.