More Than Meets the Eye with Manny Ramirez Trade?

Apparently, Bud Selig and the boys down at MLB headquarters aren't exactly happy with the way the Manny Ramirez trade shook out.

A week after the slugger and the Red Sox unceremoniously parted ways, Commissioner Selig has ordered an investigation into how the deal went down and the circumstances that lead to it. Executive Vice President Rob Manfred will head the investigation at the behest of Selig, and will question the Red Sox, agent Scott Boras, and most likely Manny Ramirez.

At the heart of the issue is a report by the Boston Globe that reported Boras phoning the Red Sox just before the trade was announced proclaiming the Manny would be a good boy and play hard for the remainder of the season for the Red Sox if they agreed to waive his options at the end of the season. Boras has since denied making any such statements, saying "In no way did I make a call regarding having the trade intervened with. My job is to do what is best for my client. It was Boston's decision to trade him. He had the ability to control where he played. He wanted his living environment to be a place where he and his family were as comfortable as they were in Cleveland."

Interestingly enough, the Player's Union has been oddly quiet on this front, perhaps because they realize that there is going to be some heavy waves in this water. There would be no way that this would have floated through without their involvement if the shoe was on the other foot, but since it appears to be a player pulling the strings, Fehr will probably wait and see how hard the tree shakes before they speak up.

Then we have the Dodgers, who if memory serves right, cried foul and claimed tampering by the Red Sox when Boras talked JD Drew into using his out clause to go back into the free agent market, and into the eventual waiting arms of the Red Sox. Now, it is unlikely the the Dodgers did any tampering, as Boston sought them out to get involved in the deal, but why can't tampering charges be levied against an agent, Boras in this case? Boras is a master manipulator, and having Manny switch to the spring before his option years were present appears to be the first stroke in some sort of master conspiracy to bring him back to the market sooner than later. Let's face it, Boras has nothing to gain by representing Manny if the Red Sox pick up those options, but if that deal is voided, we're talking a about a whole other situation.

So how did this shake out? What enlightenment will come out of the investigation? Will Manny finally find "peace"? Stay tuned to next week's episode of When Manny Turns.