Q&A: Baseball Prospectus co-editor Steven Goldman on Manny Ramirez

5/7/09
manny ramirez
By Max J. Dickstein

Q&A: Baseball Prospectus co-editor Steven Goldman on Manny Ramirez

Photo credit: Game Face

The 50-game suspension of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez will likely set back his red-hot team, which was 21-8 entering Thursday. (Getty Images)

By Max J. Dickstein

We caught up with Baseball Prospectus co-editor Steven Goldman (and Pinstriped Bible blogger) by phone on Thursday to discuss the what-if's and the broader implications of the Manny Ramirez suspension.

How does that hypothetical Manny Ramirez-to-the-Mets move look now? Is it true they would have been better off with him?

Except for a 50-game intermission, it’s kind of still true. They do have a little bit of depth there in the outfield with Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis, who you could argue should be getting more playing time anyway. They would have survived it. In an alternate history where the Mets had signed Manny Ramirez, I think that, to date, they would have been in better shape than they are now.

But what about the moral consequences of this cheating?

I’m still really agnostic when it comes to this stuff. Using steroids and getting bigger, the effect is fairly minute on hitting. I'm not convinced it's more than maybe a five-percent markup. But while I’m dismissive of the impact, but I’m not dismissive of the attempt to cheat. Maybe the rules are arcane, but that’s all the more reason for you to do the right thing. If you gave a damn about the game, you would do your due diligence. Now the Dodgers are going to have to fight through it.

Not to mention the fact that Manny had done this as a Met in New York — along with A-Rod — this would be a perfect storm with some serious off-field consequences, wouldn't it?

It’s just a massive distraction. You’ve seen this with the Yankees in the last couple of weeks. Even though A-Rod isn't even there, Joe Girardi has to devote a certain amount of his time to Alex Rodriguez, and not just talking about A-Rod's rehab. If A-Rod comes back, and he goes "O" for his first 20, everyone will say he’s off the juice. Had there been two of these scandals going, one for each team, there would have been this incredible resonance and disenchantment with both teams. They would have fed on each other if they’d both been here. You’d rather keep it to on-field stuff.
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manny ramirez

Q&A: Baseball Prospectus co-editor Steven Goldman on Manny Ramirez

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