Is Manny Ramirez the Antichrist?

Buster Olney's latest post for ESPN follows the Fan's man crush, Peter Gammons, and others in a long line of "This is Manny's Fault" type of thought. Is this fair? Does Manny Ramirez deserve this type of antipathy?

The Red Sox are the new model for personnel management. They are now regarded as the elite organization for managing talent and building champions. With two World Series victories in five years, it's hard to argue with the results. But there is a level of ruthlessness that seems to permeate their business practice. They didn't handle Johnny Damon particularly well. They did not handle Curt Schilling's situation with a whole lot of heart and you can't forget Pedro Martinez and now Manny Ramirez.

It is easy to blame Manny for being Manny. The man has one of the most colorful personalities ever to play the game. His adventures in left field are legendary. His mood swings are well documented. But there is no indication that Manny is malevolent or a troublemaker. He has never been arrested, he doesn't appear to beat on women, he hasn't been involved in any drug scandals and he certainly hasn't shot his leg in a bar in recent months. So what's the beef here?

Okay, he received bad advice from Scott Boras and handled his last days with the Red Sox pretty badly. Supposedly, his whole team wanted him gone. But is this one of those bad relationships that ended badly, with blame being available to both sides? Or is this all Manny's fault?

For some reason, Manny Ramirez did not feel respected or wanted by the Red Sox organization. Perhaps that is too much to ask for any business. Have not most of us felt similar things when we wanted to be treated like a human being instead of a business asset (or cost)? Perhaps Manny wanted more than any business gives in the real world. Who knows.

But the story didn't end there. Apparently, his Dodger teammates loved the guy and respected his approach and his work ethic. Was that a different Manny? Do people change that quickly just from changing jobs?

A long, long, long time ago, the Fan worked for Radio Shack. To tell you how long ago this was, it was when calculators first came out and were priced at $350. The Fan started his career there as an assistant manager and worked for a wonderful manager who praised the Fan's efforts and was encouraging. The Fan busted his tail and arrived hours before the store opened to do what he could to make that store successful.

Soon after, the Fan was transferred to a different store and his new manager was just the opposite. Nothing was good enough, fault was always found and the Fan's effort and enthusiasm whithered and died. The bottom line is how you treat people often colors the results you get from people. Could the Manny situation in Boston and then Los Angeles reflect that bottom line?

Without being inside the situations, it's only speculation. But even the possibility should give second thoughts to making Manny the only fault in the mess he finds himself in right now. Frankly, MLB is better off with Manny playing and tearing the cover off a baseball than it is having him in some kind of Sammy Sosa purgatory.