Sunday. Tony Massarotti claims the Red Sox may pay as much as $10 million of Ramirez's salary to get him out of Boston (Sean McAdam has written nearly the same thing). That is insane. There are plenty of teams who would love Manny's production at half price, but there is no way in hell that Boston will allow that to happen. The Red Sox may move Ramirez if an advantageous deal presents itself, but I have a feeling Manny will be Ft. Myers in February. Which is a good thing, because the man is an offensive beast:

Year Ag Tm   G    AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS  LG OPS

1999 27 CLE 147  .333  .442  .663  1.105  .798

2000 28 CLE 118  .351  .457  .697  1.154  .800

2001 29 BOS 142  .306  .405  .609  1.014  .766

2002 30 BOS 120  .349  .450  .647  1.097  .750

2003 31 BOS 154  .325  .427  .587  1.014   ??

The Eagle-Tribune has filed a petition to have the November 7 hearing on whether to issue misdemeanor assault and battery charges against Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia open to the public. Clerk magistrate hearings are almost always closed to protect the identities of the parties, but as Peter Caruso, the newspaper's attorney, said: "In this particular case, the parties' identities are known to over 30 million people. ... The day after the incident, Jeff Nelson sat in the dugout and told his side of the story. So by no means, should this hearing be done in secrecy."

Elsewhere: Art Davidson pushes Willie Randolph for manager ... Robert Chabot has written an angry lament -- "Too Long on the Mound (Some Last Words for Grady Little)" -- the opening verse of which reads: "From the Berkshires to Boston, there's a low dyin' sound/Grady left Pedro too long on the mound." ... Bruce Markusen looks at "Yankees Circa 2004"; Larry Mahnken is doing the same, one position at a time.

Lawrence Rocca of the Newark Star-Ledger nails Gump's deficiencies perfectly: "[H]e was a strategic blockhead who trusted his cotton-farmer instincts more than hard statistical data. ... There has been an attempt in some quarters to portray the Red Sox front office as wanting their next manager to be Bill James with a computer in the dugout, which is just stupid media pandering ... Little barely knew basic head-to-head pitcher-hitter matchup numbers. ... To believe the Red Sox fired Little because of that one non-move in Game 7 is absurd. That one non-move was merely the most obvious and damaging example of his anti-intellectual style of managing. ... As for the idea that Little was responsible for the Red Sox's great clubhouse chemistry ... he was the same manager when that room was a snake pit in 2002 ... It turns out Little's dumb act -- complete with Forrest Gump voice -- wasn't an act after all."