Almost A Met: Manny Ramirez
“Manny’s on board. Mets on the rise.”
Look, our first two editions had some big names. Alfonso Soriano and Juan Gonzalez are two stars that were *almost* Mets. But today’s name is even bigger, and boy it seemed like Manny Ramirez was destined to be a Met. (Heck, even one member of the Mets organization seemed convinced of it. More on that below).
For these first few editions I wanted to highlight some star players—and don’t worry we’ll get niche soon. I’ve done some research on some players I’m sure you forgot about.
For now let’s talk about the “short but intense” talks that almost brought Manny to the Mets.
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How close was Manny Ramirez to being ‘on board’ the Mets?
“Manny’s on board. Mets on the rise.”
For any Mets fan of a certain age, those words are probably etched into their brains. We’ll get to that in a moment. But for a while there, it truly felt like it was inevitable that OF Manny Ramirez would be playing for the New York Mets.
There was a moment where the buzz was strong for Manny being a Met. And this newsletter is about the ultimate “what-ifs” for the Mets, so we needed to address this potential acquisition early.
Mets General Manager Omar Minaya’s push for the slugger started in the December 2004 Winter Meetings. Ramirez, always known for his eccentric personality, had a deteriorating relationship with the Boston Red Sox, despite being a superstar amid the team’s legendary World Series run.
Seeking to capitalize on that crumbling relationship, Minaya seemed to think there was an opening to add Ramirez to a 2005 “New Mets” roster that included newly-acquired SP Pedro Martinez and CF Carlos Beltran, along with mainstays like C Mike Piazza, and young future-stars 3B David Wright and SS Jose Reyes. Not to mention solid contributors like OFs Mike Cameron and Cliff Floyd.
Adding Ramirez—who hit 43 HRs, had 130 RBIs, and an OPS above 1.000 the year before—would create a fearsome lineup. It would also solidify the “New Mets” mantra Beltran declared when he signed with the team: The Mets should be feared, not laughed at.
Manny Ramirez was ‘within a few hours’ of being on the Mets
But the real Manny-to-the-Mets buzz was around the 2005 trade deadline. And in July 2005, Minaya came “within a few hours” of acquiring Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox, according to Newsday.
There were many permutations of this possible deal over a three-day period, according to numerous sources.
As WEEI reported in 2010, the talks were “short but intense” and Boston’s goal was to offload Ramirez’s salary to go after free agents like OF J.D. Drew and 3B Adrian Beltre. (Both of them would go on to play for Boston in the future).
According to Jason Stark at ESPN, there was a thought that the Tampa Bay Rays would be involved, making it a three-team deal. The Rays were apparently insistent on acquiring SS Hanley Ramirez and SP Jon Lester in any deal and Boston, understandably, wasn’t interested in trading their superstar slugger and two of their best prospects in one trade. At one point there apparently was a version of the trade where the Mets landed Ramirez and RP Danys Baez and SS Julio Lugo from the Rays.
Adam Rubin, the former New York Daily News reporter, said in his book Pedro, Carlos, And Omar that the three-team deal would have sent Cameron and pitcher Aaron Heilman to the Red Sox, who also would have acquired Devil Rays slugger IF Aubrey Huff. While all the teams were speaking to each other separately, the talks eventually merged together.
Ultimately, the Mets pivoted and talked about a normal two-team trade, according to ESPN. That deal would have sent Cameron and then-top prospect OF Lastings Milledge to Boston in exchange for Ramirez. Newsday also reported that there were some discussions of perhaps sending Floyd instead of Cameron or a package of Floyd and 2B Kaz Matsui. WEEI reported prospects like RP Heath Bell and 1B Ian Bladergroen were also discussed as part of a deal.
But after a flurry of activity, this blockbuster-that-never-was ended up being “99.9% dead” as of July 30, 2005, Stark reported.
Here’s how former GM Jim Duquette described it to Newsday: “It was definitely close. There’s no doubt. But it wasn’t to the point where we were like, ‘OK we’ve got a deal pending approval.”
‘Manny’s on board. Mets on the rise’
While the deal never materialized, it seemed like someone on the Mets thought it was going to happen anyway.
In November 2005, the New York Daily News obtained a copy of the now-infamous ad campaign that depicted Ramirez on the Mets.
The ad, featuring Manny’s face with the mid-2000s grungy/industrial Mets font read: “Manny’s On Board. Mets On The Rise.”
The ad was apparently an “internally generated concept” made by someone at the Mets who had “no contact with the baseball department.” As Rubin described in his book, high-level Mets executives were “mortified” when the graphic was emailed to to someone at ESPN.
Regardless, the ad ricocheted around early-online Mets fandom. Honestly, it is the kind of self-own the Mets used to be known for. Classic LOLMets.
The New York media also tried to ignite the trade rumors again in late 2006, but even the New York Times admitted “Minaya and [Boston General Manager Theo] Epstein have not talked about Ramírez. Epstein has not called to tell Minaya that Ramírez is available, and Minaya has not called to ask if he is.”
Regardless, the Red Sox didn’t trade Ramirez until 2008, when they shipped him to the Dodgers. The Mets flirted with the idea of bringing him aboard in 2010, according to Newsday. But he never did end up wearing the orange and blue—despite it feeling (and at least one Mets staff member acting) like it was going to happen.
The Manny-to-the-Mets mania didn’t even stop after he retired.
In 2021, as the Mets fired Hitting Coach Chili Davis (a controversial move among members of the team at the time), Ramirez tweeted at Owner Steve Cohen pitching himself for the gig.
Just Manny being Manny.
❓ Would you have made the trade?
Let’s get in the GM chair. There were discussions of a trade that would have sent OF Manny Ramirez to the Mets in exchange for OF Mike Cameron and top prospect OF Lastings Milledge. Is that a trade you’d agree to? (Don’t forget, hindsight is 20/20).
Next newsletter we’ll share the results of the poll! So stay tuned.
Last newsletter’s answers: 63% of Almost A Met readers said they wouldn’t have signed Juan Gonzalez, while 38% said they would have.
⚾ Mets news of the week
MLB Network is clearly salty that the Mets took 2 out of 3 from the Dodgers over Memorial Day weekend. (@90_mets/X)
Not quite last week, but Laura Albanese is the new Mets beat reporter for Newsday. Laura is a great follow and writer. Follow here on X and Bluesky.
👀 Next time on “Almost A Met”
Next newsletter we’ve got something cool for you. We’ll be chatting with a member of the Mets community about a perennial All-Star who almost became a New York Met. Stay tuned!
Got a suggestion for who you want us to feature in an upcoming newsletter? Shoot us a message by clicking the button below.
Love the 'stack. I remember at the time, I had some... friends at MLB. My mother was in real estate, and they asked her to find a place for Manny Ramirez to stay in New York. For a few hours, we were being told he's on his way, even before the media. The only thing they told us was that he was either going to be a Yankee or a Met, no one knew.
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