The trade deadline brings excitement to a normally dull time in sports. The rumors run rampant and usually just remain rumors. The bigger deals that get pulled off are normally a shock to everyone except the two teams involved. Case in point, the Teixeira deal. (As if the Angels weren’t dangerous enough.)

This brings me to the rumors and speculation about the Manny Ramirez to the Phillies deal. Kevin Cooney at the Courier Times posted a blog today that Phillies fans shouldn’t get their hopes up of seeing Man-Ram in a Phillies uni anytime soon. While I agree with Kevin that it’s not going to happen I have to disagree with some of his reasoning.

The Phillies won’t get Manny. But if they even have a slim chance of still pulling the trigger on the deal, here are the reasons why they should;

1) He has two World Series rings and no motivation: Manny isn’t a locker room cancer. That’s too strong of an accusation. If you want to call him a distraction I can’t argue. Sure he needs to be coddled and kept away from the media now and again but he is a well liked figure in the clubhouse and by the Boston faithful. What Manny has done is play a huge role in the breaking of a ‘curse’, lead Boston to two championships, and become a Boston sports icon. He has nothing left to do in that town. Now, bring him to a city as passionate about sports as Philly that hasn’t tasted a World Series since 1993….pretty good motivation for a great player. Red Sox vs. Yankees has gone stale but Phillies vs. Mets has been heating up the past few seasons.

2) Manny is just Manny, and that’s all you need- Manny and Pat’s numbers should never be compared. Manny Ramirez is a first ballot Hall of Fame player having a slightly less than typical season. Pat Burrell is having a better-than-normal, it’s about god damn time season. Burrell has the luxury of hitting behind Ryan Howard. Manny has played most of the season with Big Papi on the shelf and pitchers working around him. I would bet the $6 in my checking account (pay day is Friday) that no pitching staff or team has ever talked about ‘not letting Pat Burrell beat them.’ Manny is far from a gold glover but has been much better in the outfield in the past few seasons and any blunders he makes in the field are offset by his bat.

3) Playoffs in a career- Now I will take into consideration that Manny has had much (muccchhhh) more playoff experience than Burrell, but let’s take a quick peek at their numbers.

Manny- .269 24 HR, 64 RBI, in 19 post season series
Pat the Bat- .182 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 k’s in 3 games against Colorado last year.

Manny shows up in the post-season. I won’t say Pat doesn’t because there is such a small sampling but in Manny’s 350+ post season at bats his stats mirror those of his regular season stats. Plain and simple Manny is being Manny whether it’s April or October.

4) Management should show the fans they give a crap- Who was the last huge player the Phillies got through a trade or deadline deal? Strike that. Name the last huge trade the Phillies pulled off that really made the league take notice? I asked two Phillies die-hards and they laughed and said ‘Blanton?’ They laughed because they know that’s not the Phillies way. Well why the hell not? I am far from a Philly fan in any sport but even I know the kind of buzz that Manny Ramirez will bring to the city. Fans would eat him up. His jersey would become a #1 seller if it isn’t already. Climbing walls and high-fiving fans. Disappearing behind the wall in Citizens Bank Park. Showing up in Dan Gross’s column having drinks with Ryan Howard at the Saloon. He would be the biggest Philly sports celeb of the last 20 years.

Before I wrote this blog I asked a few friends and Phillies fans who they would rather have patrolling left field for the remainder of the playoff run. It took them all of 2 seconds to say Manny. While they love Pat Burrell and his recent awaking they know that the possibility of having a future Hall of Famer lead them to a championship they would kill their mother for is an opportunity they can’t pass up.

Manny could be Manny, crazy or whatever the hell he wanted to be as long as he did it for the Phillies and it brought a World Series ring with it.

And yes, I just spent the last 10 paragraphs explaining why a player I hate should go to a team and town I despise as a rival sports fan.

A paycheck will make you do crazy things.