The Sox are dead to him now, Ramírez said as he tried to help his temporary employer, the Los Angeles Dodgers, reach the World Series for the first time in 20 years.
"I moved on with my life," he said.
His next stop: anywhere but Boston. With a new giant contract awaiting him in free agency, the highest-paid athlete in New England history - the Sox lavished more than $160 million over eight years on Ramírez - has spent nearly every waking hour since he was traded July 31 trying to make the baseball world forget about the dark side of his days on Yawkey Way.
Better to enter the open market perceived as a Cooperstown-caliber slugger with a model work ethic and leadership skills than as a great hitter whose actions at times reflected a jaded respect for the game. Better to be the marvel of Mannywood than a malcontent whose Sox teammates finally all but mutinied against him.
The man with the memorable biceps tattoo - "Only the Strong Survive" - has returned to his multimillion-dollar manse near Florida's Gold Coast, where he plans to wait for superagent Scott Boras to sell his services to the highest bidder. The price could top $100 million.
"When you think about the parameters of who should be the highest-paid player in the game, Manny Ramírez fulfills them all," Boras said.
Boras said Ramírez, 36, wants to play at least six more years and expects to command a salary similar to Alex Rodriguez's. Boras negotiated a 10-year deal with the Yankees last year that guarantees Rodriguez an average of $27.5 million a season through 2017, when he will be 42.
Boras also struck a five-year, $90 million deal for Barry Bonds with the Giants in 2002 that ran until Bonds was 42.
"There is no question that Manny is in the same category of those extraordinary hitters," Boras said. "And Manny has done something those hitters have not done. He has won two World Series rings."
Let the bidding begin
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