Is it Just Me? 7/29/05

Is it just me, or:

• Does the thought of trading for Manny Ramirez, under the right circumstances, intrigue you? Sure, it'd be very tough to assume all of that contract, but man can he hit. He's arguably the best righty hitter in the game, and definitely in the top-5. I'm not sure how badly he wants to play the field, but I'd rather have him as DH than Ibanez -- 12 days a week.
  
  Yes, he was placed on irrevocable waivers before 2004 so we could've had him for "free", and he has some clubhouse issues. But this team needs some more power (even if Beltre has another year closer to 2004), and it's hard to find power and productivity like Manny's. This team still desperately lacks offensive punch and without any power in the minors, that's not going to change.
  
  Money really shouldn't be the issue. The payroll for this season isn't even as high as what was budgeted for. The M's definitely have some payroll flexibility in the coming years, and some of that pot should go towards a proven, hyper-productive hitter. I really don't want Manny in the outfield, though, so if he demands playing there, then I don't want him.
  
  Sure, there are all kinds of reasons ($57 million for a 33/34/35 year old slugger?) why we might not want him, but there are also all kinds of reasons why it's intriguing...
  
  
• Would it really be cool to hang out around section 128 tonight? I mean, those of us who watched the game on TV yesterday were graced for a few minutes by the presence of a pinchable-cheeks cute Bloomquist family member, Lisa, pulling the ketchup (catsup?) bottle out of the basket she put together in her husband's name to auction off for the sake of military families everywhere. I mean, I'm really curious how much someone is going to pay for a basket full of Willie Bloomquist autographed items, a "Meet The Parents" DVD, coyote call, and Ketchup.
  
  I bet that the basket with the autographed Ichiro t-shirt/ball goes for $10,000. I'm not kidding. I literally mean $10,000. While walking around the stadium last season taking pictures during Edgar's retirement party, I stopped off at the M's wives auction table, and watched a lady write an $8,000 check for an autographed Ichiro jersey. Sandra Beltre's a smart lady -- this auction should raise a lot of money for military families. Of course, if you want in on the action, you need a ticket to tonight's game and a whole lot of money. I'd like to know, too, which basket will have a Napoleon Dynamite DVD in it.
  

Hey -- maybe we could steal that idea! Corco, CK and I could collectively put together a basket of our favorite M's memorabilia, and some personal favorite items, and come up with a worthy charity (or use the proceeds to pay for some real web hosting so I can launch my custom-made blogging app and not be forced to rely on the perils of Blogger). I'm sure I've got a basket, and I know we all have stuff we could get rid of. What do you say, guys?