Manny's exit drumbeat continues

Speculation continues about Manny Ramirez packing his bags even before the Dodgers are officially out of the pennant race. Today it's ESPN columnist Buster Olney, who thinks there will be interest if his 99-ness heals from his current injuries convincingly enough to interest a pennant contender.

In the past two years, Manny Ramirez has been suspended on a performance-enhancing drug violation, landed on the disabled list repeatedly, frustrated some of his teammates with what they perceive to be an intermittent effort and missed 115 games.

But if he hits the waiver wire sometime in the next two weeks, as expected, he will be the source of a whole lot of head-scratching among baseball executives, because despite all those things that Ramirez isn't -- emotionally invested or an ideal teammate, for example -- he continues to be a really good hitter.

At Native Intelligence, Bob Timmermann observes on the crabbiness of the Dodgers season and concludes it's not the end of the world: "What most fail to recognize is that sometimes in baseball, like in all other sports, you're just not going to be able to win every year."

Plus: Bobby Thomson, hitter of one of the most famous home runs in Dodgers' or baseball history, died at age 86.