[UPDATE: Sports Illustrated is reporting Manny has been dealt to the Dodgers. There are no other details.]

Well, it’s 4 pm and Manny Ramirez is still in Boston. But the rumors were fun, right? Intern Bill – now with an email address where you can send him love letters: BillTBL@gmail.com – takes a look at the brief, cantankerous, quotable history of disgruntled Red Sox employees Pedro, Nomar, now Manny.

The Manny Ramirez story has reached near Favre-ian levels, both in terms of New England hype (read: ESPN) and bizarre trade demands. Yesterday, the future Hall of Fame hitter unloaded on the Boston Red Sox front office, practically daring them to make a trade:

“The Red Sox don’t deserve a player like me. During my years here I’ve seen how they have mistreated other great players when they didn’t want them to try to turn the fans against them.

“The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy. I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don’t deserve me. I’m not talking about money. Mental peace has no price and I don’t have peace here.€

Histrionics and posturing aside… is what Ramirez saying true? Is this latest volley a case of the slugger wanting out of Boston so badly he’ll say anything? Or is what he’s saying actually contain more than a few nuggets of truth? The two are not mutually exclusive. Both Pedro Martinez and Nomar Garciaparra, also Latino stars playing in a town where Torri Hunter ran into race issues have stated that they were disrespectfully treated after leaving Boston..

Quote Pedro:

The three-time Cy Young Award winner said his new club, the New York Mets “have shown more respect in days than Boston did in seven years …”

“[Red Sox GM Theo Epstien] got really arrogant on [my agent] and I didn’t appreciate it. Theo believed that he had me and wasn’t the nicest man communicating with Fernando.”

On Francona, Martinez noted: “Francona had no say, like he didn’t have any say in managing the team. He was manipulated (by the front office).”

Asked for evidence to back that assertion, Martinez said, “I was in the clubhouse, that’s how I know.”

Nomar’s agent also expressed displeasure with the Red Sox front office, accusing them of spreading rumors that would demonize his client:

According to Henry, six days before last Saturday’s trade, Garciaparra’s agent, Arn Tellem, told Epstein he had to talk the shortstop out of demanding a trade.

“We knew from that that he didn’t want to be here,” said Henry, who had informed reporters in advance that he planned to be in Tropicana Field last night and would answer questions pertaining to the trade … I categorically deny that,” Tellem said of Henry’s claim that six days before Garciaparra was traded, the agent told Epstein he had to dissuade Garciaparra from making the trade demand. “I never had to talk Nomar out of asking to be traded. That’s absolutely false.”

Manny’s statement to ESPN Desportes yesterday is the third instance of a Red Sox star player to say that the Boston Red Sox front office has disrespected or demonized an exiting player. One occurrence might be an incident. Two might be a coincidence. Isn’t three a trend? Looking back at the quotes above, there seems to be a pattern of perception in the Red Sox clubhouse that the front office does not have the best interest of the players, and when the organization uses them up, they will be slandered upon exiting.

When employees continue to bring up such pernicious allegations of management they work for, it is not a sign of good health in any organization. Even one as successful and historic as the Boston Red Sox.