One American League general manager put it this way when asked if he thought Manny Ram?rez would finally be traded this offseason: "He's been on the block for, what, five years? My answer is it's highly unlikely he'll be dealt, but what we'll see in the weeks ahead is how motivated is he to get out of Boston and how motivated the Red Sox are to make it happen. Did he ask for a trade? And if he did, has he changed his mind yet?" The Globe's Gordon Edes reported Ram?rez's desire to be traded in September, and we can only assume the slugger hasn't changed his mind.