The buzz for the Red Sox at these winter meetings begins and ends with the fate of Manny Ramirez. Last night, a trade looked more likely than not. ?Reasons for optimism are accurate,? said Jed Hoyer, from the Red Sox baseball operations department, after meetings with eight different clubs yielded ?one new entry? in the Ramirez sweepstakes. That brings the admitted total to six teams who have expressed some level of interest in Ramirez, although the leading destination remains the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. With the Angels definitely unwilling to trade their best young pitcher, Ervin Santana, a third team must get involved to get Ramirez to Southern California. The latest front-runners are the Diamondbacks, who would receive a package of prospects from the Angels while the Sox would receive Arizona?s Troy Glaus, who would be used at first base. Since the Angels would have to shed some salary to accommodate Ramirez? $57 million, the Red Sox might also have to take an existing contract off their hands as well, possibly Darin Erstad. A trade to the Mets grew less likely, but it is early still in these meetings and general manager Omar Minaya?s well-known adoration of Ramirez has not vanished. The Red Sox? gang of four ? senior adviser Bill Lajoie, Ben Cherington, Hoyer and Craig Shipley ? intimated that a trade of Ramirez presented significant challenges, not the least of which was filling his spot in the lineup. ?First of all, we?re not going to get fair value in any shape or form (for Ramirez),? Lajoie said. ?This is an A-1 hitter. If you trade him, you are not going to get value, man for man. We will go as far as we can to satisfy him but we also have to satisfy the Red Sox.? As for the concern, repeated frequently, that Ramirez might skip spring training if he were not traded, Lajoie said, ?We?d still be looking for a hitter.? No deal is imminent. The Red Sox were expecting to meet late into the night to have a better idea of which direction to take their talks today.