Papelbon calls Ramirez a 'cancer'

Mar 12, 2009 - 10:02 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Before Manny Ramirez stepped to the plate for his first at-bat of the preseason, he had to duck a fastball to the head.

Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon - a former teammate of Ramirez - called the Los Angeles Dodgers' slugger a "cancer" in a story to be published in the April edition of Esquire magazine.

Papelbon unleashed his vitriol at Ramirez with the subtlety of a 98 mile-per-hour fastball, ripping the ex-Boston cleanup hitter for his actions that forced a trade to Los Angeles at the July 31 trade deadline last year.

"It just takes one guy to bring an entire team down, and that's exactly what was happening," Papelbon said. "Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. It's like cancer. That's what he was. Cancer. He had to go."

Amid allegations that he had quit on the team and refused to play, Ramirez went to the Dodgers in a three-team deal that brought left fielder Jason Bay to Boston.

Ramirez, who claimed he was hurt, was in the last year of an eight-year, $160 million contract with Boston.

Papelbon said Ramirez wasn't on the "same train as the rest of us" and noted that the trade brought a discernible difference to the mood of the team, which lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series.

"And after (the trade), you could feel it in the air in the clubhouse," Papelbon said. "We got Jason Bay -- Johnny Ballgame, plays the game right, plays through broken knees, runs out every ground ball -- and it was like a breath of fresh air, man. Awesome! No question."

Ramirez agreed to a two-year, $45 million contract earlier this month. He was scheduled to make his first appearance of the spring on Thursday.