The New York Post suggests Manny Ramirez might be bound for Philly. I say put him in a package with Jon Lester – then the Sox could pick up Ryan Howard two years sooner than they’re inevitably gonna.

…[S]ources said the Mets’ No. 1 nemesis, the Phillies, have the best chance to trade for Ramirez because Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel has perhaps the strongest relationship with him of anyone in the majors.

Manuel was Ramirez’s hitting coach with the Indians from 1994-99 and his manager in Cleveland in 2000, and the two have remained close.

This is true enough. In fact, Franz Lidz didn’t exactly have himself a scoop:

“I remember the day he flushed a towel down the toilet and messed up the whole water system at Jacobs Field,” Manuel said.

Ramirez thought nothing of it…

In Cleveland, Ramirez would have mail sent to Manuel’s house. Manuel knew Ramirez well – still does – and said the slugger’s antics and flightiness should not be mistaken for a lack of intelligence.

“Don’t take it for him not being smart, because he’s sure not dumb,” Manuel said.

That said, Manuel believes one of Ramirez’s strengths as a player is that he doesn’t overthink things.

One day, Manuel and Ramirez were doing a little hitting and a little joking in the batting cage at Yankee Stadium.

“Shut up, Charlie. I know what I’m doing,” Ramirez playfully told Manuel.

“I’ve got a feeling if you knew what you were doing, you wouldn’t be worth [a darn],” Manuel shot back.

What’s up with the “a” inside those brackets? Does that mean Charlie said that Manny wasn’t worth “shit,” rather than “a damn”?

Anyway, such a move would certainly remove the clubhouse diva title from the Phillies’ reigning MVP and shortstop. And since the Red Sox need relief help and Brett Myers makes $12 million next year, the two teams could fashion a “my problem for yours” sort of arrangement. But of all the major league cities Myers could end up in, the one where he actually committed an alleged act of domestic violence might be the least likely. And in the end, it’s really, really hard to see the Phillies trading for a player of that temperament or salary, no matter how rich and aggressive John Middleton may try to be.

Plus, it’s an item in the Post. But if I were Theo Epstein, I would totally give Ed Wade a call.