Analysis of a bad (rumored) trade

The rumors are swirling rabidly (it seems that ESPN has two people devoted - full time - to this trade rumor) that the Red Sox are going to send Manny Ramirez to the Mets, with the help of the Devil Rays. The trade that's being talked about:

Proposed Trade

	Traded	From	To
Major Leaguers	Manny Ramirez	Red Sox	Mets
	Aubrey Huff	Devil Rays	Red Sox
	Mike Cameron	Mets	Red Sox
	Danys Baez	Devil Rays	Mets
Minor Leaguers	Kelly Shoppach	Red Sox	Devil Rays
	Anibel Sanchez	Red Sox	Devil Rays
	Yusmeiro Petit	Mets	Devil Rays
	Lastings Milledge	Mets	Devil Rays

A lot of player movement there. Let's break it down by team, to see what it looks like for each organization:

Proposed Trade

	Gives up	Receives
Boston	Manny Ramirez	Aubrey Huff
	Anibel Sanchez	Mike Cameron
	Kelly Shoppach
New York	Mike Cameron	Manny Ramirez
	Yusmeiro Petit	Danys Baez
	Lastings Milledge
Tampa Bay	Aubrey Huff	Kelly Shoppach
	Danys Baez	Anibel Sanchez
		Yusmeiro Petit
		Lastings Milledge

We can see why Tampa Bay would be eager to do this. Aubrey Huff's a decent player, but he's not going to be a part of the first winning Devil Rays team, and neither is Danys Baez. And, while always remembering that TINSTAAPP (There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect), Sanchez and Petit are very high ceiling players. So Tampa Bay gives up 2 Major League player that have limited value for them and gets 4 high-level prospects. Good deal for them.

The Mets are giving up a couple of top prospects, but the change from Mike Cameron to Manny Ramirez is an enormous upgrade for a team that's in the middle of the pack in run-scoring, and only 4 games out in the Wild Card race. And add in a closer, when their other big problem has been the end of the bullpen. Their giving up value and getting value, trading the future for the present.

But how are the Red Sox benefiting? By VORP, Manny's been worth 34.3 runs so far this season, Cameron and Huff have combined for less than 32. They're downgrading their Major League team, and giving up two high-level prospects to do it. This trade, as outlined, makes no sense from the Red Sox point of view. They've got a 2 1/2 game lead in the AL East, and they don't need to downgrade their team headed into the last two months...