BOSOX FINALLY TIRED OF RAMIREZ’S ACT

AT this time last year, the consensus of the baseball world was that the Yankees were losers not only because they failed to obtain Eric Gagne, but because he ended up with the Red Sox.

Of course, the Yanks unearthed a far better setup alternative named Joba Chamberlain and Boston went on to win the World Series in spite of Gagne, who was a detriment to the cause.

That is our disclaimer to be careful of quick analysis at this time of year. Because it sure does appear as if roles are reversed right now and that the Yanks are big winners of this trade deadline phase and the Red Sox losers. The Yanks no longer have to worry about long-time nemesis Manny Ramirez. He was shipped to the Dodgers as part of a three-team blockbuster that was concluded so close to yesterday’s 4 p.m. deadline that a few outside teams contacted the Commissioners Office with complaints that it had gone illegally beyond the allotted time.

But Commissioners Office spokesman Pat Courtney said, “We are comfortable that the deal was done in time.”

The Red Sox agreed to pay the approximately $7 million left on Ramirez’s salary so he can play for the Dodgers, and gave up two prospects to the Pirates. In return, Boston received Jason Bay, who an AL executive summed up like this: “Bay is a good offensive player, but he is not Manny Ramirez. And now he has to prove he can play at Fenway, in the AL East, in the pennant race. Manny had proven that.”

So the Yanks’ big trades were for Xavier Nady, Damaso Marte and Ivan Rodriguez, and to get Ramirez out of their life. Here is a simple question: If you are the Yanks, no matter how good Bay might be, do you want to face him with the game on the line over the next two months or Ramirez, their never-ending nightmare?

The other fringe benefit for the Yanks is had Bay not gone to Boston, he almost certainly was heading to first-place Tampa Bay, which badly needed the right-handed power and did not get it at the deadline. As an AL official said, “Bay by the Bay works better because of so much less stress there, it is like Pittsburgh. J.D. Drew took a year to prove he can play in the heat of Boston, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Bay needed the same.”

The Red Sox believed keeping Ramirez was, “untenable,” as one official put it, because Manny had no organizational allies any more. Even teammates had turned against him because of his refusal to play or his indifference when he did. In the past, Manny being Manny was mostly an annoyance to be navigated. But Red Sox executives had become convinced that his behavior was dragging the whole team down and imperiling the season. That combined with his open criticism of ownership meant Ramirez had to go.

The last time Boston rid itself of such a disenchanted veteran was at the 2004 deadline when it dispatched Nomar Garciaparra in a three-team trade. The quick analysis then was that Boston was dead. Of course, the Red Sox went on to end The Curse and win the World Series. So again, be careful to dismiss a proven championship core now, especially since Bay is a talented hitter and the Red Sox believe they will restore harmony to their environment.

An AL executive who liked this trade for the Red Sox said, “It was Bay or a miserable Manny. Plus, they have Bay next year.”

In an interesting twist, Ramirez now ends up playing for Dodgers manager Joe Torre and with Garciaparra. In another quirk, one big-market team sent another big-market team approximately $7 million. The Dodgers have cried such poverty that they have obtained Casey Blake from Cleveland and Ramirez and had the salaries picked up. But there is no doubt a motivated Ramirez – which he should be in a salary drive playing for Torre – helps the Dodgers offense with his bat and by sending the anemic Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre to the bench.

The general view of the four prospects the Pirates received was that it was better than the quartet they obtained from the Yanks for Nady/Marte, but still more about the Pirates restoring organizational depth rather than getting a sure thing. The prospects were Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss from Boston and Bryan Morris and Andy LaRoche from Los Angeles. LaRoche’s brother, Adam, is Pittsburgh’s first baseman.

But this will be remembered as the day when Boston ended a 71/2-year relationship with Ramirez in which he helped the Red Sox win two titles, yet proved too much of an annoyance in the end to keep.

joel.sherman@nypost.com

MORE: Joel Sherman’s Hardball Blog