Ramirez rumors fly

Could Manny be Manny in South Florida?

Or is this latest batch of trade rumors just the Marlins being the Marlins?

With today’s 1 p.m. PDT non-waiver trade deadline fast approaching, the upstart Florida Marlins were making a strong bid to acquire disgruntled Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez, industry sources said.

Ramirez, a two-time World Series champion in Boston, has a home in Pembroke Pines, Fla., and would have to approve any trade. At 36, Ramirez has 510 career home runs and a non-refundable ticket for Cooperstown, but he also has a reputation for flaky behavior, poor outfield defense and ill-timed outbursts.

Marlins president David Samson neither confirmed nor denied the Ramirez talks Wednesday during his weekly radio segment on 790-AM.

“Our players and everyone else thinks we are a playoff team,” Samson said. “No one thought we’d be here. We’re trying everything. We’re not going to be stupid, though. We’re not going to make a trade that hurts us in the coming years terribly.”

Under one scenario first reported by the Beaver County (Pa.) Times, Marlins right fielder Jeremy Hermida would end up in Pittsburgh with the Pirates sending All-Star outfielder Jason Bay to Boston.

XM Satellite Radio reported the Marlins could wind up with Pirates lefty reliever John Grabow in the deal as well as $6 million in cash from the Red Sox. That money would help offset the roughly $7 million Ramirez is still owed for the rest of this year.

Ramirez’s current contract includes a pair of club options at $20 million a season for the next two years, but the Marlins could waive those options in exchange for the 11-time All-Star promising to reject an off-season offer of salary arbitration.

That would allow Ramirez to hit the free-agent market this winter while giving the Marlins two high draft picks as compensation. Ramirez hired Scott Boras as his agent early this year and reportedly has told friends he wants a four-year, $100 million extension.

The Marlins, with the lowest payroll in the game at $22 million, also would have to give up several prospects in the deal, which would leave a potential void in right field. Ramirez and holdovers Josh Willingham and Luis Gonzalez are all natural left fielders, and Ramirez is likely to balk at a position change.

Losing Hermida, owner Jeffrey Loria’s initial first-round draft pick after swapping the Montreal Expos for the Marlins in 2002, would not be a crippling loss, especially with him being one of 18 Marlins players potentially eligible for salary arbitration this winter.

However, the pursuit of Ramirez seems odd given the team already leads the majors in home runs and ranks sixth in the National League at 4.74 runs per game.

The Marlins’ poor defense will not be improved by his addition either.

If the Marlins pull this off, Ramirez would represent their highest-wattage acquisition since signing Carlos Delgado as a free agent in January 2005.