Here’s what veteran utilityman Doug Mietkiewicz had to say about today’s events:

“This is a team. This is not the ‘Los Angeles Mannys,'” said Mientkiewicz, who played with Ramirez in Boston and won a World Series together in 2004.

“You can’t change what’s happened. And it doesn’t change the way I feel about him as a person, as a teammate and as a player. We’re a family in here, and one of our family
members is not with us.

“But we’re a really good team here, and Manny’s a big part of our team. But as far as the team goes, this is a tremendous opportunity for us to prove to people that we’re not just Manny and 24 other guys.”