BOSTON -- Red Sox manager Terry Francona spent the majority of Saturday afternoon trying to explain to the masses that, as far as he's concerned, the situation with Manny Ramirez asking out of the lineup due to a "sore" knee is a thing of the past.

There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the Red Sox slugger of late. He's been in a he-said-he-said battle with ownership over his future with the organization. He surprised management last week in Seattle when he arrived at the ballpark with a sore knee. He did not play on Friday, either.

So, the club sent him to have an MRI on both knees, and both scans came back negative. He played Saturday, but earlier today there was a report on ESPNdeportes saying that Ramirez wouldn't object to a trade.

"If the Red Sox are a better team without Manny Ramirez, they should trade me; I will not object," said Ramirez in a telephone interview with ESPNdeportes.com.

"I don't have any preferences," he added. "I could choose a team that offers me the best conditions or one in the chase for the postseason. I don't care where I play, I can even play in Iraq if need be. My job is to play baseball."

Francona said before tonight's game that he hadn't heard of any report.

"He never said anything to me," said the manager.

Francona was asked how he thinks Ramirez is handling the situation now, and the manager said, "You'll have to ask him."

Francona did say he doesn't think it matters how Ramirez is feeling, as long as he produces.

"I'll take a guy hitting .500 who is miserable, as opposed to somebody who is passing out bouquets of roses to his teammates and he's hitting .145. That's kind of how it is."