Reliever Craig Hansen, erratic as a member of the Red Sox, will get to work on his development with the Pirates.

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AP / Stephan Savoia

The questions you have to ask yourself if you’re a Red Sox fan are these: Is the team better now, after the trading deadline, than it was two weeks ago? Are the Sox better equipped, in relation to the other contenders, to defend their American League title and World Series championship? Has Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein done a better job than his counterparts Brian Cashman of the Yankees, Tony Reagins of the Angels and Andrew Friedman of the Rays in strengthening his team for the stretch run?

The answers are: No. No. No, no, and maybe.

Two weeks ago, Boston was coming off the All-Star break atop the A.L. East. Now the high-priced Sox are three games behind the bargain-basement Rays and battling to stay ahead of the resurgent Yankees in the battle for second place in the division.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

What matters most at the moment is that, while the Yankees have added Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, and while the Angels have picked up slugger Mark Teixeira, the Red Sox have traded away one of the greatest hitters in team history — or, for that matter, baseball history — in Manny Ramirez.

It’s all well and good to say “goodbye and good riddance” to the increasingly problematic Ramirez, but it would be wrong to say the Red Sox are as good a team without his potent presence in the lineup, batting behind David Ortiz.

Since Big Papi arrived from Minnesota in 2003, he and Manny have been the best 1-2 punch in baseball, enabling the Sox to snap their 86-year title drought and win two World Series in the last four years.

Now it’s the Angels who can claim that distinction, with Teixeira — who’s hit more than 30 homers each of the last four seasons — joining Vladimir Guerrero in a lineup that was already better than Boston’s — as Anaheim’s eight wins in nine games with the Sox conclusively prove.

There’s no question that the Yankees are a much-improved team, thanks to Cashman’s recent deals with the Pirates and Tigers.

From Pittsburgh, he obtained a highly effective, left-handed setup man out of the bullpen — something the Sox could certainly use — in Marte, who was 4-0 for the Pirates. Taking over as the closer in Pittsburgh on July 2, Marte had five saves in as many chances. As a National Leaguer, he struck out 47 men in 46 2/3 innings while walking only 16. Opponents were batting just .217 against him.

Nady was the Pirates’ leading hitter — batting a team-high .330, with 26 doubles, 13 homers, and 57 RBI.

And, on the day catcher Jorge Posada underwent season-ending surgery on his ailing right shoulder, the Yanks made a deal with Detroit for the veteran Rodriguez, a 13-time Gold Glove winner who still has some pop in his bat.

If you’re the division-leading Rays, who are you more worried about now — the Sox, or the Yankees?

The answer is obvious.

Sitting atop the standings, the Rays apparently felt they could stand pat. Or, at least, felt any deal they made could as likely hurt them as help them.

Would it have been better if Epstein had done nothing?

Theo obviously felt that wasn’t an option.

Clearly, the Sox could tolerate Ramirez’s antics no longer. They had become not merely distracting but downright divisive — a deadly destroyer of clubhouse karma.

And so, Manny had to go, in a move that deserves the often-tried but not always-true label of “addition by subtraction.”

There is no arguing that Jason Bay, who’ll take over for Manny in left field, is a very good player. He’s a two-time All-Star who’s hitting .282, with 20 homers and 64 RBI — figures that compare favorably with Manny’s .299 average, 20 homers, and 68 RBI.

Bay was the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 2004, and had career-highs in homers (35) and RBI (109) in 2006. Seven years younger than Ramirez, his best years, hopefully, are ahead of him.

But right now, this year, who would you rather see batting cleanup for Boston?

The problem was, the Sox couldn’t stand the sight of Manny any longer. So eager was Epstein to get Ramirez out of town that he included erratic reliever Craig Hansen and reserve outfielder Brandon Moss as part of the three-way trade with Pittsburgh and the Dodgers, and also agreed to pay Manny’s hefty salary for the rest of the year.

So now Manny’s in L.A. and Bay is in Boston. Teixeira’s in Anaheim, and Rodriguez, Marte and Nady are in New York.

So what do you say, Sox fans — who got the best deal? Do you think the Red Sox are better positioned now to win another World Series than they were two weeks ago?

jdonalds@projo.com