ok pete this is what i got
Ah, that is not the MAP sensor, sorry about that. It is an EGR Vacuum Regulator.
http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=43
I've never done something like that on this year of Ranger, so you'll have to bear with me and if someone has, hopefully they'll chime in. I have done something similar on my 88, but it has no EGR and has also been converter to MAF (so I rid of that tap on the passenger side entirely with a brass plug). For being Califorina emissions, there really isn't any.
You'll need to keep it intact for correct EGR operation, and it looks like you'll need to retain the green vacuum line from the EVR to the intake.
It looks like the orange from the air box goes to the passenger side intake? This is probably fine removed, just as long as the tap is plug off completely if that is the case.
I made a small diagram of the lines by colors and I have:
EVR -> Intake (Green Line)
EVR -> Air Box (Red Line)
Intake -> Air Box (Orange Line)
The red line needs to be tapped in somewhere before the throttle plate in the throttle body. As an experiment, you could probably find a cheap piece of rubber in the plumbing department at a hardware store to test with the new intake tube so you don't ruin it (eg, cut a hole) and it doesn't work out. I imagine you could just put a cheap plastic barb in it, but install it in such a way that it cannot get sucked into the engine.
It looks like that the red line is the source of vacuum for controlling the EGR valve (from the air box to EVR). Once the computer needs EGR flow, it trips the solenoid in the EVR and the vacuum in the air box is routed through the green line.
The article above describes that the EVR will pull air from the atmosphere (I suspect the top of it, hence the "cap") which would create a vacuum leak if it were in a tap off the intake when it was closed. Basically that's air that would bypass the throttle plate, so that's why you couldn't just use a vacuum tap. But certainly does explain why they put the air source there...
And yes, this would cause runability issues. Absolutely make sure that you don't have any other vac leaks as well.
Pete