With Bobby Abreu set to sign a one-year deal with the Angels and Adam Dunn set on a two-year contract with the Nationals, one would assume that Manny Ramirez’s name will be the next to come off the free agent market.

Rumor has it that Abreu and Dunn were the Dodgers’ backup plan if they couldn’t work out a deal with Ramirez, although according to L.A. GM Ned Colletti, that has never been the case.

Ramirez stands alone among available sluggers now. Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu are off the market, Dunn gone to the Washington Nationals and Abreu to the Angels, two signings greeted with a shrug at Chavez Ravine.

“I don’t expect them to impact us,” Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said.

It’s Manny or nothing for the Dodgers. They never said anything different. There appears to be Manny money in the budget, reserved for him, not intended to be spent otherwise.

I think everybody is going to need a hard drink after this situation is over. I don’t even know what to write anymore. This is like watching two chip leaders at a poker game and neither of them wants to put the other one in. Somebody (the Giants) should just walk up to the table and flip the whole damn thing over and end this charade.

For years, Scott Boras has been known as an agent who gets his clients the absolute best deal possible financially. His clients – Barry Zito, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, etc – have walked away from past contract negotiations with fat bank accounts and big smiles on their faces.

But in playing hardball yet again with another club (the Los Angeles Dodgers) in order to get Manny Ramirez a long-term deal, Boras could be screwing himself in the long run.

From ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons:

Scott Boras has put the heat on Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and there has been no love lost. The L.A. scouting department has been told it will not draft Boras clients come June.

That may hold true for a number of teams. With the economy in its current state, the Yankees, Red Sox and perhaps two or three other teams may be willing to ignore the commissioner’s office’s attempts to fix draft prices. Boras and other agents may determine that high school players would be better off coming out in 2012 when the economy should be more stable.

Boras represents outfielder Donavan Tate, Baseball America’s top high school positional prospect, and could decide that Tate will be better served playing quarterback and baseball at North Carolina and allowing MLB and the NFL to set his price in 2012. Without the Dodgers and Tigers in the bidding, there may be very few teams other than the Yankees and Red Sox that may even contemplate Boras’ price on a high school player.

Boras has cashed in for years on clubs’ dimes, but in doing so it appears that he has alienated himself in the process. Teams like the Dodgers are finally fighting back against bully agents like Boras, who might lose clients soon if he doesn’t change his negotiating tactics. He relies on two or more teams being interested in his clients and then he wages a war between the two clubs, who are often more than willing to drive up the price so that even if they don’t eventually acquire said player, the team they’re fighting against will have to pay top dollar.

But in the recent case of Manny Ramirez, Boras has one team that’s officially interested (the Dodgers) and one team that might-kind-of-sort-of be interested (the Giants). And unless the Giants pony up and officially offer a long-term deal soon, the Dodgers will continue their refusal to budge on their one-year, $25 million offer. And worse yet, now the Dodgers are instructing their scouts that no Boras client will be drafted and apparently other clubs are doing the same.

Boras is losing the Manny-contract battle and soon yet, he might be losing more than that.

Even though their one-year, $25 million offer to Manny Ramirez was recently rejected, the Dodgers will resume talks with Scott Boras in efforts to get a deal worked out to re-sign the free agent slugger.

With Spring Training opening in less than 10 days, even with Ramirez’s rejection of the one-year offer Monday night it appears that the intensity of negotiations has increased. The offer was the Dodgers’ third attempt to retain Ramirez, who in November did not respond to a two-year, $45 million offer plus an option and three weeks later did not accept the club’s offer for salary arbitration.

The market for the gifted slugger has been murky, although Boras insists it has heated up. The Dodgers are the only club known to have made an offer. The Giants are the only other club to have acknowledged interest, although like the Dodgers, it is short term only. Boras said he continues negotiating with several teams on Ramirez but again declined to name them.

The Dodgers, with no designated hitter rule available to provide a transitional role as Ramirez ages, have insisted they will not provide the four- or five-year deal he is seeking.

Is this ride making anyone else sick?

The Giants might hold the key to ending this charade. If they and the Dodgers are the only clubs that are even interested in Manny, then they should make an official offer and then sit back and wait. I’m assuming that if they truly wanted Ramirez, they would make an offer that’s lucratively better than the one that the Dodgers have offered. If not, then what’s the point? To drive the price up for the Dodgers? There are no other teams interested so that seems like a fruitless idea.

With an official offer from the Giants in place, Boras could wait to hear back from the Dodgers. If L.A. is still unwilling to budge, then Manny should shit or get off the pot. Either take the Dodgers’ one-year deal for $25 million and become a free agent next year, or take a two to three-year deal depending on what the Giants offer.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers offered free agent Manny Ramirez a one-year contract worth $25 million, but his agent Scott Boras rejected it.

I have no other details, other than that Scott met with Ned Colletti late tonight and told him Manny wouldn’t accept the Dodgers’ one-year, $25 million offer. Not sure exactly what this means, but it wouldn’t shock me if this is the end of it and the Dodgers simply move on. And if that happens, who knows where Manny will end up and when he will get there? More on this tomorrow, I’m sure.

This situation seems to be going nowhere fast. Neither side is willing to budge in what it wants, and this might be the final straw for the Dodgers. Watch what Colletti and the Dodgers do over the next couple days. They might make a move for Bobby Abreu and officially end the dance with Manny. Or they could continue to ride this thing out, but with pitchers and catchers due to report soon that seems unlikely.

With pitchers and catchers set to report soon, the MLB free agency period has essentially cooled off. In fact – it’s over unless your team signing Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn or Pudge Rodriguez gets you all hot and bothered. Of course, there is one name remaining on the free agent list that could instantly turn an average team into a contender.

All has been quiet on the Manny Ramirez front of late. For the most part, nothing has changed, yet every day the 2009 season inches closer and closer and one of the best sluggers in the game remains teamless.

So which team will eventually sign Manny? Let’s break down the odds.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The boys in blue still seem like the best fit for Manny. The Dodgers would once again be the instant favorites to win a weak NL West and with Man-Ram in the lineup, they could challenge the Phillies, Cubs and Mets for the NL Pennant. But length of contract has been a sticking point between the two parties and neither seems willing to budge. Ramirez and Scott Boras want a five-year contract, but the club’s only official offer came 80-some days ago, which was for two-years and $45 million. With no other real competition in the mix for Manny, the Dodgers don’t have to blink first. But considering how stubborn Ramirez and Boras have been to this point, it looks like L.A. might have to bite the bullet and up the years of their offer. The stare down continues, although the Dodgers still appear like the most logical fit in the end.
Odds Manny signs with the Dodgers: 3/1.

San Francisco Giants: Depending on which report you believe, the Giants are anywhere from “highly” to “not a chance in hell” interested in Manny. Some believe that Boras made up the rumor that San Fran was interested because he wanted the Dodgers to panic and slap another year or two on their initial offer. But others truly believe the Giants are one big bat away from at least competing in the NL West and they’ll eventually break down and trump the Dodgers’ offer. But the reality is that the Giants don’t necessarily need Manny. Sure, their offense needs him, but Fred Lewis is younger, plays better defense and finally showed some potential last season in all facets of the game. And when you consider the Giants are still paying dearly for their Barry Zito gaff, offering Ramirez a huge contract would be foolish considering they’re still years away from competing for a World Series. Plus, Ramirez reportedly doesn’t want to play in San Francisco, although if the money is right than we all know he’ll play anywhere. The Giants will probably stay the course with their rebuilding plan and pass, but it wouldn’t be a shock if they made an offer.
Odds Manny signs with the Giants: 12/1.

New York Mets: The Mets seem to be the sleeper in the mix for Manny. They certainly have the money to throw at Ramirez and they would love to make him one of the attractions to go along with a brand new ballpark. Ramirez is also from the New York area and it’s now or never for the Mets to compete. They’re built to win now, so it would be a shame if didn’t do everything they could in order to compete with the Phillies in the NL East. Still, Manny to the Mets remains a long shot. They haven’t made any official offer and unlike the Giants, there are minimal rumors that the Mets are even interested.
Odds Manny signs with the Mets: 20/1.