Tag: Manny Ramirez rumors (Page 3 of 7)

      Dodgers, Manny starting fresh in contract talks

      March 2, 2009 /

      According to the L.A. Times, Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt wants to start fresh contract talks with free agent Manny Ramirez and his agent Scott Boras.

      Manny RamirezMcCourt said the latest phase of negotiations ended the moment agent Scott Boras made him a counterproposal instead of simply accepting or declining an offer the Dodgers made Wednesday of a two-year, $45-million contract with much of the money deferred without any added interest. By Thursday evening, Boras had made two counterproposals, the second one asking for two years at $45 million with an opt-out clause Ramirez could exercise at the end of the first year, only with no deferred salary.

      McCourt on Sunday called that counteroffer “too little too late” and said negotiations would resume with “a fresh start.” He said he stressed to the agent that he had wanted a resolution by Friday because he didn’t want the negotiations to dominate conversation Sunday, the day the Dodgers opened the gates of their new spring training ballpark.

      But why not consider the offer when the two sides appear to be so close?

      “Because we’re going to start from scratch,” McCourt said.

      But why start from scratch when you’re so close?

      “I answered it twice,” McCourt said.

      He looked away from the reporter who asked the question and didn’t say another word until another question was asked by another reporter.

      I don’t like to compare athlete’s contracts to the common man’s salary. Athletes and celebrities live in their own worlds and the money they make doesn’t even seem real. Furthermore, who am I to say what an athlete should or should not ask for when it comes to his salary?

      But even I have to admit that this contract situation between Manny and the Dodgers is absolutely ridiculous. Every day, more Americans lose their jobs across the country and Boras is fighting the Dodgers for $1.5 million. Ramirez is 36 years old, doesn’t play the field that well and quit on the Red Sox last season. It’s insane for him and Boras to argue over $1.5 million when some Americans are working for $7.50 an hour just trying to get by. Ramirez should have to play for free at this point.

      MLB

      Dodgers offer Manny two-year, $45 million contract

      February 26, 2009 /

      The Dodgers officially offered free agent Manny Ramirez a two-year, $45 million contract. Details below.

      Manny RamirezMLB.com has learned that in the 2 1/2-hour meeting, the Dodgers officials offered Ramirez a variation of their original two-year deal, guaranteeing $45 million for two years ($25 million the first year and $20 million the second).

      Boras told the Los Angeles Times that he’s “in the middle of negotiations” and would not comment further.

      However, the third-year option of $15 million from the first proposal was dropped and, at Boras’ request, the second year is a player option so Ramirez could become a free agent again after the 2009 season.

      Ramirez, 37 in May, originally sought a contract length of six years at a salary in the Alex Rodriguez neighborhood ($27.5 million a year). The Dodgers initially offered two years at $45 million plus a $15 million third-year option. They also offered salary arbitration, then made a one-year offer of $25 million.

      Unless the Yankees get involved or the Giants decide to get gutsy at the last minute, this offer from the Dodgers is the best Ramirez is going to get. L.A. isn’t going to extend the amount of years on the contract and the money is fair. This appears to be a take-it-or-leave-it deal for Manny and Scott Boras.

      MLB

      Manny to the Yankees still alive?

      February 25, 2009 /

      John Tomase of the Boston Herald writes that as long as Manny Ramirez is still available, the Yankees should never be counted out as a potential suitor.

      Which brings us back to Ramirez. He has been linked mainly with the Dodgers, with talks reportedly intensifying in the past week. However, he and agent Scott Boras are stubbornly holding out for a four-year deal, while LA is unwilling to offer more than two.

      So the clock ticks, with the Yankees sunning themselves like a rattlesnake. Maybe they’ll stay coiled and motionless, but maybe they’ll take their seemingly limitless cash and strike.

      “I can’t see it,” Youkilis said. “I only see him really going to LA. The Dodgers will sign him. Maybe San Francisco. I think the Yankees are capped out. They’ve spent all that money, and I can’t see them going after Manny. But you never know with the Yankees.”

      Youkilis notes that New York’s outfield already is overflowing with Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera and youngster Brett Gardner. Matsui will DH while he recovers from knee surgery and Damon is set in left field, leaving four players fighting for two spots.

      Could the Yankees really add Ramirez to that cluster?

      Hell yes they could. They’re the Yankees – they can do anything.

      The idea seems farfetched with the Dodgers seemingly on the verge of bringing him back, but would anyone be surprised if the Bombers stepped in at the last second and handed Manny the long-term contract he covets? No.

      And if they needed room for him, they’d make it.

      MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Manny placed on the back burner for Giants

      February 24, 2009 /

      The Giants waning interest in Manny Ramirez is fading even more these days.

      Manny RamirezGeneral manager Brian Sabean says Ramirez is “back burner” for his team, and other Giants people suggest that unless negotiations break down with the Dodgers and Ramirez is willing to go to San Francisco for something like a one-year, $20 million deal, they’re not getting him.
      Remember, the Dodgers have already offered $25 million for one year.

      The Giants don’t seem inclined to beat that, and from all indications so far they haven’t tried. The Giants don’t seem overly concerned that Ramirez will sign with their division rival, presumably because they’ve expected that to happen and because they’re not willing to outbid the Dodgers.

      Could the Giants be bluffing? Sure, although as their other winter moves suggest, they’re more a strike-fast team when they really want a player.

      Truth be told, I don’t think the Giants were ever interested in Manny. I think they faked interest to screw with the Dodgers but now that spring training is set to commence, they can’t be bothered with this story anymore. They have a young left fielder in Fred Lewis that is coming off his best season as a pro and they want to get him more at bats. They overpaid centerfielder Aaron Rowand last year, rightfielder Randy Winn is a .300 hitter and Dave Roberts is an adequate fourth outfielder. Throw corner outfield prospect Nate Schierholtz into the mix and there’s just no room for Manny. And outside of his big bat, not much of a need either.

      It’s only a matter of time before Ramirez is a Dodger again. L.A. has to give a little more, while Manny and Scott Boras have to take a little less. But either way, the Dodgers are the only team that Man-Ram will be playing for in ’09.

      MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Is Scott Boras screwing himself in the end?

      February 10, 2009 /

      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:

      Manny RamirezScott 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.

      MLB

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