With about nine days of exclusive negotiating rights before he's eligible to talk to other clubs, the Dodgers tonight extended what is believed to be a two year, $55MM offer to Manny Ramirez. The deal would make him the second highest paid player in annual average salary in baseball, only behind Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, and the highest ever in Dodger history. Now the ball is in Manny's court.
I'm thinking this offer won't sit on the table for too long if the Dodgers don't get a response as they have other priorities that need to be addressed this winter. The Dodgers are said to be highly interested in free agent pitcher C.C. Sabathia as they do want to add rotation depth, but at what cost? And they would like to bring back at least one or two of their own free agents besides Manny, such as Rafael Furcal, Joe Beimel and perhaps Casey Blake. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has reiterated that if other things come to fruition that they would address those needs as they come, regardless of the Manny situation.
It's no secret the fans want Manny back, and if I'm the Dodgers, I might even extend the offer to a third year just to sweeten the deal, but at the same time, they have to be responsible in addressing all their other needs. As of right now, the Dodgers appear to have about $70MM to spend, and that number is likely to shrink down to somewhere between $47 and $50MM once they take care of all their arbitration eligible players.
The question becomes, what happens if Manny rejects this deal, or any other deal the Dodgers offer, and signs elsewhere? What happens if they sign Sabathia instead of Manny? And more importantly, what happens if they end up with neither? The fans have made it clear. Could the Dodgers handle the backlash from the fans and the media if neither of them sign, especially Manny? We'll find out.
I'm cautiously optimistic Manny will end up back in Blue, simply because only one other team can come close to matching their offer in terms of average annual salary of $27.5MM. But will anyone give him more than three years because of his age? Time will tell.
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One other note: the Dodgers have bought out the final year of Brad Penny's contract for a cool $2MM, making him a free agent. This could be a blessing in disguise as I was not a fan of Penny's inconsistencies. Sure, he won 16 games in both 2006 and 2007, but other than 2007, he's never been able to put together a full consistent season.
Look for several teams to have interest in his services, including Toronto, who has shown interest in him in the past.
I'm thinking this offer won't sit on the table for too long if the Dodgers don't get a response as they have other priorities that need to be addressed this winter. The Dodgers are said to be highly interested in free agent pitcher C.C. Sabathia as they do want to add rotation depth, but at what cost? And they would like to bring back at least one or two of their own free agents besides Manny, such as Rafael Furcal, Joe Beimel and perhaps Casey Blake. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has reiterated that if other things come to fruition that they would address those needs as they come, regardless of the Manny situation.
It's no secret the fans want Manny back, and if I'm the Dodgers, I might even extend the offer to a third year just to sweeten the deal, but at the same time, they have to be responsible in addressing all their other needs. As of right now, the Dodgers appear to have about $70MM to spend, and that number is likely to shrink down to somewhere between $47 and $50MM once they take care of all their arbitration eligible players.
The question becomes, what happens if Manny rejects this deal, or any other deal the Dodgers offer, and signs elsewhere? What happens if they sign Sabathia instead of Manny? And more importantly, what happens if they end up with neither? The fans have made it clear. Could the Dodgers handle the backlash from the fans and the media if neither of them sign, especially Manny? We'll find out.
I'm cautiously optimistic Manny will end up back in Blue, simply because only one other team can come close to matching their offer in terms of average annual salary of $27.5MM. But will anyone give him more than three years because of his age? Time will tell.
**********
One other note: the Dodgers have bought out the final year of Brad Penny's contract for a cool $2MM, making him a free agent. This could be a blessing in disguise as I was not a fan of Penny's inconsistencies. Sure, he won 16 games in both 2006 and 2007, but other than 2007, he's never been able to put together a full consistent season.
Look for several teams to have interest in his services, including Toronto, who has shown interest in him in the past.
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