Manny Ramirez from the LA Times - Wally Skalij

So all is quiet up here in San Francisco regarding Manny Ramirez. I think there was great hype, but now that the owner of the Giant’s made it clear it would be a long shot, most people don’t think it will happen for the Giant’s. This is fine for me. Now the issue becomes the Dodgers.

As all Dodger fans have had more time than they wanted to wonder on the status of Manny, a strange unwelcome thought keeps coming back to my mind. What if the Dodgers really are the only team for Manny, and what if he feels like he has to “settle” to take their offer. There is only one thing any Dodger fan, and any team fears of Manny – him not being happy and wanting to leave. Manny feeling like he has to settle could be worse than anything we have seen Manny do to this point.

So I started to think about this negotiation. The Dodgers want 2 years and 45 mil. Manny wants 4 years and 100 million. He wants to retire with a team and be done, but go out with way more money that he could have gotten in Boston. He wants the respect he feels he deserves and he wants to get paid for what he did at the end of last year. The Dodgers want him, but they don’t want to outbid themselves, so they hold tight.

If you split the wants down the middle, you end up with 3 years and just under 75 mil. Not cheap, but a good negotiation spot. The issue is that Manny feels he has 4 years left, so 3 years isn’t desirable. For the Dodgers – if he can play, 3 years is fine, but borderline too long if he doesn’t want to be there. Also, the Dodgers are obviously gun-shy about aging, injured players who can’t produce, so they want to avoid beyond 2 years.

Here’s my personal opinion. Manny wants the money and he wants to be up their with A-rod. Honestly, I think he wants to make more than A-rod. I think if the Dodgers offered 2 years at 25 – 27.5 mil, Manny would listen hard. There is something about security, but in this world of topping the best guy, being able to say you got more than A-rod has a nice ring.

I think Manny should take the 2 years at 27 mil and request a 3rd year option based on at bats in the second year, with a full no trade clause and an opt out at 2 years. The Dodgers want him to be happy, that gives him flexibility and bragging rights. Plus, that’s really good money. If he can light it up, he can easily get 2 more years with either the Dodgers or somewhere in the American league. He has to settle on time, but I do believe he wants to be with the Dodgers. If he can accept less time, but for more money, I bet a common ground could be reached.

I think Manny has already made up his mind, but Boras wants him to hold out a little longer. They know the Dodger offer will always be there. If they can come back with something, the Dodgers will flex, and get him in. It’s important to feel wanted somewhere and feel like you will be making good money. If the Dodgers main goal is 2 years, then they need to ante up to sweeten the deal. If Manny wants to wipe away his old baggage, he has to accept more money, but know he will need a new contract in 2 years.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 11:07 pm and is filed under Manny Rumors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.