Manny Ramirez turns down Dodgers offer

[IE]

Free-agent outfielder rejects a one-year, $25-million proposal his agent categorizes as a suggestion.




Manny Ramirez wasted no time rejecting the Dodgers' latest offer, a one-year, $25-million proposal that was presented Sunday to his agent, Scott Boras.

In a conversation with Times columnist T.J. Simers late Monday night, Boras said he informed Ramirez about what he classified a suggestion by the Dodgers and that the All-Star outfielder turned it down. Boras said that he informed the Dodgers of Ramirez's decision.The contract offered by the Dodgers was shorter than the one they offered him in November -- a two-year, $45-million deal that was later withdrawn.

General Manager Ned Colletti declined to comment on the financial details of the latest proposal but confirmed that an offer was extended to Ramirez, who hasn't received any known proposals from another team.

Boras told Simers that Ramirez is drawing interest from other teams.

Colletti and team counsel Sam Fernandez had met with Boras and his associate, Mike Fiore, Sunday night.

The contract the Dodgers offered to Ramirez in November was guaranteed for two years and included an option for a third that could have increased its total value to $60 million. The Dodgers proposed paying Ramirez $15 million this year and $22.5 million in 2010. The deal included a $22.5-million option for 2011 that the Dodgers could have bought out for $7.5 million.

Days later, Boras said he expected to field "serious offers" once the Dodgers' exclusive negotiating window with Ramirez expired. The offer later expired.

Ramirez declined the Dodgers' offer for arbitration in December, something that probably would have landed him a one-year deal similar to the one on the table, and Boras was known to be asking for a four-year deal that included an option for a fifth year.

Despite proclamations from Boras last week that he started negotiating with other clubs and that he expected Ramirez to be signed by the start of spring training, the Dodgers seem to believe that the player has nowhere else to go.

The New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals are among the teams known to be monitoring Ramirez's situation but don't appear inclined to pay him more than $20 million a season. The Angels failed to re-sign All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira, another Boras client, but have said they won't bid for Ramirez.

By taking the offer, Ramirez would have become the second-highest-paid player in baseball behind Alex Rodriguez and could have reentered the free-agent pool in a year. The Dodgers liked the idea of having Ramirez in a contract year, figuring the temperamental star would play as hard as he did in his two months with them last season, when he hit .396 with 17 home runs and 53 runs batted in.

The Dodgers could find themselves in a bind if Ramirez receives a multi-year offer from another club. If Ramirez is offered what he considers a fair deal, sources close to him say that he wouldn't grant the Dodgers a chance to match it, forcing the Dodgers to go into spring training without their only star attraction and reliable run producer.

Failure to re-sign Ramirez could result in the pursuit of Bobby Abreu or Adam Dunn, who remain available.

Asked whether the Dodgers would turn to other options if Ramirez rejected their latest proposal, Colletti replied, "We'll see."

 

[jer-z jock]

at this point however signs Manny is asking for talent to outshine trouble, good luck with it.....I PERSONNALLY like him as a player, but he's one of the guys that just make you say WTF. Guy has/had all the talent in the world(with a bat), winning championships, making great money...and still becomes a problem....how do you make him happy and a solid contribution to the clubhouse

 

[RalphieD]

Manny is backing himself into a corner he doesnt want to be in

 

[Ronnie]

F uck Manny!!:mj07:

 

[Sylvan]

25 million for a player with horrible defensive skills. .

 

[lowell]

25 million for a player with horrible defensive skills. .

he and others like him have me care less about a game i have followed for 55 years. he should ask himself = what would hank aaron do!

 

[kegray1]

This is comical that he continues you turn down the offers.
He doesn't want to play in LA because how is he going to get more than this????

The offers are not exactly flowing in.
I hope the Dodgers say we are done with him and nobody else wants to touch that piece of locker room cancer.

 

[mercury]

Don't go away mad...

Don't go away mad...

Manny, please keep rejecting those offers, you greedy , ignorant oaf. I'll be glad when you are out of baseball.You can spend your free time counting your money,because you don't have enough brains to do anything else.

 

[Hooks]

As a lifelong Dodger fan, What I can say is FUCK YOU, you greedy SOB.
You already have more $$$ than can be spent.
Get your ASS out there and play ball, fukker.

 

[kegray1]

Maybe Manny is thinking they spent 20M a season on Andruw Jones and look at the numbers I put up compared to him.
By that reasoning then Manny is worth about 75M a season.

 

[JT]

Please don't remind us Dodger fans of that Andrew Jones contract. YUCK! Even worse then Juan Pierre.

 

[Old School]

Ramirez and the Dodgers could be closing in

Ramirez and the Dodgers could be closing in

By Steve Henson, Yahoo! Sports
11 hours, 7 minutes ago

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Return to Original Buzz up!26 votes PrintMore From Steve HensonFeller remains a vibrant presence at 90 Feb 26, 2009

PHOENIX ? Manny Ramirez wants his money and he wants it now. That?s what the late-night emails and last-minute posturing are all about. The Los Angeles Dodgers likely will fork it over and Ramirez would be in uniform in time to get more than enough spring training at-bats.

Two-year, $45 million offers apparently come wrapped different ways, and Ramirez wants the package that would pay him $25 million in 2009 and $20 million in 2010, with an opt-out clause after the first year.

The Dodgers have put forth vastly different versions of 2/45. Their first offer in November would have paid Ramirez $15 million in 2009, $22.5 million 2010, and included a $7.5 million buyout on a $22.5 million club option for 2011.


Their 2/45 offer this week was far different, according to a baseball source. First reported by the L.A. Times, $10 million would be paid in 2009, another $10 million in 2010, and the other $25 million would be deferred over the following three years ? without interest.

The Dodgers have been deferring salary and backloading contracts lately, a curious financial strategy when so many of their top young players will be due huge raises in a few years. Maybe owner Frank McCourt believes he?ll gain additional revenue from adding restaurants, retail stores, condos and, oh, a football stadium on his property next to Dodger Stadium. But that?s a topic for another day.

Ramirez won?t be anywhere near L.A. in 2011 and beyond, so none of that concerns him. One reason he wants to be paid more than $20 million in 2009 and at least $20 million in 2010 because he already turned his back on those amounts when the Boston Red Sox traded him to the Dodgers in July. His contract that expired at the end of last season had club options at $20 million for each of the next two years, and as a stipulation to the trade he had them stricken.

He also fired his agent and hired Boras. So in order to make those moves appear rational in hindsight, Ramirez must get at least as much as he turned his back on. Plus a commission for Boras, thank you very much.

Which puts us back at $45 million over two years, but without the deferred nonsense. The Dodgers can cross this bridge ? their payroll without Ramirez is only about $70 million, $48 million less than in 2007.

And speaking of nonsense, how about the emails to multiple media outlets Thursday night, first from the Dodgers, then from Boras? The Dodgers clearly believe that the best way to deal with Boras is to trumpet each of their offers from the highest mountaintop. They certainly didn?t do this during negotiations for non-Boras clients such as Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Orlando Hudson and Randy Wolf. The Dodgers email neglected to mention the deferred money, and certainly didn?t mention that all of the team?s offers to Ramirez this offseason including deferred money.

Contrary to his usual cards-close-to-the-vest M.O., Boras responded in kind, writing, ?We are continuing to work within the scope of the parameters established during our discussion Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, which included a two-year term and ability for the player to void the contract after the first year.

?Per that face-to-face meeting, we agreed to continue to have discussions until Friday at noon, which included our two proposals today, our most recent at two years, $45 million. We are waiting to hear their response.?

Translation: Hey! We?ve backed off that four-year, $100 million request. We know the economy has tanked. We aren?t delusional. Manny will take the $45 million, already. Just give it to him over the next two years.

Boras felt the need to clarify because McCourt was quoted in the earlier Dodgers email as saying, ?We love Manny Ramirez and we want Manny back, but we feel we are negotiating against ourselves. When his agent finds those ?serious offers? from other clubs, we?ll be happy to re-start the negotiations.

?Even with an economy that has substantially eroded since last November, out of respect for Manny and his talents, we actually improved our offer.

?So now, we start from scratch.?

Boras neglected to mention in his email that his first counter-offer Thursday ? the one the Dodgers say prompted their email ? was for more than $45 million. Only later in the night did he come back with the 2/45.

And McCourt couldn?t resist taking a slap at Boras? response to the Dodgers? November offer, when the agent referred to the fact that Ramirez would be able to negotiate with teams other than the Dodgers by saying, ?Beginning Friday, I will for the first time, take serious offers.?

There were none, we all know. As hard as Boras tried to engage the San Francisco Giants, they aren?t biting.

Maybe McCourt?s wisecrack is a positive sign. Maybe that?s how he and Boras roll, after their rollicking negotiations the last several years for many players, from Derek Lowe and J.D. Drew to Greg Maddux and Andruw Jones. Some have been contentious, some disastrous, some gratifying.


None lasted as long or integrated the oddities of this one. But if the result is Manny Ramirez batting cleanup for the Dodgers, with the stands full of fans wearing faux dreadlocks and Ramirez jerseys, McCourt and Boras will be wearing something too ? satisfied smiles.

Steve Henson is the MLB editor for Yahoo! Sports.