Another case of ManRam being ManRam
If you’ve ever heard me talk of Manny Ramirez, you know I’m a big fan — possibly the biggest in the world. Like many, I’ve watched in awe as he’s developed into one of the most feared hitters of this generation. I laughed when he disappeared into the Monster during pitching changes. I even gave him the benefit of the doubt when he knocked Boston’s 102-year-old traveling secretary to the ground. The guy must have had it coming, I figured. But even I’m left shaking my head at Manny today after he turned down another contract offer from the Dodgers, this one for $25 million this season and a player option of $20 million for next. I wouldn’t yet say Ramirez is from the George Costanza School of Negotiating, but he’s not far off.
Manny’s camp, headlined by agent Scott Boras, claims to have other “serious offers”, a claim the Dodgers and everyone else on the planet aren’t about to believe. The Giants were interested for awhile, but they’ve pulled out. Same with the Yankees, Nationals and everyone else that’s been mentioned. It’s looking like Los Angeles is the only team willing to fork out any kind of substantial money, so the money doesn’t figure to get any better than this. Boras, of course, is the Einstein that demanded a $350 million offer from the Yankees just to talk about Alex Rodriguez last winter, then watched from the sidelines after the team balked and A-Rod negotiated his own deal. On the other hand, Boras miracuolously got these same Dodgers to bite on a two-year, $36 million deal for Andruw Jones last year.
