Manny Ramirez Rejects Dodgers (Again)

Three rejections is a pretty substantial historical precedent. It's almost biblical, you might say. And it's happened a fourth time, only this rejection involves Ned Colletti, Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras. Not exactly what you would call the Last Supper.

But still, Ramirez has rejected the two-year, $45 million offer the Los Angeles Dodgers offered yesterday in spite of the economy being in the toilet and the Dodgers flat out acting desperate.

From a Dodgers' press release, via Abraham at LoHud:

"We love Manny Ramirez," said Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, "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."

In all seriousness, what is going on here? I hear what Jayson Stark is saying on ESPN regarding Boras and his willingness to just keep playing chicken no matter how many times the other side swerves off the road, but the Dodgers just offered him FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.

And he's already rich. And no one in America can hold a job down right now. And he gets to play baseball for this tremendously large sum of money. Feel free to play the "well, everyone is rich in baseball" card all you want, but the Dodgers have made three offers and they've been pretty goshdarn close to the numbers that Ramirez wanted.

Additionally, outside of the Giants' possible interest, there aren't a lot of suitors. Yes, a lot here does mean any. Perhaps Boras and Ramirez think that the Giants renewed inquires mean they can blackmail the Dodgers, and maybe they can, but at the same time, it's a pretty dangerous bluff to make when there's this much money already on the table.

Manny Ramirez Rejects Dodgers (Again) originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Copyright FANHO - FanHouse
Contact Us