Jan 08 2009
Dodgers still look to be Manny’s destination
Do I know anything other than what has been reported? No. But that doesn’t mean that reading the tea leaves doesn’t bring me to the conclusion that Manny’s home will be Los Angeles..unless another suitor is still hiding in the bushes, waiting to pounce.
Scott Boras’ publicity machine has been in high gear with the news about Mark Teixeira and his very flashy intro by the Yankees. Boras’ grin in the photos couldn’t be wider.
In the meantime there were small pieces planted in the press that the Giants were interested in Manny Ramirez. Within days those were stories were negated. Only two days ago there was a story that put the new suitors in Texas. The Rangers are supposedly sniffing around for the big slugger.
But the puffs of smoke that I follow are the ones coming from Dodgers’ GM Ned Colletti’s office. He and Boras are continuing to talk despite no offer being on the table. But that isn’t completely true.
The offer on the table that was accepted by Boras was the jettisoning of his other client on the Dodgers, Andruw Jones. The unsuccessful experiment in LA left the public and the team disgusted with the amount of guaranteed money they had agreed to give him
Boras waved his magic wand and in exchange for Jones being allowed to leave the Dodgers so he could play (he was on the bench for the last half of the season and healing from surgery) somewhere else, the team got the right to make multiple, yearly payments to the slugger as if he were a car loan.
That frees up space in the wallet of Dodgers owners. With discussions still taking place about Manny’s return, it looks more than likely that getting the situation of Jones off the table paves the way for Ramirez.
How long will it take? Manny will want to be at spring training at some point so we’re looking at no more than 5-6 weeks.
