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Manny rejects latest Dodgers offer
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Manny Ramirez spits out the Dodgers' latest offer.
At 8:34 p.m. PST Thursday, according to MLB.com, Scott Boras and Manny Ramirez rejected the Dodgers' latest contract offer.
True to Boras' classy nature, he sent a letter announcing his client's intentions to the club. (Which means it was obviously an email. I'm surprised he didn't just text "Ur Ofr Sux.")
According to TrueBlueLA, the Dodgers clubhouse "fell silent" when ESPN broke the news. It certainly put a damper on Big Blue's shellacking of the hated Giants today, and good performances by Russell Martin and Randy Wolf on their first games of the spring.
I must say, this comes as a bit of a surprise to me. What can Scott Boras be thinking? Yes. That's a rhetorical question. Boras has proven over the years to not think rationally. But the days of convincing major league ball clubs to give irrationally over-priced, long-term contracts to stars on the downside of their prime are over — as I and other Examiners have written a few times this week.
Manny is a special player, but he's going to be 37 years old on May 30. Three-years and $60 million guaranteed — or an out in the third year just for Manny and not the Dodgers, which is what Boras has been insisting on for months — is just not feasible anymore.
It's not the Dodgers' fault that Boras didn't work a little harder for his client before the stock market lost several thousand points and the banking system collapsed. Where does Boras think the Dodgers come up with signing bonuses and basic payroll? Does he think the McCourts have millions stuffed in their mattress? That money comes from loans, and banks ain't lending these days. Heck, the NBA is slipping into the role of loan shark to some of its undercapitalized franchises.
Anyway, the Dodgers were obviously miffed by Boras' abrupt rejection and took the unusual step of issuing a press release before Boras could spin it in his slimy way for his client. That's just not done, so give the Dodgers credit. The release is titled, "Boras rejects Dodgers' offer to Ramirez":
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers today received a letter from Scott Boras, the agent for Manny Ramirez, rejecting the offer that the club made yesterday. This rejection is the fourth by the agent in the club's attempts to sign Manny.
"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."
Translation: "Screw You, Boras. We know you have no other options, and we're not stupid." The Jerk (I'll be using that as a routine second reference for the fellow to the left from now on — maybe even on first reference) reportedly exchanged voice messages with SF Giants president Larry Baer earlier today about signing Manny to play in the city where summer goes to die. Baer, according to the LA Daily News' Tony Jackson, was not impressed with The Jerk's pitch:
[Baer] ... was asked about Boras' insistence that Manny will pay for himself in terms of ticket sales, merchandising, etc., and Baer said that might be the case if the economy weren't in the tank, but the fact that it obviously IS in the tank negates Boras' argument. That sounds an awful lot like a window closing.
Make that two windows closing ... in one day. Jon Weisman of the LA Times reports that the Giants and Boras discussed "unique contract" parameters. But Weisman is skeptical that the Giants are serious, and so am I. For one, the "unique" contract — a longer-term deal with early "outs" for both sides — doesn't sound better than what the Dodgers want to give Manny. McCourt, who at times can be a hard owner to defend, has it right. The Dodgers have no reason to negotiate with themselves — and no reason to negotiate with The Jerk until he gets real.
The market value of Manny Ramirez's services for the 2009 season and beyond is exactly what the Dodgers have offered — several times. When no one else will offer such terms, that's the definition of "market value." Someone send an educational text message to The Jerk, please. It can even be typed out in full: Wise Up.
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