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Manny on Manny
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Manny Ramirez gave his first interview of the year to the Los Angeles Times. It's nice to know that Manny's feeling "calm," and is confident that someone will offer him a lucrative, multi-year deal — even if it's not the Dodgers.
But will he feel insulted if the tough economy and his age (37) results in what he would consider an insulting offer for a future Hall of Famer? Will he then dog it, like he did at the end of his tenure in Boston?
"That won't happen," he said. "Understand me, I have goals. I know that if I play six more years, I could get to my 3,000th hit and, who knows, maybe my 700th home run."
Ramirez has 2,392 hits in his 16-year career, including 527 home runs. He turns 37 in May, which has made the long-term deal he seeks elusive.
But Ramirez said he sensed he was moving closer to signing with someone:
"We're in the seventh inning and I'm waiting for my pitch."
And we all know what Manny can do when focused on that pitch. Trouble is, he's let some pretty good pitches from the Dodgers go by — and he may not see a better one.
The club in November offered Manny a two-year, $45 million deal, with an option for a third year for a total of $60 million — that Manny would collect at the age of 40. Simply put, that's a deal Manny's hard-ball agent Scott Boras should have accepted. Not many non-juiced sluggers at that age put up the kind of numbers that warrant such coin.
If I were Ned Colletti, I'd go back to Boras with that offer in a few days — maybe sweetened by an extra couple million up front. Manny clearly wants some assurance that he'll have a contract in place that gets him close to the historical baseball numbers he's shooting for. If Manny averages 30 bombs and 150 hits over the next three years — easily within his ability — Manny would have 2,842 hits and 617 homers at the end of the three-year deal. Then Manny would likely reach his 3,000-hit plateau and approach 700 homers in his next two-year deal.
That should be more than good enough for Manny right now considering the economy is in the tank. Boras, and Manny, have to realize that the days of throwing multiple tens of millions at aging stars — or the silliness of giving fourth starters with an ERA approaching 5.00 contracts for $10 million a year, the kind of deals that set a ridiculous baseline — are over, at least for the next few years.
Look at Bobby Abreu. He was paid $16 million last year by the Yankees, and late last year reportedly turned down a deal that could have netted him the kind of contract Manny is now seeking. Today, Abreu will probably have to play for about half of what he made last year. That's quite the come-down.
The LA Times' Bill Plaschke has seen enough.
Ramirez doesn't want a one-year contract that would make him baseball's second-highest paid player next season?
Fine, let him freeze his braids off in San Francisco.
That would be a shame — for Manny and Dodgers fans.
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