Manny Ramirez Rumors: Saturday

Pretty much, if the Giants can get Manny Ramirez without hampering the payroll and ability to make necessary improvements/spend on the draft going forward, they should go for it.

With two other big, bad contracts on the books for quite a bit of time, that could be the dealbreaker.

genuine interest? I think 29 teams in this league have interest in manny. It doesn't sound like Manny will be one of those FA bargains this winter. This is looking like it might be more to drive up the price. I still think the Yankees get him let minute

The Giants can trade Aaron Rowand to the Yankees. They should have signed him as a FA anyway.

I agree with Olney. This off-season there has been too much lying from people within the business.

I wish the mets would trade for them they have alot of young talent below AA and we could use a gritty player like him not only that i heard he is a club house guy and hate to say it the Mets need some 1 who could be a leader in the clubhouse. Sinc ealot of you guys on this post are Giant fans can you tell me what you have heard about rowand as a leader, when he was on the phillies keith hernandez and Ron Darling said if the mats had him we would go to the WS because he is the exact type of player the mets are missing.Or something along those lines.

rolling - i disagree. i actually think rowand is a move the yankees WOULD make.

i agree wth Cyekim....this is why there's little interest in Manny.

this is also why the Giants rumors are way overstated. they went through many years of Bonds in the clubhouse and are not interested in a repeat performance anytime soon.

manny will ultimately end up a dodger. they deserve each other ;-)

its a fair point. they were different that way.

but both were/are distractions to the team off the playing field.

just think about how much time/energy the Giants had to expend dealing with Bonds. think about the negative press the team had to deal with. think about how many free agents "didn't" want to play with the Giants because of his antics in the club house.

hank aaron, willie mays and a host of other great players understood their responsibilities to the team didn't end when the game did.

in my opinion, the Giants are looking very carefully at the "character" of any player they bring into the organization now.

they will not allow another Bonds situation on this team anytime soon.

regardless of price, I think they know that Manny is another possible bad situation.

Boston knows this....and frankly I think most GMs do to.

imagine

Bleacher Bum:

Any Giants fan who watched them play over the past 10 years or so wouldn't have said that.

Bonds played half-ass all the time.

Never hustling to first base after hitting a ground ball or pop up.

Standing at home plate admiring a fly ball, starting his home run trot then seeing the ball bounce off the outfield wall and only ending up on first base.

I think whoever gets Manny between the Giants and Dodgers the other team will counter by getting Adam Dunn or Pat Burrell

Bonds is better at his job than Manny is though.

They both can't field, but Bonds is the better masher.

manny was a world series mvp.

he never hit 73 home runs, but i mean.. do we really need to get into this?

Just because the Giants didn't surround Bonds with the appropriate talent needed to win a WS doesn't mean s.hit. Stop with the WS MVP argument. It takes a team to win a WS.

I wonder if Manny Ramirez will still be in baseball at the age of 43, let alone actually productive. For your information, he's 36 right now, turns 37 in May.

Rowand and Winn both have great gloves. As much as I'd like to get Manny I dont think we have the $$$. We already spent about $25 mill this off season. We'd have to justify spending another $25 mil. We already have a log jam in the outfield and signing Manny would give us a hole defensively in our solid outfield of Lewis, Rowand, Winn. Thats three outfielders who can all play CF. No doubt we can free up money this year to get him. But im worried once we have to keep our young guys we wont have the money.

I'd love to trade Rowand to the Yanks for a bag of balls.

Move Randy back to CF, Fred to RF and then we could offer Manny a contract.

AND IF MANNY SHOT ROIDS HALF HIS CARRIER THEN GUESS WHAT HE WOULD BE PLAYING BASEBALL TILL HES 43 DONT ACT LIKE BONDS IS SPECIAL CAUSE HE KNEW HOW TO USE A NEEDLE SINCE THAT IS WHAT YOU CAN CREDIT HIS LONGEVITY 2.

Yeah they said the mets are a sleeper to get Abreau but id rather have rowand threw a trade or even Bradley or Dunn not burell either that or they should do what the dodgers just did with Jones to Castillo and sign Hudson.He said he wanted to play for the mets and hed be the perfect number 2 hitter after reyes n before wright.

Dodgers should really have a lock on Manny now. Yesterday this site posted a link that stated that the dodgers had supposedly offered Manny a 3 yr. $60M contract. They can up it to 3 yrs. $75M without losing nearly any money with the $12M in relief from Jones' contract. It's looking good, Make it so Ned!

If Winn hadn't been on a historically bad offense last year with San Fransisco, his stats would have been even more impressive than they were. If they don't want him, I'm sure the Braves would love to take him off their hands cheap though.

yep....manny will be a dodger.

but its not because of the "moves" Boras is making for his clients.

the "market" doesn't want manny....regardless of how little there is available....isn't that obvious to you?

Texeira had a dozen or more interested teams and they bid the price up to the moon....

manny can't by a bid...

why....simple. he's a problem and the GMs know that....

yep....manny will be a dodger....and the folks in boston (and around the league) will tip a class and enjoy a chuckle on your behalf....

Derek Lowe will not be a Dodger I guarantee it I think he will be a Met or a Phillie

I do think Oliver Perez will be a dodger given the fact that they are desperate for starting pitching and I believe Perez is from Southern California

first of all, according to the SF writers, there's very little chance the Giants will sign Manny. Secondly, all the work that Boras and the Dodgers did on Andruw Jones' contract puts LA in the driver's seat for Manny. Lowe? I agree that he wanted out of LA, and wants to be on the east coast (near family?). The Dodgers are not interested in losing draft picks, so Pettitte, Wolf, or Garland all make more sense. Hoffman, though, is still a possibility, as long as he and Towers don't kiss and make up in SD, now that the ownership looks to change.

Barry Bonds was a tremendous defender

he is an 8-time Gold Gove winner

people always forget about his 8 gold gloves

Bonds also had one of the strongest arms in the game too...he was just like his Godfather Willie Mays...and his dad too.

Barry's dad, Bobby Bonds, was about the most complete player I ever saw play.

It was a total shame he had his problems with alcohol during a time when really nothing was done to help people with additions.

But Bobby Bonds was even better than his son...he simply drank himself out of the game. At least he got to see his son have the success he has had.

I am a big Dodger fan and have always watched both Bonds with a great amount of awe.

I was extremely lucky that I was able to go with a buddy to SF for the last series of the season in Bonds' final season with the Pirates before signing with the Giants. We scored two seats from a parking lot attendant for face value...in the second row right behind home plate!! Ya have to remember that at the time, the Giants, were, well, lets just say the current team could have kicked their rear ends all over the field 80% of the time...anyway, Barry had the fastest bat speed of any player I ever watched play. And it was all in his hands and wrists...funny thing was he was not a big muscular guy. He was certainly fit and time and strong just was in no way the specimen he was at the end of his career...plus there was the whole melon head thing. ;)

And while we know he cheated, he already had the gawd given talent...and always did. The "additives" simply gave him that tiny bit extra to really push him over the top the last 5+ years he played. Melon head and all... ;)

"I've been watching baseball since 1989, and I can't remember if Barry Bonds was a good defender early in his career. Was he?"

Yes. He was a very good defender (for a corner OF). He was a good defender throughout his career; his defense didn't really start declining until his late 30s (was +11.7 in LF as late as 2003).

"What about a substance like "HGH" I am not too familiar with human growth hormone but I think that it allows for quicker healing and should prolong a CAREER (good one) at least to some extent. Like I said I am by no means an expert on such matters (perhaps Clemens or Bonds can fill us in!)"
Posted by: cutmeibleedblue | January 03, 2009 at 06:09 PM

Or maybe we could ask Eric Gagne or Paul LoDuca to fill us in.

661dodgerblue

I have not once insulted a dodger fan here
at a giants-dodger game thats a whole other story

not once have I heard any dodger fan here say without roids Bonds would still put up Hall of Fame type numbers (which he would have)

please correct me if im wrong

Lowe would take a 1yr deal for $15 mill because the market for starting pitchers in '10 could be bad, especially if Lackey and Webb sign extensions. So if the economy is healthier at that point, then he could score a bigger deal.

OR...

Lowe may sign a 3 yr/$45 mill deal with the Dodgers, especially if Manny re-signs.

One of Lowe's biggest gripes was lack of run support but with Manny around for 3 yrs, it may persuade him to come back to LA, especially if no one bids higher. I mean its not like he didn't have success with the Dodgers.

Randy Winn likely going nowhere. Too many corner outfielders in the market right now. There is no market for him regardless of trade size imo. Aaron Rowand as others mentioned could be a trade candidate for the Yankee's. Do they need him, No. Play two years for the Yanks in center 09/10 Jackson in 11 perhaps. Move Rowand to LF last two years of the contract/let him double with Jeter in 11 since by then his contract will be out. He is now entering year 2 of a 5 yr $60mm contract. Not terrible, but probably too much for SF as many have said, (archiving) that SF signed Rowand with little need for him too. Look's like one of those signing that makes sense (based on player) but no sense for the organization.

How about Kennedy, Horne, Matsui and $3mm for Rowand or something to that extent. Sf takes about $50mm off the books overall, adds $10mm with Matsui. Gets a pt LF with a proven bat (lets face it, as much as he is a question mark, he is a proven 280avg 20hr 20d, 100rbi player) He then becomes that added bat DH void. How much can Matsui possible resign for? $3 for $24mm at the most? That's the price for one year Manny.

I mean if you're gonna consider Manny - this should make some sense as well. You get some pitching prospects and SF and Matsui have always had mutual interest it sounds.

For some reason Matsui just makes sense in SF. I'll push this until it's a dead possibility...And SF would not be unloading Sanchez which I am sure they prefer not to do, but listening.

Yankee77

"For some reason Matsui just makes sense in SF. I'll push this until it's a dead possibility"

I think it's already dead. Matsui has played LF a combined 170 games over the past 3 years is coming off back to back knee surgeries and he's a lefty hitter which in our park kills power numbers. We already have 4 lefthand hitting outfielders and Sabean said they weren't interested in 1 year rentals. Plus if we move Rowand, Winn has to play CF and he's a FA after 09 and there's no one to play CF in 2010.

"Scott Boras makes me want to puke."

So now we are looking down on people for being great at their profession?

Comments like yours make me want to puke.

Posted by: nrmax88 | January 04, 2009 at 02:49 AM

Amen. You can dislike Boras all you want, but he works within the rules he's given and maximizes his clients' return...well, except for that $5M (??) he left on the table for Tex. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's not a saint, but how do you think most people get to the top of their profession? By baking cookies for people along the way?

btw, I got my era's confused...Barry Bonods did NOT play with the "We are Family" era pirates...cripes they guy just seems that old...hehehehe...

"spent" I should say...