9:11pm: Jon Heyman sounds in, noting that both sides are being a bit stubborn. Ramirez isn’t going to get the four years or $100MM he initially wanted, and the Dodgers are probably going to have to up their offerings of 1/$25MM and 2/$45MM.
Heyman says the two sides might be closer to getting a deal done, but that doesn’t make them close.
7:36pm: Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times heard something yesterday about a deal being close (two years plus a third-year vesting option), but he wasn’t able to confirm the information.
7:33pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says that Ned Colletti has refuted today’s rumors:
"’Nothing’s changed in 48 hours,’ said Colletti, who on Saturday said negotiations between him and agent Scott Boras had increased in frequency and duration during the previous week, but would not characterize the progress made."
Colletti does say, however, that negotiations have not taken a step backwards.
5:26pm: Danny Knobler at CBS Sports adds in that there’s no real competition for the Dodgers.
The Giants, thought to be the only other serious bidders for Manny’s services, currently have Manny on the "back burner," according to General Manager Brian Sabean.
Knobler also points out other signs that the Giants aren’t seriously in it:
"Could the Giants be bluffing? Sure, although as their other winter moves suggest, they’re more a strike-fast team when they really want a player.
Why wouldn’t the Giants, 29th in baseball in runs scored in 2008 and dead-last in home runs, jump at adding Ramirez?"
Knobler suggests that unless things fizzle with the Dodgers, and Manny accepts a one-year, $20MM-ish deal from San Francisco, Manny won’t be a Giant in 2009.
4:38pm: Vic "The Brick" Jacobs of KLAC 570 says Manny Ramirez "should be a Dodger later this week." Jacobs says it will be "two-year fixed, third-year incentive-laced." Click here to visit KLAC 570’s website.
Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News, however, does not believe there is any breaking Manny Ramirez news at this time.
