6:28pm: According to Chris Haft of MLB.com, Giants’ GM Brian Sabean maintains that it will take "a special set of circumstances" for the Giants to land Manny Ramirez.
"It’s not going to be a long-term contract like you’re reading about," Sabean said. "It’s not going to be at the dollars that are being speculated. It’s going to have to make business sense and it’s going to have to make baseball sense."
Sabean spoke of Ramirez as "a player that has tremendous upside on the one hand, and some warts that still leave him on the market because of what his lack of all-around play is or what his past has been in previous organizations."
Sabean also maintained that the Giants are in a position to wait for bargains when the July 31 Trade Deadline approaches, saying that the Giants are putting together a "hit list" of players who might become available.
4:21pm: Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times has posted an article following an interview with the man himself, Manny Ramirez.
Hernandez writes that Ramirez continues to wait for a four-year deal. Says Ramirez, "We’re in the seventh inning and I’m waiting for my pitch."
Ramirez was also very frank with Hernandez about his future baseball aspirations. On that subject, Ramirez says, "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."
2:49pm: Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports that while the Dodgers have not been speaking with Manny’s agent Scott Boras lately, it appears that the San Francisco Giants have been doing so. Actually, it couldn’t be clearer: "We have been talking," says Giants President Larry Baer.
According to Shaikin, the Giants are not likely to beat either the Dodgers’ one or two-year offers to Manny, but have recently been reported as having "not ruled out a three-year contract."
9:40am: Here are some thoughts on Manny Ramirez from around baseball:
- Scott Miller of CBS Sports thinks "the Giants immediately become NL West favorites if they sign Manny. Adding Bob Howry, Jeremy Affeldt, Edgar Renteria and Randy Johnson certainly helped their team.
- The Boston Herald’s John Tomase remembers the last time someone other than Manny started the season as the Boston left fielder: Troy O’Leary in 2001. Tomase thinks Jason Bay will continue to play well as Manny’s successor in left.
- Mark Kreigel of Fox Sports writes that clubs "are scared of Manny being Manny."
