11:08pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times says the Dodgers and Manny have "agreed on the general parameters of a contract," the terms Heyman mentioned.
10:22pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman confirms that Manny is headed to L.A. to meet with McCourt. Heyman speaks of "optimism on all sides" and says they’re discussing the same $45MM/two-year deal, with the opt-out after the first year.
9:37pm: T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times spoke with Manny on Tuesday afternoon and collected a few nice quotes. Keep in mind that this conversation took place a few hours before tonight’s events:
"I’m happy in L.A. I like my teammates and had a great time," said Ramirez. "The fans were so good to me; they treated me the best anywhere in my career. And now I think we’re close [to a deal]. … Tell everyone Mannywood is coming."
9:16pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News has provided excellent, accurate information throughout this entire saga. Here’s an excerpt from his most recent blog post:
Manny IS on his way to Los Angeles tonight, just as Enrique Rojas reported on ESPN. Manny IS willing to accept some form of what the Dodgers offered him last Wednesday, a two-year, $45 million deal with $25 million the first year, $20 million the second year and an opt-out. That offer IS back on the table, even though it has been taken off the table last week. But there is no actual agreement in place YET, because Dodgers officials want to meet with Manny face to face, presumably tomorrow morning, before making this thing happen.
9:12pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times has gathered a strong quote from Boras: "I assure you, we have no deal."
9:06pm: FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal weighs in:
Ramirez and the Dodgers have agreed to a two-year, $45 million contract, according to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas. While that report eventually might be proven correct, it is premature.
8:41pm: ESPN.com’s story now boasts the headline: "Sources: Manny, Dodgers closer to $45M deal," and Enrique Rojas has been removed as the author.
8:32pm: Will Selva, the anchor on staff for ESPNews, says Rojas’ report is "false."
8:30pm: Ken Gurnick and Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com have a quote from Boras himself: "I’m still working on it, but it’s yet to be finalized."
8:25pm: ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark writes that "obstacles still remain to completing the contract."
8:24pm: ESPN.com has now removed the story from the front page.
8:22pm: It should be noted that ESPN.com‘s front page headline reads: "Manny To Dodgers: It’s a Deal."
8:16pm: MLBTR just received this e-mail from Senior Editor of Yahoo! Sports, Steve Henson:
Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports just spoke to Scott Boras and a Dodger front-office official. Both said no agreement has been reached. Ned Colletti and Boras did speak today, but no real progress was made.
–Steve Henson
7:56pm: Will Selva, an anchor for ESPNews, is now saying that the network is still "trying to confirm" the report.
7:53pm: According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, Manny Ramirez has agreed to a two-year, $45MM deal with the Dodgers.
Plenty more details to come…
