It's never just about the numbers with Manny Ramirez. Whether it's dreadlocks, PED suspensions or oddly-timed high fives, the Dodgers' left fielder stands out. When Manny becomes a free agent after the season, numbers will only tell part of his story, but agent Scott Boras is probably hoping for a little more production in the season's final four months.
It's not that Manny has played poorly. His .289/.395/.443 line is considerably better than average, though his defense has been underwhelming once again. This year has fallen short of the monster seasons we're used to seeing from Manny, but that .395 on base percentage would be 18th-best in the majors if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. Despite his injury history, Nick Johnson (who doesn't have Manny's power) turned a high OBP into a 5.75MM guarantee last winter.
That's a lot less than the $20MM Manny will pocket this season, but let's face it: 38-year-olds who don't play defense aren't going to command $20MM contracts in this market. Boras can point to Manny's drawing power (he could reach 600 homers next year), his on-base skills and his power and that would presumably be enough to develop interest in Ramirez.
If it were as simple as comparing Manny to other DH-types like Johnson, Hideki Matsui and Vladimir Guerrero, Ramirez would appear to be in line for a modest one-year deal, perhaps in the $7-8MM range. But if we've learned anything about Manny, it's that he's tough to predict. Does he still want to play five more years? Does he want to return to Cleveland? Is this really his last season in a Dodgers uniform? Until those questions are answered, predicting the market for Manny isn't much easier than predicting his next quirky move.
who cares? i’m so sick of manny. he should just retire.
oh, i dont know, maybe an AL team needing some offense. DH could extend his carear a couple more years. heck, he could get traded by the deadline. The Yankees, Rays, A’s and Angels make sense right know.
Sure he loses some value because no one will offer him arbatration so their will be no draft picks, but if the dodgers pay half of what he’s owed they could get a decent Prospect or two.
i’m sure a team will pick him up but i really don’t care. i’ve never really liked him.
Manny in Oakland as the DH would certainly rev up that mediocre offense. Plus with Carter & Taylor potentially being ready to slot onto the OF corner spots, it could turn into a really great one quickly.
Manny makes sense for all kinds of reasons for the Angels, who screwed up letting Vlad go.
He is helping the Dodgers win. A few weeks ago, when the Dodgers were below .500, I anticipated Manny being a deadline trade to an AL team, but unless they fall back again, I think they’ll keep him for the full season. When he said he wasn’t coming back to the Dodgers after this season, wasn’t he just stating the obvious? He needs to be a DH, and in that role, I suspect he could be good for another 3 or 4 seasons.
Manny seems to play best when motivated and an expiring contract is the best motivation. I predict a huge second half for Manny which will lead the Dodgers into the playoffs.
The Manny high fiving the fan is one of my all time favorite baseball moments as far as pure hilarity goes. Close second is mann’y cutoff of the Damon throw and third is David Ortiz in an obvious double play where he hugged the second baseman who was tagging him out
Yankees will gladly sign him if Montero is not ready to platoon with Posada. Manny can buy a lot of shinny things with 8 mill….
why platoon your top hitting prospect? Just DH him from the start. Not like he isn’t going to end up there sooner or later
I believe he means platoon with Posada at both DH and catcher, seeing as neither has good defense. And the reason they should not DH him from the start is because he is our top hitting prospect, the Yankees should at least try and get some more value out of him and find him a position, even if its not catcher.
“This year has fallen short of the monster seasons we’re used to seeing from Manny”
This is because he has stopped using steroids….
He was on the DL, not that you would care or understand.
As atrocious as Manny is defensively (and that’s why he’s fine in left), he still gets on-base a ton and can hit for power. We don’t have a replacement in the system, so I’m more than cool with Manny coming back.
I betcha anything the Yankees would go 1/10 on him.
I think Manny should just go play in Japan. He’ll get closer to the money he wants and they’ll love him over there. Even better, we won’t have to put up with his antics any longer.