10:46pm: Press release from the Dodgers: Manny has rejected their latest offer. In the release, Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt expresses his frustration with Manny and Scott Boras. He says the Dodgers are negotiating against themselves and improved their offer despite the economy.
8:24pm: Jayson Stark of ESPN.com said on ESPN Radio that the best offer Manny will see is currently on the table. Stark asks a fair question: "With nobody else really bidding, how much better can [Manny] do?"
7:29pm: The Giants are still keeping tabs on Manny, but the D’Backs are assuming he’ll end up in LA. Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports that Bob Melvin, Dan Haren and Tony Clark all expect Manny to sign with the Dodgers.
5:15pm: Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle heard from Giants president Larry Baer that the Giants have based their conversations with Boras on "concepts" rather than concrete figures. Schulman gets the sense that the main concept is a multi-year deal that provides "outs" for Manny and the Giants in case one side decides the deal isn’t working.
Colletti said the Dodgers made a "significant concession" with their most recent offer. When asked about the timetable for the deal, he said "you can go as many innings as you need to get a resolution."
4:55pm: According to the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, Colletti doesn’t think it’s a big deal that Ramirez is not yet in camp. It’s definitely not going to affect negotiations.
"With the season starting a week later, it’s a little bit more flexible than it might have been a year ago," Colletti said Thursday afternoon.
3:16pm: Dylan Hernandez has some additional information from Giants president Larry Baer:
Baer said he expects the All-Star outfielder to re-sign with the Dodgers and that the Giants had no intention of entering a bidding war for his services.
2:59pm: Dodgers GM Ned Colletti just finished addressing the media. Boras told the Dodgers that he’d get back to them in a day or two, according to Tony Jackson.
It sounds like this saga might not reach its conclusion today.
1:22pm: Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News has an update from the Giants’ side of things:
Giants president Larry Baer said he exchanged messages with agent Scott Boras on Wednesday, but nothing had changed. Boras did not solicit an offer and Baer said the Giants have not made an official one.
“We haven’t been asked to make an offer in the last couple of days,” Baer said Thursday. “I don’t want to characterize it beyond that. People are saying it’s accelerated (with the Dodgers). I can’t tell you there’s any difference today than a week ago. There may be, but it hasn’t been communicated to us.”
12:49pm: Manager Joe Torre puts in his two cents (courtesy of MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick):
"Any time you talk and make another offer and they’re still listening, it’s all good as far as I’m concerned." Torre would obviously prefer putting lineups together with Manny involved.
9:08am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, Scott Boras told reporters this morning that he’s "in the middle of negotiations" with the Dodgers and at least one other team. Still, it’d be surprising to see Colletti and Co. budge from the offer that is currently on the table.
Catch up on all things Manny Ramirez in our MLBTR archive.
