Manny Ramirez Rumors: Friday

10:18pm: Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle comments on the "comical circus surrounding the Manny Ramirez negotiations."

Sometime soon, Jenkins writes, "Manny will stroll into the Dodgers’ clubhouse with a big smile on his face, as if nothing in the world is wrong. I wonder if his teammates will portray him as they did last year, the wacky savior who really isn’t such a bad guy. Now that he’ll be getting an opt-out for the 2010 season, he’s merely a mercenary waiting to get a real offer from a team that truly appreciates him."

5:43pm: Jackson cites a "well-placed source" who says that Boras responded to the Dodgers’ two-year, $45MM offer with a counter proposal of two years and $55MM.

Jackson also writes that "it was Boras, not the Dodgers, who requested as far back as last fall that a portion of the money be deferred so that the total value of the package could be greater."

Jackson notes that there is currently no offer on the table and that "it doesn’t look like this is headed for a quick resolution."

4:42pm: Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com got a hold of Boras shortly after the noon deadline.

"I told Ned that we stand by our proposal," Boras told Bloom. "As far as we’re concerned, there’s no deadline. We’re still talking… We’re waiting for their response."

Boras made a counter offer to the Dodgers this morning, requesting a two-year, $45MM contract without the deferred payments.

3:31pm: Jackson reports that Colletti and Boras spoke on the phone around noon, but nothing came of it.  It sounds like that deadline wasn’t taken too seriously by either side.

2:47pm: The noon deadline has passed (on the West Coast) without word from Boras, Manny or the Dodgers.

2:01pm: Giants managing partner Bill Neukom spoke to reporters, including the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggarly, on Friday morning.  He left open the possibility of his club making a late run at Ramirez.  Neukom also believes there are teams involved other than the Dodgers and Giants:

“We’ve been in touch with Manny and his agent for months about this,” Neukom said. “We’ve explored a number of situations. I think by far the Dodgers have been more active. Then there are these other teams Boras has talked about. We’re not a phantom team. There are other teams that haven’t been named that are in this. So we’ll see.”

1:15pm: According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Manny is willing to accept the Dodgers’ most recent offer if the money is not deferred.  Most of you have probably already assumed this.

12:16pm: GM Ned Colletti told Jackson that deferred compensation has been "part of the deal from the very beginning."  It was even part of the Dodgers’ initial one-year, $25MM offer.

It sounds like there’s a lot of confusion on both sides. "I have asked Scott many times to tell us where we are at, what we are bidding against, to tell us what we have to meet," Colletti said Friday morning.  "We have yet to be told what the parameters are.”

11:35am: Yahoo! Sports’ Steve Henson passes along an e-mail that Boras sent to multiple media outlets Thursday night:

“We are continuing to work within the scope of the parameters established during our discussion Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, which included a two-year term and ability for the player to void the contract after the first year.

“Per that face-to-face meeting, we agreed to continue to have discussions until Friday at noon, which included our two proposals today, our most recent at two years, $45 million. We are waiting to hear their response.”

11:19am: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News is venting:

The wonder is that the Dodgers wasted their time making an offer that they HAD TO KNOW wouldn’t be accepted. Why would they do that, you ask? Well, now Frank McCourt gets to say to his fan base, "Hey, I tried.” Well, no, Frank, you really didn’t.

9:21am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, deferred payments were the key issue in Manny Ramirez’s rejection of the Dodgers’ most recent offer.  As Hernandez explains,

Under the terms of the contract that Ramirez was offered by the Dodgers on Wednesday, he would’ve received $10 million this year. And by exercising the option for the second year, he would’ve received $10 million in 2010.

Ramirez, who turns 37 in May, would’ve been paid the remaining $25 million over the next three years without any added interest. He would’ve received $10 million in 2011, $10 million in 2012 and $5 million in 2013 .

Scott Boras made a counter offer using the same basic language and numbers of the club’s two-year, $45MM offer, but without the deferred payments.  Boras told the Dodgers that they have until noon to strike a deal.