Manny Rejects Dodgers’ Offer
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.
The Manny Ramirez Saga
The Dodgers have extended a third offer to Manny Ramirez and they expect to hear back from Scott Boras soon, but it’s never safe to assume anything with Manny. A winter’s worth of rumors later- MLBTR has had over 200 posts about Manny- the wait could be over any day. Here’s a look back at 10 key developments in the Manny Ramirez saga so far:
- October 16th: Manny begins the offseason with a memorable quote: "Gas is up and so am I."
- November 5th: Dodgers GM Ned Colletti offers Manny a two-year deal worth $45MM.
- November 12th: Scott Boras says he’s ready for "serious" offers. Soon after, the Dodgers withdraw their initial bid.
- December 7th: Manny declines the Dodgers’ offer of arbitration.
- December 11th: Feeling ignored, Manny suggests he could retire.
- January: At some point in early January, the Giants become more serious about pursuing Manny (It’s hard to pinpoint an exact date for this one).
- February 3rd: Manny turns down the Dodgers’ offer of one year and $25MM.
- February 7th: Manny: "we’re in the seventh inning and I’m waiting for my pitch."
- February 11th: The Angels sign Bobby Abreu and the Nats sign Adam Dunn, leaving Manny and the Dodgers with few alternatives to each other.
- February 25th: The Dodgers offer Manny another deal. This one’s essentially for one year at $25MM with a player option for a second year at $20MM.
Thursday Pre-Arbitration Signings
7:41pm: The Miami Herald has a list of eight players who agreed to terms with the A’s for 2009. Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Dallas Braden, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, Henry Rodriguez and Landon Powell all agreed to one-year contracts.
12:27pm: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Brewers have inked Tony Gwynn Jr., Manny Parra, Hernan Iribarren and Chase Wright to one-year contracts.
11:48am: The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett has a few more from the Angels. Howie Kendrick, Dustin Moseley, Kevin Jepsen and Matt Brown have been signed to ’09 contracts.
9:53am: MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports that the Diamondbacks have agreed to one-year contracts with Yusmeiro Petit, Leo Rosales and Kyler Newby. They’ll each make around $400K this year.
9:50am: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Cubs have now settled with all 20 of their pre-arbitration players. Sean Marshall, Mike Fontenot and Micah Hoffpauir are some of the bigger names on the list.
9:49am: Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros have renewed Hunter Pence‘s contract. He’ll earn $450K in ’09.
9:41am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a few more pre-arbitration signings. 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum was inked for $650K, Angels pitcher Joe Saunders settled for $475K, Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol for $575K and Cubs infielder Ryan Theriot for $500K.
These are all guys without enough MLB service time to be eligible for salary arbitration.
Dodgers Sign Doug Mientkiewicz
6:35pm: Jackson reports that Mientkiewicz passed his physical and signed the contract.
10:41am: According to Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Dodgers have agreed to terms with Doug Mientkiewicz on a minor league contract.
Mientkiewicz will join spring training camp once he passes a physical. He’s no Manny Ramirez, but, as Jackson writes, he "might have a good chance of making the club to fill that role that Nomar Garciaparra filled last year." Mientkiewicz, 34, hit .277/.374/.379 last season with two home runs and 30 RBI in 285 at-bats for the Pirates.
Odds And Ends: Alvarez, Cameron, Nats
A few links for Thusrday night…
- Pedro Alvarez, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2005, remembers thinking about signing with Boston in an article by Alex Speier on WEEI.com.
- Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal heard from Theo Epstein and Terry Francona about building a winning team. Epstein said the Sox have a history of making room for young talent, but Francona added that there’s never room for all the youngsters.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Mike Cameron was preparing himself to be traded this offseason and considers it "a blessing" to be in Milwaukee.
- Ironically, Mark DeRosa, who was actually traded, didn’t see it coming at all according to this article by Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney spoke with a number of baseball people who say "baseball’s internal code of conduct is strengthening." Players who act out aren’t getting away with it as often.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post reports that Nationals president Stan Kasten didn’t comment directly on whether we should expect any more dismissals within the organization soon.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News heard from Giants president Larry Baer that the team doesn’t consider the Edgar Renteria and Jeremy Affeldt signings mistakes.
- And bad news out of Colorado: The Rocky Mountain News will publish its final edition Friday.
Albert Pujols: A Lifetime Cardinal?
According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Cardinals plan on doing all they can to retain Albert Pujols for the rest of his career.
"If there’s a way to keep Albert a lifetime Cardinal, that makes a lot of sense for everyone," GM John Mozeliak told Heyman. "He’s very much an iconic player there, and if he wants to stay, we’re going to try to find a way to make that happen."
MLBTR has covered the topic at length this offseason. Pujols has two years and a team option remaining on his current deal, so the Cardinals don’t have to get serious for quite some time. "We’ve had casual mentions, but nothing in depth," said team owner Bill DeWitt.
Pujols, 29, has a career line of .334/.425/.624 and 319 home runs over eight major league seasons.
Odds and Ends: Bordick, Sheets, Bowden
Here are your Thursday links…
- Former MLB shortstop Mike Bordick has been hired by the Blue Jays as a minor league infield instructor.
- Richard Durett of the Dallas Morning News has the transcript of a radio interview with Rangers owner Tom Hicks. It sounds like his club will make another run at Ben Sheets once he’s back to full health.
- The Orioles and Cardinals might share players this spring, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun. "My gut is there would be nothing wrong with it,” said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. "We’re in different leagues." UPDATE: That idea was shot down pretty quickly.
- Mark DeRosa told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he left the Cubs on good terms. There were rumors of a feud between he and manager Lou Piniella.
- Contrary to some reports, the Nationals have absolutely not contacted Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava about possibly replacing Jim Bowden.
- Check out Tim’s interview with "The Yankees: Minors to Majors," a blog.
Chad Cordero To Audition Again
As reported by Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, free agent Chad Cordero will hold another workout for interested teams on Friday.
The Rangers will be in attendance. You can bet the Twins will also be there. The Marlins, Royals and Brewers are also likely to send scouts. Cordero, who will turn 27 in March, missed most of the 2008 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He racked up 113 saves for the Nationals between 2005 and 2007.
Twins, Cruz End Contract Talks
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Twins have ended their pursuit of right-handed reliever Juan Cruz.
Cruz rejected the Twins’ contract offer before talks ever evolved into the sign-and-trade stages, and it doesn’t sounds like the club plans on making another run at him. Cruz, 30, posted a 2.61 ERA in 51 2/3 innings last season.
Neal suggests that the Twins might now focus their attention on free agent Chad Cordero, who threw for several teams on Wednesday.
Dodgers Make New Offer To Manny Ramirez
WEDNESDAY, 11:45pm: I was just thinking, this contract offer is not unlike A.J. Burnett‘s opt-out clause. The Dodgers would have Manny on a one-year, $25MM deal, plus an option that cannot possibly work in their favor.
7:29pm: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports makes a good observation:
Boras did not immediately accept the offer, but a source said he delivered the offer to his client – a sign of progress because the first two offers were dismissed immediately by Boras.
7:18pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times says the player option came at Boras’ request.
7:05pm: Jackson reports that the Dodgers have offered Manny a two-year, $45MM contract.
From what I understand, though, there WON’T be a deal tonight, Jackson writes. The offer is a two-year, $45 million contract, with salaries of $25 million the first year and $20 million the second, but the second year is a PLAYER option so Manny can walk away if he believes he can get more on the open market next winter. If he is injured during the first season, the second year becomes guaranteed. Boras and Co. have taken it under advisement, and the club is expecting a response early tomorrow.
6:12pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News chimes in:
Gurnick wrote earlier today that they are meeting, and I have been able to semi-confirm that, as well as semi-confirm the fact that said meeting is taking place at Dodger Stadium. What I can tell you, from my own observations, is that people are behaving strangely, or at least at odds with their normal behavior. This could be it, folks. Stay tuned. It might be a long evening.
5:38pm: Gurnick has made an update to his most recent story.
Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt and GM Ned Colletti did, in fact, meet with agent Scott Boras during the team’s first spring game Wednesday. Gurnick calls it "the most serious attempt to date to sign" Ramirez.
4:37pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick notes that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti was absent from the team’s first exhibition game. Might be Manny-related; might not.
9:08am: ESPN’s Buster Olney believes Manny Ramirez remains unsigned because of his behavior in Boston:
The primary reason for [the lack of interest in Manny], unquestionably, is the sport-wide perception that he did not honor his contract in Boston, and went to extraordinary depths to get himself out of that contract. These are not the on-background musings of a couple of rogue scouts, or the chortlings of conspiracy-theorist sports writers. This is the cemented belief of many executives with many teams, reinforced by Ramirez’s sudden transformation into a high-energy player as soon as he moved from the Red Sox to the Dodgers.
In my opinion, the primary interest for the limited Manny interest is his asking price. At a time when solid corner outfielders are signing for $10MM per year tops, Manny wants more than twice that salary and at least three years guaranteed. I think if Ramirez and Boras were willing to take a reasonable two-year, $30MM deal, there’d be five more teams in on him.