7:43pm: It’s official, according to this press release from Tony Jackson of the LA Daily News. Manny will donate $1MM to the Dodgers Dream Foundation. The AP (via Yahoo) reports that Manny passed his physical.
12:15pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that an agreement has been reached. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe confirmed it with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
11:44am: Not sure of the timestamp on it, but Mike Hiserman of the L.A. Times says no agreement has been reached and the Dodgers and Manny were still meeting in L.A. The Dodgers’ official website still says there’s an agreement though.
10:35am: Yahoo’s Tim Brown also says an agreement has been reached. He says a portion of the money both seasons ($25MM in ’09 and a possible $20MM in ’10) is deferred. Brown says to expect a press conference tomorrow.
Ken Gurnick and Barry Bloom of MLB.com have info on the deferred money:
Payment is deferred over five years without interest, with an opt-out clause after one season paid at $10MM each for the first four years and $5MM for the fifth.
10:05am: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News says the meeting took place very early this morning and an agreement is in place.
10:01am: The story has been removed from the L.A. Times’ website.
9:37am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, the Dodgers reached a contract agreement with Manny Ramirez today on a two-year, $45MM deal with an opt-out clause after the first year. The deal also includes no-trade protection. It’s pending a physical.
This was fun. We get to do it all over again after the season. Given the value of the opt-out, Scott Boras ultimately did get Manny a contract worth significantly more than the Dodgers’ initial offer.
