Manny Ramirez agreed to a deal with the Dodgers today after extensive negotiations. What’s everyone saying about it? Here’s a look at some reactions from around the game:
- ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark passes along five words that were vital in the negotiations: "We want to say yes." Stark’s explanation of how the deal came together is a great read.
- Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes that no one looks good in the aftermath of this deal.
- Both sides made silly mistakes, but "everyone moved on," according to ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons, who likes this deal for all involved. Here’s a clip of Gammons discussing the deal on ESPN.com.
- Ned Colletti’s the winner if you ask Bill Plaschke of the LA Times.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com writes that Manny’s excited to be back, even without a $100MM contract in hand. The mood brightened at Dodgers’ camp today, even though Manny wasn’t there yet.
- Yahoo’s Jeff Passan bluntly states: "Ramirez could care less about the team for which he plays so long as it dumps the most money into his bank account."
- Rob Neyer of ESPN.com likes the Dodgers’ lineup. The gap between Manny’s production and Juan Pierre‘s should be massive, yet the Dodgers only guaranteed Manny $1MM more than Pierre.
- Alan Embree told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding that Manny will make a huge difference. At least one of Embree’s teammates, Brad Hawpe, doesn’t believe one player can change that much.
- Yahoo’s Tim Brown suggests the saga was always going to end this way.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes that the Giants would only have signed Manny if there was value to be had. The Giants’ players don’t sound disappointed to have missed out.