By Tim Dierkes | at
According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, Manny Ramirez will meet this morning with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt at Dodger Stadium. McCourt wants to be sure Manny will not sulk after signing a contract. Brown adds:
If McCourt is satisfied, Ramirez will take a physical in L.A. and could be on a plane to join his teammates at spring training in Arizona later Wednesday.
MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says Joe Torre and Ned Colletti have also been summoned for the meeting.
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, Nationals assistant GM Mike Rizzo will take on "principal responsibilities when it comes to the Major League, Minor League, and scouting operations." The Nats apparently don’t want to stick an interim GM tag on Rizzo, saying that president Stan Kasten remains in charge. Ladson adds that the position vacated since former GM Jim Bowden resigned "will remain vacant for the foreseeable future."
By Tim Dierkes | at
Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune talked to Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who hopes to finish his career with the team. He already displayed loyalty by leaving significant money on the table to re-sign in November of 2006.
It should be noted, though, that Ramirez became a free agent in ’06 because he opted out of a contract that had three years and $33.5MM left on it (assuming 270 games played in 2007-08).
Ramirez’s current contract could potentially run through 2012, but the new deal has an opt-out clause as well. Ramirez can void his contract after 2010, if he thinks he can beat $14.6MM in 2011 and a $16MM club option/$2MM buyout for 2012. He’s probably going to opt out or renegotiate if he thinks he’s worth more than a one-year, $16.6MM deal after 2010. He’ll be 32 at that time.
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11:08pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times says the Dodgers and Manny have "agreed on the general parameters of a contract," the terms Heyman mentioned.
10:22pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman confirms that Manny is headed to L.A. to meet with McCourt. Heyman speaks of "optimism on all sides" and says they’re discussing the same $45MM/two-year deal, with the opt-out after the first year.
9:37pm: T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times spoke with Manny on Tuesday afternoon and collected a few nice quotes. Keep in mind that this conversation took place a few hours before tonight’s events:
"I’m happy in L.A. I like my teammates and had a great time," said Ramirez. "The fans were so good to me; they treated me the best anywhere in my career. And now I think we’re close [to a deal]. … Tell everyone Mannywood is coming."
9:16pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News has provided excellent, accurate information throughout this entire saga. Here’s an excerpt from his most recent blog post:
Manny IS on his way to Los Angeles tonight, just as Enrique Rojas reported on ESPN. Manny IS willing to accept some form of what the Dodgers offered him last Wednesday, a two-year, $45 million deal with $25 million the first year, $20 million the second year and an opt-out. That offer IS back on the table, even though it has been taken off the table last week. But there is no actual agreement in place YET, because Dodgers officials want to meet with Manny face to face, presumably tomorrow morning, before making this thing happen.
9:12pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times has gathered a strong quote from Boras: "I assure you, we have no deal."
9:06pm: FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal weighs in:
Ramirez and the Dodgers have agreed to a two-year, $45 million contract, according to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas. While that report eventually might be proven correct, it is premature.
8:41pm: ESPN.com’s story now boasts the headline: "Sources: Manny, Dodgers closer to $45M deal," and Enrique Rojas has been removed as the author.
8:32pm: Will Selva, the anchor on staff for ESPNews, says Rojas’ report is "false."
8:30pm: Ken Gurnick and Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com have a quote from Boras himself: "I’m still working on it, but it’s yet to be finalized."
8:25pm: ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark writes that "obstacles still remain to completing the contract."
8:24pm: ESPN.com has now removed the story from the front page.
8:22pm: It should be noted that ESPN.com’s front page headline reads: "Manny To Dodgers: It’s a Deal."
8:16pm: MLBTR just received this e-mail from Senior Editor of Yahoo! Sports, Steve Henson:
Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports just spoke to Scott Boras and a Dodger front-office official. Both said no agreement has been reached. Ned Colletti and Boras did speak today, but no real progress was made.
–Steve Henson
7:56pm: Will Selva, an anchor for ESPNews, is now saying that the network is still "trying to confirm" the report.
7:53pm: According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, Manny Ramirez has agreed to a two-year, $45MM deal with the Dodgers.
Plenty more details to come…
By Tim Dierkes | at
7:23pm: According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, there has been no contact between the Dodgers and Boras since Saturday. Brown thinks the silence might allow the Giants to climb back in the hunt.
9:03am: ESPN’s Buster Olney joins Jon Heyman and others in the belief that the Dodgers may reduce their offer to Manny Ramirez soon. Olney says the next offer "figures to more properly reflect the rollback in free agent prices that have occurred this winter." Olney believes the Dodgers have realized Manny will never be completely satisfied with the offers.
The Dodgers and Scott Boras were seemingly just $1.5MM apart on a deal worth more than $40MM, but owner Frank McCourt put the brakes on. He wants to start negotiations from scratch. As many have suggested, this could be the Giants’ best chance to jump in and steal Manny away.
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According to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies aren’t likely to land a high profile left-handed reliever before the start of the season.
The Phillies continue to monitor their free agent bullpen options, but as of yesterday morning lefthanders Will Ohman and Joe Beimel were still out of the team’s price range, which league sources have estimated at right around $1 million, writes Murphy.
The Phillies don’t have much payroll flexibility. As we mentioned last week, the club will set a franchise payroll record this season, with $132.5MM dedicated to 25-man roster salaries.
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We haven’t heard from left-hander Odalis Perez since the Nationals released him after he failed to show up to camp. Well, Yahoo! Sports’ David Brown caught up with him on Tuesday.
Perez is currently in camp with the Dominican Republic squad, preparing for the World Baseball Classic. He told Brown that "nine or 10 teams" are interested in him and that he plans on using the WBC as an outlet to show he still has value.
The 31-year-old went 7-12 for the Nats last season with a 4.54 ERA. He agreed to, then ultimately declined a $850K minor league contract from Washington just a few weeks ago.
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies made an offer to free agent lefty Will Ohman and are negotiating with his agent. The offer was turned down and countered, and they’re still talking. Ohman’s agent Page Odle says he has offers from three or four other teams (apparently it’s hard to keep track).
By Tim Dierkes | at
2:37pm: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says Nomar agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the A’s.
8:22am: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Nomar Garciaparra has decided to play in 2009 and is on the verge of a one-year deal with the A’s. He’ll spend time backing up the infield corners and DHing.
A’s GM Billy Beane has been active this winter, adding Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, Russ Springer, and Mike Wuertz. Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests owner Lew Wolff "wanted to accelerate the timetable for winning."
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle talked to incumbent shortstop Bobby Crosby, who would like to be traded. Slusser says the Blue Jays aren’t "convinced that Crosby is an upgrade over Marco Scutaro." Presumably, the A’s would have to eat salary or take back a bad contract to move Crosby (or simply release him).
By Tim Dierkes | at
According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, Nationals president (and acting GM) Stan Kasten met with Ryan Zimmerman’s agent Brodie Van Wagenen today to discuss a contract extension. They’ll continue to talk with the goal of a deal before Opening Day.
Zimmerman will be paid $3.325MM for 2009, his first arbitration year. The 24 year-old third baseman is under team control through 2011.
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