The Dodgers have a choice to make: trade Manny Ramirez to Chicago, hand him over to the White Sox, or keep him. GM Ned Colletti's decision will impact the pennant race in both leagues, so let's break it down:
The Dodgers' Future
Long-term, the Dodgers would be better off trading Ramirez or handing him over. They could obtain prospects for him or, at the very least, save themselves a significant amount of money. Ramirez hits free agency after the season and he won't see an offer of arbitration, so his time is nearly up in L.A. If the Dodgers don't think they can contend in 2010, there are better ways to spend $4MM.
The Dodgers' Present
The Dodgers are fringe contenders, but aren't in the thick of a pennant race. Baseball Prospectus gives them a 3.5% chance of making the playoffs. The Giants lead the Dodgers by 5.0 games in the Wild Card race, but the Dodgers do have many intra-divisional games coming up. Starting tonight, they'll play nine games against the Rockies, six against the Giants and six against the division-leading Padres. It's not an easy schedule, but the Dodgers could make up ground, in theory.
A hot-hitting Manny Ramirez would give the Dodgers a much better chance of reaching the postseason. When healthy, Manny can hit, as his .313/.407/.513 season line shows, so the Dodgers improve their chances of winning in 2010 if they hold onto Ramirez.
The Decision
By Tuesday afternoon, the Dodgers have to decide whether to trade Ramirez, hand him over or keep him. What would you do? Click here to take the survey and here to see the results, but keep in mind that they might not matter. Manny has a no-trade clause and would have to approve any deal.
Just trade the guy and start a ScottyPodsWood. The best thing for the Dodgers would be to get Manny out of their system and get a prospect in return.
The money doesn’t go to the Dodgers, it goes to Frank McCourt’s divorce proceedings. They might as well keep Manny, hoping that he doesn’t get injured, and use his productivity and fantastic locker room effect (sarcasm) and make a serious push for the playoffs (which they really have no chance at making).
Bright side for LA: Their play from now through Tuesday can help the decision process. Whatever happens will have to wait until then , barring a 4 game LAD losing streak.
Get rid of him. By any means necessary.
AMEN to that!
Loved it when he first showed up and played like he cared. Not so much any more. Guy needs to get gone ASAP.
If I were Colletti, I’d first look to get a nice prospect back for Manny, and offer to pick up the $ 1 million that’s payable on his contract for this season. Leave the deferred $ 3.1 million for Chicago to pay. Otherwise, let him go. 5 games back is one thing, but there are too many other clubs ahead of the Dodgers to make a serious run with the talent they have, with or without Manny being Manny, IMO.
I could actually see a decent prospect going to the Dodgers. The White Sox are only 3.5 back of the Twins. I don’t by any means think that the White are out of it, but you certainly have to think that Manny could get te Sox in to the post-season, and maybe deep in to the post-season. I still like the Twins even with Manny on the White Sox, but I just think with what Manny can help the Sox do, he is worth something decent. Maybe a package of Miguel Socolovich and Kyle Colligan will get it done. Duente Heath, Johnnie Lowe, and Euduardo Escobar are other prospects that come to mind.
Why would any team agree to pickup deferred payments that another team is responsible for paying? Any deferred payments on Manny’s contract the Dodgers are responsible for, let them pay their own bills.
If the Dodgers just let him go, Chicago has to pay Manny’s salary for the rest of this season, even if it’s deferred. The Dodgers are on the hook for any deferred salary earned prior to the transaction. But if the Dodgers want any prospects back, they’ll have to pick up some salary in the deal. $ 4.1 mil is what is owed for the balance of this season, some of that is deferred.
I’d like to see him just get shipped over to Chicago and he starts tearing it up in the AL.
Letting Ramirez go is tantamount to the Dodgers conceding that they are finished for 2010. He can carry a team offensively for several weeks and the Dodgers have enough intra-division games left to make a September run – the Padres and Giants are not exactly invincible. The Dodgers used to be a great franchise and their fans are still hanging in there. The Dodgers should do the same and keep Ramirez through the season. They have a better chance of winning in the next five weeks with him than without him.
He’s not going to be carrying much if he only plays every other day.
He’s a Type A but I guess you’re assuming his team offering arb and getting picks isn’t even a possibility, since it’s not even mentioned in the article?
…Because if they could get the picks, that would be a reason to keep him.
With a $20m salary this season, no way Manny Ramirez would decline arbitration. Unless whatever team he ends up with feels he is worth $16m+ for 2011, there is no way arbitration is offered.
But I think there is a clause in his contract that he won’t be offered arbitration anyway, so moot point.
Hopefully after the new CBA, going to arbitration won’t always mean a raise.
Just to finally clear things up, even though he is owed deferred money by the Dodgers, if the White Sox are rewarded him, they would have to pay all 4M that is owed to him, correct?
I’ve heard people say different things in the comments section, but it shouldn’t matter if his annual salary is deferred or not, because claiming a guy on waivers means you assume all of his salary. At least that’s what I’ve been lead to believe.
Yes, they would have to pay all of it, the majority would just be deferred.
I think it’s as simple as this: if LA is within 4 games of the wildcard they keep him. A motivated Manny is a force to reckon with (as long as he’s healthy enough). Given the schedules of the wild card contenders, 4 games & 3 teams is something that can be overcome.
The Dodgers have a talented but underachieving team. A month above-average or even average production from the players they have is a reasonable possibility and that might get the job done.
If they are 5 or more out, work out the best deal or even just let the ~$4M go to ChiSox. Kuroda, Lily, Dotel, etc. Should also be moved as well then. And in the end, if this is the money that pays for things like Zach Lee, smart Dodger fans should see the positive in it.
They have a talented but injured team. Furcal is coming back, Martin is out for the season, Manny has missed a lot of time, Andre was hurt, etc and hasnt been the same since his pinky injury. Furcal was playing like an MVP when he got hurt. Martin was getting on base at an amazing clip. Manny is Manny and Andre was going for the triple crown… They still have a chance and if we play bad in Col, we can hopefully get a good prospect for Manny
Even if the Dodgers sweep the Rockies this weekend, I’m not sure I’d hang on to Manny unless he plays a vital part in that sweep.
Despite how his numbers look, one must recognize the small sample size. He’s barely played in 2 months. I’m just not sure he’s motivated enough to make a difference for the Dodgers this final month.
His OPS is over 900 and he has a lot of motivation… he needs a contract for next year. He’ll play hard as long as he is healthy
Like he has the past 2 months?… I’m just not convinced his injuries were that serious. I think he’s been out primarily because a lack of motivation and interest.Whether he plays hard the remaining month of the season or not is probably not that important to him. What’s the difference going to be on his 2011 contract? At most, a few million. He’ll get between $6m-$10m either way. Peanuts to Manny at this point in his career.
Manny has always played his hardest in contract years and his best seasons seem to be in such years. I feel like because fans here players with calf injuries able to come back in a few weeks, everyone assumed he could do it. However it was a worse-than-average injury on a muscle he had trouble with before on a 38 year old. I mean, sure there’s a possibility he was bullshitting it, but it doesn’t seem like a wise time from his perspective.
I guess I’m trying to say we don’t really know how serious the injury was and the fact it is probably one, if not THE, last of his contracts, I doubt he milked it.
Gotta get rid of him. It’s only a matter of time until he strains his calf for the 4th time this season.
We need to let Manny go, plain and simple.
We are NOT set up for a WS run. If we didn’t do it in 08 or last year, does ANYBODY think THIS years squad is comparable or even BETTER than said teams to make it past the LCS mark?
Take off your blinders LA fans, our season is done.
IF we make a run at October, let it be with our call ups and our sans-Manny squad.
Agreed.
The Dodgers have a sliver of a playoff chance with or without him. Yes, he helps add courage to the lineup, but he’s still got to play left field. When you’re playing against teams like the Padres and the Giants you can’t allow more than one run in a game.
Also, I give him less than 20 at-bats before his legs put him back on the DL. He’s worthless in the NL.
Manny not in lineup, but he is 1 for 13 vs. Ubaldo Jimenez, so it is safe to assume that his “reft knee” is bothering him.
Not in the lineup= close to a trade.
Not in the lineup=Traded guess he doesn’t have enough “Grit” for the old school “hall of famer” Joe Torre.
We’ll take him, I can’t stand hearing “Now batting the designated hitter Number 7 Mark Kotsay” It’s not like he’s going to see the field here in Chicago anyway, that’s why he’s so eager to approve a trade here.