You know a player has set lofty standards when everyone considers a .298/.409/.460 season to be a disappointment, but that's exactly what Manny Ramirez did in 2010. He hit just .261/.420/.319 in 88 plate appearances following his mid-season trade to the White Sox, and they unsurprisingly declined to offer the Type-A free agent earlier this week. MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez now wonders if this is it for one of the greatest hitters we'll ever see.
When he ranked Manny the 19th best free agent on the market (insider req'd), ESPN's Keith Law said he's "lost enough bat speed that when he squares a ball up it doesn't take off the way that it did for him before the 2009 season … The explosiveness he had at the plate well into his 30s is all but gone." Ramirez has hit 20 or fewer homers in three of the last four seasons, and his bat is no longer justifying his atrocious defense or various other antics. He also hit the disabled list three times with leg-related ailments this season.
Scott Boras recently said he's seeking a one-year, incentive-laden contract that will allow Ramirez to serve as a full-time designated hitter, but Gonzalez mentions all of the other cheap DH options on the market (Hideki Matsui, Jim Thome, Lance Berkman, Vladimir Guerrero among others) that could reasonably approximate his production. The Blue Jays seem like a logical fit, and although Manny has interest, we don't know if it's mutual.
Two or three years ago a poll question like this would have been unthinkable, but with Ramirez in obvious decline at age 38, it would not be a surprise if teams looking for a DH went in another direction. On to the poll…
Will anyone sign Manny Ramirez this offseason?
Click here to vote, and here to see the results. Thanks in advance.
He makes sense for the A’s.
That’s what I was going to say. He still has a good OBP and if he is willing to take less the A’s probably wouldn’t mind him in their lineup.
Mm nope. Way more sense for the Jays. Did you not read the article above?
Sounding like a jackass is very unbecoming of you.
That’s a very flawed statement. You don’t know me personally so how do you know if my actions are detracting from my appearance/reputation?
You’re two for two on the jackass statements
He would probably want to sign in a more home-friendly park.
yeah, i was thinking A’s too. i think Manny will put up some good numbers next year. obviously not numbers like he would in his prime, but decent numbers.
I think he will go to the jays
Rangers in Vlad’s role from last year
Why wouldn’t Manny get the Bonds treatment? i will be shocked if anyone signs him. He should be signed just like Barry should have been signed but it will not happen.
Its amazing what happens when you get off the juice. I love that nobody mentions that because Manny is well liked by the Media.
he’s 38, its age not juice… its performance “enhancers” not performance “creators”
Manny is well liked by the media? Yeah Boston and LA really love him
He will sign with the jays 1 year 5million plus incentives.. By midseason he will be given the ‘Frank Thomas treatment’
I saw he signs with the Jay’s, but I dont think he sees anywhere near 5 million.
could be a high risk (with his attitude ) high reward for the jays if they get him
His production has fallen off a cliff without his PED’s
Not really a coincidence, imo
Yet he still puts up .400 OBP’s…
Jays will sign him 2.5 plus 1 mill for 100 RBI n 1 mill for 600 AB n 1 mill for 30 HR n 500k for all star
You can’t give incentives related to performance such as HR’s or RBI’s only Innings, PA’s and such.
A-Rod disagrees with you.
i think a-rods incentives are based on him making historical achievements, not season totals
They are, but it’s still incentive to hit HR’s.
They are, but it’s still incentive to hit HR’s.
I believe A-Rod is a special case because they are a bonus for a historical achievement, I am not aware of any contract with incentives for HR’s, RBI’s etc. aside from A-Rod. I’m pretty sure if you could put those kind of incentives in contracts teams would.
I believe A-Rod is a special case because they are a bonus for a historical achievement, I am not aware of any contract with incentives for HR’s, RBI’s etc. aside from A-Rod. I’m pretty sure if you could put those kind of incentives in contracts teams would.
A-Rod disagrees with you.
yes you can, thanks to whats called collective bargaining, you can make any incentive in a contract, you can give him a a bonus for bringing donuts every friday for 500K a year if you wanted to, you could give him a million if he wins world series MVP, if its on paper, and signed by both parties, its legal in the MLB.
I think it will take a little more guaranteed but sounds good.
And shortly after have the contract annulled for including bonuses tied to performance? You can’t tie money to homers or RBIs. Unless you’re the Yankees of course.
After spending most of the season on the DL Manny’s timing was off when he came to the Sox.I’d love to see Manny come back as a DH for the Sox. 1/2 million plus incentives ! Another BOr-ass client Andruw Jones signed for 1/2 million and was well worth the money.
I think he’d ask for at least 4.5 million and thats too much for a player like him.
Would love to see the White Sox bring him back, his OBP is still fantastic and would be a fantastic addition to the lineup over a full season, despite his decreased power output.
The White Sox want a left handed hitter in their line up. They’ve been talking about adding Matsui or Dunn to DH. His OBP is still nice, and if he was still a source of power maybe they wouldn’t mind so much that he isn’t left handed, but at this stage in his career and with the numbers he posted last season I doubt the White Sox will re-sign him.
Maybe at the last possible second, Theo Epstein will swoop in and snatch him from the greedy clutches of another team for the Boston Red Sox. This will allow him to tell the faithful Beantown fans, “See what I got for you ? Didn’t I do good building the bridge? “.
Boston has a pretty good DH for 2011, TY. Maybe NY could add him as a replacement for Nick (the Crip) Johnson for 2011? You see, after NY had ayear with NJ’s various real injuries, may not know the differnce in dealing with Ramirez’s fake ones in the Bronx.
Boston wouldn’t be interested anyways. As for New York, they need to make room for Jesus Montero. I doubt he goes there aka I doubt they would be interested to take on another old breaking-down body.
and hasn’t Posada been told that he will be seeing most of his time at DH next season?
Best bet scenario IMO. Save his bat, rest him, stop the running game every one takes for granted when he is behind the plate and let cervelli throw them out.
Posada would probably get some of that pop back into his bat if he only had to catch maybe 1 game a week and cervelli would stop teams like Boston and texas from running at leisure on Posada and stealing 6-8 bases everytime he is behind the plate and other teams will catch on also quick, same thing whenever Varitek caught with Boston last year. these guys may be A-1 game callers and know how to block balls, but neither can throw out anyone anymore. At least Posada has a lethal bat, let him put it to use and stop hurting his team behind the plate.
Best bet scenario IMO. Save his bat, rest him, stop the running game every one takes for granted when he is behind the plate and let cervelli throw them out.
Posada would probably get some of that pop back into his bat if he only had to catch maybe 1 game a week and cervelli would stop teams like Boston and texas from running at leisure on Posada and stealing 6-8 bases everytime he is behind the plate and other teams will catch on also quick, same thing whenever Varitek caught with Boston last year. these guys may be A-1 game callers and know how to block balls, but neither can throw out anyone anymore. At least Posada has a lethal bat, let him put it to use and stop hurting his team behind the plate.
manny sucks, straight up and he won’t sign with toronto because there are many other options out there i personally would pick a guy like derek lee or lance berkman a bit younger and better hittters
“manny sucks”His guaranteed .400 OBP would be miles better than anyone on the Blue Jays. But okay, he sucks – you convinced me. “straight up and he won’t sign with toronto because there are many other options”Even though he has most of his off-season in Toronto and has come out and said specifically that he wants to play in Toronto? Okay….
Where did you hear Manny spends most of his offseason in Toronto? His home has always been in South Florida, did he recently move?
I do agree with you that he’d be a good fit in Toronto, similar to the way they brought in Canseco years ago. The Toronto media doesn’t care much about baseball, few people in the city will recognize him, and fewer will bother him for pictures and autographs. It would be very easy for Manny to have a low profile there.
And he can still rake, there’s no doubt he wasn’t physically right during the second half of last season. If he can stay healthy, there’s no reason he can’t have a .290-25-90 season with an OBP hovering around .390
Little known fact, Manny hit the longest homerun in the history of SkyDome/Rogers Centre while he was with the Red Sox.
This offseason he has been spotted in Toronto a dozen times throughout the past 2 months.
2010 OBP/OPS
Lee: .347/.774
Berkman: .368/.781
Ramirez: .409/.870
I thought about using WAR, but since Manny only played 90 games and is a horrible fielder [we’re talking about DH’s, so it doesn’t matter], it would be pointless.
But comparing Manny, 38, to Berkman, 34, and Lee, 35, I’d say he’s aging better than the others, and that he doesn’t suck.
manny sucks, straight up and he won’t sign with toronto because there are many other options out there i personally would pick a guy like derek lee or lance berkman a bit younger and better hittters
Even in decline – he would still help AZs lineup…
And where would he play exactly?
LF. Who else does AZ have out there? Brandon Allen is fine – but he will get plenty of time knowing Manny… Allen might end up at 1B anyway…
Manny can’t play in the field anymore.
Just curious.. How many seasons ago was it that he WAS EVEN RESPECTABLE in the field? He pretty much blundered LF at Fenway for the most part.
But now in addition to suffering from an inability to field, it also makes him injury prone due to his age. From my understanding he’s looking specifically to DH for a team for that reason.
According to Baseball Reference, Manny was a good outfielder with the Sox in 2008. He had a +4 Rtot and a +9 Rtot/yr. Remember, that was the year he made that spectacular catch/high-fived a fan in Baltimore. And he has always had a strong arm.
I’m not saying he can or should play the field now, but he wasn’t nearly as bad a fielder as the Boston media made him out to be.
Manny can’t play in the field anymore.
LF. Who else does AZ have out there? Brandon Allen is fine – but he will get plenty of time knowing Manny… Allen might end up at 1B anyway…
I wonder if DHing for the Os might be the best option for manny, +10% HR-rate(if I recall correctly) in that park might appeal to his ego.
The O’s have been there, done that with fading players.
Manny and Buck Showalter wouldn’t survive spring training still married. They aren’t going to contend in the AL East until the NY core flames out, which it will in the next 1-3 years. So why enrich Manny and poison the atmosphere? Give the AB’s to any number of younger options with potential upside.
I completely agree, there’s no way Manny could co-exist with Showalter.
I completely agree, there’s no way Manny could co-exist with Showalter.
The O’s have been there, done that with fading players.
Manny and Buck Showalter wouldn’t survive spring training still married. They aren’t going to contend in the AL East until the NY core flames out, which it will in the next 1-3 years. So why enrich Manny and poison the atmosphere? Give the AB’s to any number of younger options with potential upside.
He may end up signing with the Jays but it also does not fit in with their overall strategy. They are looking for young long-term players and Manny doesn’t exactly fit into that criteria. Yes he could probably help for a year or two but i’m pretty sure thats not AA’s “plan”. I only see him signing for extremely cheap and essentially a last stop for his career.
I don’t get the whole doesn’t fit in AA’s plan excuse..
You know who else didn’t fit in AA’ “plan”.. John Buck, Alex Gonzalez and Kevin Gregg….
but he signed them anyways, as stopgaps, and he’ll end up with 2 comp picks and Yunel out of those chances. .
Stopgaps fill in just fine into ‘AA’s plan’.. There’s no 1B/Dh on the market, and there’s none in the farm, so to get Manny on 1 year deal really doesn’t compromise what Alex is trying to do
He does fit in with the jays if we trade Lind and others to AZ for upton manny is our DH he would work wonders if he’s playing for incentives
The Blue Jays have room for him, and I think they will try Lind at 1b. If he signs for cheap I really don’t see the harm, he isn’t going to take at bats from anyone. The Blue Jays are an interesting team next year. They won 85 games despite Overbay,E5, Fred Lewis, and Having Cito Gaston as a manager. I’m not saying that are going to win the division, but they are certainly going to make the AL East more interesting next year
Lind definitely needs to play in the field. end of conversation. he’s young. and really not that bad defensively
He is pretty bad dude..
The Blue Jays have room for him, and I think they will try Lind at 1b. If he signs for cheap I really don’t see the harm, he isn’t going to take at bats from anyone. The Blue Jays are an interesting team next year. They won 85 games despite Overbay,E5, Fred Lewis, and Having Cito Gaston as a manager. I’m not saying that are going to win the division, but they are certainly going to make the AL East more interesting next year
i could see this turning into a jermaine dye situation and no one wanting to sign him to the contract he feels he deserves
i could see this turning into a jermaine dye situation and no one wanting to sign him to the contract he feels he deserves
I see the Blue Jays as the best possible fit. Their manager has a history with Manny and knows him very well. His numbers at the Rogers Centre are better than any other stadium in baseball… and if he bats behind someone like Batista, that would be an interesting combo. I think pitchers would feel more nervous with Manny on deck than they would with Lind or Wells in the on deck circle. If the price is right, this would be a good deal for the Jays.
Manny to the Blue Jays? I don’t think so. Canadian fans just aren’t into exceptionalism, in either baseball players or other countries.
…what
And American fans aren’t into spelling or making sense, apparently.
There aren’t many players you can be sure will put up a .300/.400/.500 line and Manny is one of them. Jays are too smart to pass on that.