San Francisco Giants News & Rumors

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.

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.

10:18pm: Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle comments on the "comical circus surrounding the Manny Ramirez negotiations."

Sometime soon, Jenkins writes, "Manny will stroll into the Dodgers’ clubhouse with a big smile on his face, as if nothing in the world is wrong. I wonder if his teammates will portray him as they did last year, the wacky savior who really isn’t such a bad guy. Now that he’ll be getting an opt-out for the 2010 season, he’s merely a mercenary waiting to get a real offer from a team that truly appreciates him."

5:43pm: Jackson cites a "well-placed source" who says that Boras responded to the Dodgers’ two-year, $45MM offer with a counter proposal of two years and $55MM.

Jackson also writes that "it was Boras, not the Dodgers, who requested as far back as last fall that a portion of the money be deferred so that the total value of the package could be greater."

Jackson notes that there is currently no offer on the table and that "it doesn’t look like this is headed for a quick resolution."

4:42pm: Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com got a hold of Boras shortly after the noon deadline.

"I told Ned that we stand by our proposal," Boras told Bloom. "As far as we’re concerned, there’s no deadline. We’re still talking… We’re waiting for their response."

Boras made a counter offer to the Dodgers this morning, requesting a two-year, $45MM contract without the deferred payments.

3:31pm: Jackson reports that Colletti and Boras spoke on the phone around noon, but nothing came of it.  It sounds like that deadline wasn’t taken too seriously by either side.

2:47pm: The noon deadline has passed (on the West Coast) without word from Boras, Manny or the Dodgers.

2:01pm: Giants managing partner Bill Neukom spoke to reporters, including the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggarly, on Friday morning.  He left open the possibility of his club making a late run at Ramirez.  Neukom also believes there are teams involved other than the Dodgers and Giants:

“We’ve been in touch with Manny and his agent for months about this,” Neukom said. “We’ve explored a number of situations. I think by far the Dodgers have been more active. Then there are these other teams Boras has talked about. We’re not a phantom team. There are other teams that haven’t been named that are in this. So we’ll see.”

1:15pm: According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Manny is willing to accept the Dodgers’ most recent offer if the money is not deferred.  Most of you have probably already assumed this.

12:16pm: GM Ned Colletti told Jackson that deferred compensation has been "part of the deal from the very beginning."  It was even part of the Dodgers’ initial one-year, $25MM offer.

It sounds like there’s a lot of confusion on both sides. "I have asked Scott many times to tell us where we are at, what we are bidding against, to tell us what we have to meet," Colletti said Friday morning.  "We have yet to be told what the parameters are.”

11:35am: Yahoo! Sports’ Steve Henson passes along an e-mail that Boras sent to multiple media outlets Thursday night:

“We are continuing to work within the scope of the parameters established during our discussion Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, which included a two-year term and ability for the player to void the contract after the first year.

“Per that face-to-face meeting, we agreed to continue to have discussions until Friday at noon, which included our two proposals today, our most recent at two years, $45 million. We are waiting to hear their response.”

11:19am: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News is venting:

The wonder is that the Dodgers wasted their time making an offer that they HAD TO KNOW wouldn’t be accepted. Why would they do that, you ask? Well, now Frank McCourt gets to say to his fan base, "Hey, I tried.” Well, no, Frank, you really didn’t.

9:21am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, deferred payments were the key issue in Manny Ramirez‘s rejection of the Dodgers’ most recent offer.  As Hernandez explains,

Under the terms of the contract that Ramirez was offered by the Dodgers on Wednesday, he would’ve received $10 million this year. And by exercising the option for the second year, he would’ve received $10 million in 2010.

Ramirez, who turns 37 in May, would’ve been paid the remaining $25 million over the next three years without any added interest. He would’ve received $10 million in 2011, $10 million in 2012 and $5 million in 2013 .

Scott Boras made a counter offer using the same basic language and numbers of the club’s two-year, $45MM offer, but without the deferred payments.  Boras told the Dodgers that they have until noon to strike a deal.

10:46pm: Press release from the Dodgers: Manny has rejected their latest offer.  In the release, Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt expresses his frustration with Manny and Scott Boras.  He says the Dodgers are negotiating against themselves and improved their offer despite the economy.

8:24pm: Jayson Stark of ESPN.com said on ESPN Radio that the best offer Manny will see is currently on the table. Stark asks a fair question: "With nobody else really bidding, how much better can [Manny] do?"

7:29pm: The Giants are still keeping tabs on Manny, but the D’Backs are assuming he’ll end up in LA. Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports that Bob Melvin, Dan Haren and Tony Clark all expect Manny to sign with the Dodgers.

5:15pm: Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle heard from Giants president Larry Baer that the Giants have based their conversations with Boras on "concepts" rather than concrete figures. Schulman gets the sense that the main concept is a multi-year deal that provides "outs" for Manny and the Giants in case one side decides the deal isn’t working.

Colletti said the Dodgers made a "significant concession" with their most recent offer. When asked about the timetable for the deal, he said "you can go as many innings as you need to get a resolution."

4:55pm: According to the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, Colletti doesn’t think it’s a big deal that Ramirez is not yet in camp.  It’s definitely not going to affect negotiations.

"With the season starting a week later, it’s a little bit more flexible than it might have been a year ago," Colletti said Thursday afternoon.

3:16pm: Dylan Hernandez has some additional information from Giants president Larry Baer:

Baer said he expects the All-Star outfielder to re-sign with the Dodgers and that the Giants had no intention of entering a bidding war for his services.

2:59pm: Dodgers GM Ned Colletti just finished addressing the media.  Boras told the Dodgers that he’d get back to them in a day or two, according to Tony Jackson.

It sounds like this saga might not reach its conclusion today.

1:22pm: Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News has an update from the Giants’ side of things:

Giants president Larry Baer said he exchanged messages with agent Scott Boras on Wednesday, but nothing had changed. Boras did not solicit an offer and Baer said the Giants have not made an official one.

“We haven’t been asked to make an offer in the last couple of days,” Baer said Thursday. “I don’t want to characterize it beyond that. People are saying it’s accelerated (with the Dodgers). I can’t tell you there’s any difference today than a week ago. There may be, but it hasn’t been communicated to us.”

12:49pm: Manager Joe Torre puts in his two cents (courtesy of MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick):

"Any time you talk and make another offer and they’re still listening, it’s all good as far as I’m concerned." Torre would obviously prefer putting lineups together with Manny involved.

9:08am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, Scott Boras told reporters this morning that he’s "in the middle of negotiations" with the Dodgers and at least one other team.  Still, it’d be surprising to see Colletti and Co. budge from the offer that is currently on the table.

Catch up on all things Manny Ramirez in our MLBTR archive.