Dodgers Rumors

7:43pm: It’s official, according to this press release from Tony Jackson of the LA Daily News. Manny will donate $1MM to the Dodgers Dream Foundation. The AP (via Yahoo) reports that Manny passed his physical.

12:15pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that an agreement has been reached.  Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe confirmed it with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

11:44am: Not sure of the timestamp on it, but Mike Hiserman of the L.A. Times says no agreement has been reached and the Dodgers and Manny were still meeting in L.A.  The Dodgers’ official website still says there’s an agreement though.

10:35am: Yahoo’s Tim Brown also says an agreement has been reached.  He says a portion of the money both seasons ($25MM in ’09 and a possible $20MM in ’10) is deferred.  Brown says to expect a press conference tomorrow.

Ken Gurnick and Barry Bloom of MLB.com have info on the deferred money:

Payment is deferred over five years without interest, with an opt-out clause after one season paid at $10MM each for the first four years and $5MM for the fifth.

10:05am: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News says the meeting took place very early this morning and an agreement is in place.

10:01am: The story has been removed from the L.A. Times’ website.

9:37am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, the Dodgers reached a contract agreement with Manny Ramirez today on a two-year, $45MM deal with an opt-out clause after the first year.  The deal also includes no-trade protection.  It’s pending a physical.

This was fun.  We get to do it all over again after the season.  Given the value of the opt-out, Scott Boras ultimately did get Manny a contract worth significantly more than the Dodgers’ initial offer.

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.

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…

SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up, primarily focusing on Manny Ramirez.  To review – though the Dodgers and Manny/Scott Boras were just $1.5MM or so apart, owner Frank McCourt ignored Boras’ most recent proposals and talked about starting from scratch.  Heyman’s source believes McCourt may choose to "stop negotiating for now, or more drastically, begin negotiating backward."  Another source of Heyman’s, one close to Manny, believes lowering their offer would be a dangerous move for the Dodgers.

Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times talked to McCourt, who "said the latest phase of negotiations ended the moment agent Boras made him a counterproposal instead of simply accepting or declining an offer the Dodgers made Wednesday of a two-year, $45MM contract with much of the money deferred without any added interest."

7:01pm: Just a reminder: These current proposals still contain the original second year opt-out clause.  Check out MLBTR’s Manny Ramirez archive if you need a refresher on the entire saga.

6:27pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman notes that "the sides are now about $1.5 million apart in their offers."

6:19pm: According to Diamond Leung of the The Press-Enterprise, Manny directed Boras to make the Dodgers a third two-year contract proposal on Saturday "with some deferred compensation."

"Our most recent offer Saturday morning covered two years with some deferred compensation ($43.5 millon net present value)," Boras wrote in an e-mail to reporters.  "Manny directed me to compromise between the Dodgers last offer of $42 million net present value ($45 million with differed compensation) and our $45 million dollar without differed money. However, we have yet to hear from them on our last three offers."

3:16pm: According to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times Dodgers owner Frank McCourt will not consider Boras’s counter-offer of two years and $45MM in non-deferred payments with an opt-out clause. The Dodgers have pulled their most recent offer according to the AP (via ESPN), so the two sides are back where they started.

Hernandez has a source who says Boras values $45MM in deferred payments at about $42MM in present value. Negotiations are set to resume Monday at the earliest.

12:57pm: Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports thinks the Dodgers may have made their best offer to Manny.

12:53pm: According to Tony Jackson of the Daily News, the Dodgers might suspect Scott Boras of failing to report every offer to his client, Manny Ramirez.

12:30pm: Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com has a Sunday report on the progress of negotiations between the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt says, "No new news." The Dodgers are not giving consideration to the most recent proposal offered by Scott Boras, and are in a bit of a lull at this point.

Says McCourt, "At some point, and you’ll all know when, we will resume discussions, because we do want Manny. We do want Manny to be a Dodger this year."