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Manny Ramirez

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Francoeur, Lilly, Loney

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On this date two years ago, instant replay was used for the first time in baseball history, resolving a fair or foul call on an Alex Rodriguez home run against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Third base umpire Brian Runge originally called the ball a homer, and that call stood upon further review. Numerous umpire gaffes have some clamoring for expanded use of instant replay, but so far Major League Baseball hasn't budged. 

Here's a look at what's been written around the baseball blogosphere…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Odds & Ends: Manny, Garland, Fredi Gonzalez

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Links for Wednesday, as Manny Ramirez finishes a 1-for-3 White Sox debut with a hit-by-pitch…

  • ESPN's Buster Olney feels that a team interested in Manny this winter should dangle an incentive-based contract with a base salary of $1MM or less.  But keep in mind that last offseason Scott Boras got $3.3MM and $2MM guarantees for Xavier Nady and Alex Cora, respectively.
  • The Nationals and Padres were the only teams to pursue Jon Garland during the offseason, the righty told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Garland chose the Padres because he liked the ballpark and felt they were closer to competing.
  • Fredi Gonzalez tops Cubs GM Jim Hendry's managerial wish list currently, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Taiwanese news reports indicate that the Yankees determined their deal with Tzu-Wei Lin is invalid, reports the Taiwan Baseball blog.  The 16-year-old shortstop might be able to get more money from another team after he finishes high school. 
  • Mike Napoli puts his chances of being an Angel next season at 50-50, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times.

Manny Ramirez Claim Reactions

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The move that sent Manny Ramirez to Chicago wasn't as dramatic as the one that sent him to L.A., but it's still one of the biggest transactions of the summer. Two years ago, we had many teams bidding on Manny and Jason Bay heading to Boston. This year, the Dodgers could only negotiate with the White Sox and no players headed back to L.A., but Manny can still hit at an elite level, so baseball players and writers are buzzing about him:

  • ESPN.com's Keith Law says Ramirez is a definite upgrade for the White Sox, even though his stat line may be inflated since "he's done a lot of his damage this year against pitchers with fringe-average fastballs."
  • Multiple White Sox told MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince that they were pleased to see that Manny will be joining the team.
  • ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says Ramirez's difficult personality is "a gift he just keeps on giving."
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports points out that Ramirez had no choice but to waive his no-trade clause. The 38-year-old has a much better chance of restoring his free agent value in Chicago.
  • Dave Cameron of FanGraphs believes the White Sox made a "bold, intelligent" decision.
  • Click here to read Kenny Williams' thoughts on the claim.
  • It's time to hear your reaction: did the White Sox make the right decision? Click here to take the survey and here to view the results.

Kenny Williams Talks Manny Ramirez

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Manny Ramirez did not ask for compensation from the White Sox when he waived his no-trade clause to come to Chicago. GM Kenny Williams said Ramirez and agent Scott Boras did not ask for an extension or anything but the chance to play. It’s not surprising, since Ramirez was no longer contributing in L.A. and now has the chance to build his free agent value down the stretch.

The White Sox could have sent the Dodgers a prospect in exchange for some salary relief, but Williams says he’d prefer to keep the talent and spend the money nine times out of ten.

“Talent is hard to come by and when you get higher-end talent, you try to do your best to hold onto it,” Williams said.

Williams expects Ramirez to adjust his appearance to respect the club’s policy. But even if he shortens his dreadlocks or cuts them off completely, the GM realizes Ramirez is no cookie cutter player.

“Is there a [perfect] fit anywhere for a personality like Manny?” Williams asked. “What’s wrong with a little flair?”

The Red Sox and Dodgers might have some answers to Williams' rhetorical question, but the White Sox aren’t worried about any of their new DH's history. When Ramirez joins his new team in Cleveland tomorrow, he’ll join a group intent on winning in 2010. And if all goes well for the White Sox, they could even bring Ramirez back next year.

“I go into this with an open mind,” Williams said. “Let’s see how it goes, let’s see how it fits.”

White Sox Acquire Manny Ramirez

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The White Sox officially acquired Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers, tweets USA Today's Bob Nightengale.  MLB Network's Peter Gammons tweets that the Sox decided to take on Manny's entire salary in lieu of surrendering a prospect, so this is a straight waiver claim.  $3.8MM of Ramirez's $20MM salary remains, though three-quarters of that is deferred without interest.  The move bears some similarity to Chicago's waiver claim of Alex Rios from the Blue Jays on August 10th of last year – both players were simply handed over for salary relief.  In this case, Ramirez waived his no-trade rights without compensation.

Ramirez has worn out his welcome at each of his three previous stops, as chronicled by Yahoo's Jeff Passan.  Still, he represents the best possible designated hitter upgrade the White Sox could have made.  Manny is still a near-lock for a .400 OBP and .500 slugging percentage, and he may be motivated by his impending free agency and damaged reputation.  The White Sox are running out of time to close the 4.5 game gap with the Twins.  With 32 games remaining, Baseball Prospectus pegs Chicago's playoff chances at 8.9%.

Odds & Ends: Crawford, Ramirez, Hernandez, Orioles

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Sunday night linkage..

  • The risk factor in signing Carl Crawford depends on the length of the deal given to him, tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
  • In a pinch-hitting appearance, Manny Ramirez was ejected from today's game after the very first pitch for arguing balls and strikes.  Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News wonders (via Twitter) if the slugger intentionally got himself tossed.
  • Nats GM Mike Rizzo says that Livan Hernandez deserved to receive a contract extension before the season's end, writes Gene Wang of the Washington Post.
  • The Orioles will end their 53-season relationship with Bluefield, West Virginia where the club has its Rookie-level affiliate, writes Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.

Dodgers To Send Ramirez To White Sox

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SUNDAY, 9:03pm: The Dodgers confirmed that Ramirez will be shipped to the White Sox, tweets Peter Gammons of the MLB Network.

8:33pm: Ramirez has indicated that he will waive his no-trade clause even if he isn't compensated, sources tell Hernandez (via Twitter).

8:04pm: The Dodgers are trying to decide whether to take third base prospect Jon Gilmore and assume part of Ramirez's salary or just take the cash, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  The White Sox acquired the former first-round pick from the Braves as part of a package for Javier Vazquez in December of 2008.

7:30pm: There's still a possibility that a swap could be worked out in which the Dodgers get a player and the White Sox don't have to foot the entire $4.3MM bill for Ramirez, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN (via Twitter).  Meanwhile, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com writes that there will be no players coming back to Los Angeles.

7:08pm: Details of the transaction are still being worked out but Ramirez will be a member of the White Sox on Monday one way or another, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

7:02pm: The White Sox will receive Ramirez tomorrow, a source tells Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.  Because the White Sox will be getting Ramirez on a waiver claim, they will be on the hook for the remainder of his salary, Hernandez tweets.

1:31pm: USA Today's Bob Nightengale opines (via Twitter) that since the Dodgers aren't playing Manny, they're likely set on trading him. According to Nightengale, Manny is telling friends that he can't wait to join the White Sox.

Meanwhile, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times quotes Joe Torre as saying that he's not benching Manny to get him to waive his no-trade clause, he's just trying to win games (Twitter link). From what we've heard, it doesn't sound like Manny would need the extra encouragement anyway.

SATURDAY, 8:34pm: The Dodgers have yet to ask Manny to waive his no-trade clause, according to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).

7:20pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweets that the Dodgers don't intend to give Manny up for nothing. If they part with Manny, the Dodgers want a Sox prospect in return to make it "worth their while."

FRIDAY, 7:37pm: The White Sox "swear" they have yet to have trade talks with the Dodgers about Manny, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).

1:26pm: Multiple teams claimed Manny Ramirez on waivers, but the White Sox won the claim, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (on Twitter). Stark reports strong indications that the Rays claimed Manny and the Rangers also claimed the 38-year-old, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.

The White Sox and Dodgers, who have already discussed possible trades, have until Tuesday to work out a deal. Ramirez has a no-trade clause, which will give him the power to veto a deal if the Dodgers plan to make one. However, he has told friends that he would approve a trade to the White Sox, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

The Dodgers, who are currently 5.0 games out of the Wild Card race, can now hold onto Ramirez, hand him over to the White Sox or work out a trade. They must determine by Tuesday afternoon whether they can contend for the playoffs.

National League teams had waiver priority on Ramirez, but no NL team made a claim. The claim seems to indicate that the White Sox are willing to take on $4.1MM in salary, but the Dodgers and White Sox talked about potential deals earlier in the week, so the teams may have agreed on a trade that would send Ramirez to Chicago along with salary relief. About $3.1MM of Ramirez's remaining salary is deferred.

Jon Heyman of SI.com, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times also contributed to the story.

Heyman On Ramirez, Yankees, Diamondbacks

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Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated has a new column up this evening.  Let's dive in and see what he has for us..

  • Heyman writes that a deal sending Manny Ramirez to the White Sox would be in the best interests of all parties involved.  Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has lamented the monster deal given to Ramirez ever since he signed off on it, so it wouldn't make sense to hang on to him, particularly when they're not playing him regularly.  Some close to the slugger believe that the Dodgers are simply trying to rankle him enough so that he'll happily leave.  If that is indeed the plan, then it seems to be working.  Earlier today it was reported that Ramirez is telling friends that he can't wait to join the White Sox.
  • Dodgers starter Ted Lilly would be a great get for the Yankees but he likely wouldn't make it down to them.  Even if it were to fall all the way to the Bombers, there's little chance the Dodgers would deal him anyway. With Andy Pettitte sidelined, the Yankees could certainly use a pitcher before the deadline strikes.
  • The Padres' success on the field makes former GM Kevin Towers look good and could boost his candidacy for future openings.  Heyman opines that Yankees' scouting director Damon Oppenheimer would be a fine choice for the job as well.
  • By putting in a claim on Ramirez, the Rays showed that they are serious about winning this season.  Their window may be closing as Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and Rafael Soriano can all leave via free agency after this season.

Odds & Ends: Twins, K-Rod, Marlins, Soriano

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Sunday links, as Charlie Morton hopes to avoid becoming the Pirates' fifth pitcher this season with double-digit losses….

Rosenthal On Rangers, Ramirez, Finances

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports brings us another edition of Full Count.  Fans of Manny Ramirez will especially enjoy this.  Let's dive right in..

  • Despite their recent ownership issues, the Rangers seem to have no problem with spending big.  One of the reasons that they claimed Manny Ramirez on waivers was to prevent him from getting to two of their potential postseason foes, the Rays and the Yankees.  It's probably for the best that they didn't submit the winning claim as seeing Ramirez or Vladimir Guerrero in the outfield would have caused some problems.  Right now they should be fine offensively with Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler, two big right-handed bats, coming off of the DL soon.  However, they had been interested in obtaining a fourth outfielder such as Reed Johnson.
  • The Dodgers could let Ramirez go to the White Sox regardless of where they are in the standings.  Rosenthal notes that he has played in just three of six games since coming off of the disabled list.  In the last hour we learned that the twelve-time All-Star will not start in tonight's contest against the Rockies.
  • Based on this week's events it appears that Major League Baseball is doing better financially than we are led to believe.  Leaked financial reports showed that the Marlins and Pirates are taking in a decent amount of money and the small-market Rays took a $4MM gamble on claiming Manny Ramirez.  Rosenthal asked a GM how three teams could take that chance and the GM replied that no one really could take that risk but everyone wants to win.
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