Manny Drama
Elusive Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez opened up to the Boston Herald’s Rob Bradford, implying dishonesty by team management:
"I want to know what’s my situation. I want no more (expletive) where they tell you one thing and behind your back they do another thing. I think I’ve earned that respect, for a team to sit down with me and tell me this is what we want, this is what we want to do."
Ramirez would like to sit down with Red Sox brass after the season and discuss his $20MM club option for ’09 (and perhaps the ’10 option as well).
Team owner John Henry took exception to Manny’s implication, replying:
"I find remarks that we have been anything other than completely straightforward to be personally offensive."
Ramirez is hitting .293/.389/.518, almost identical to last year. But he played in 133 games in ’07 and is on pace to play 150 this year. The little public spat through the Boston Herald really doesn’t change the situation – it’s still a close call for the Red Sox. By the way, Buster Olney’s heard rumblings that Ramirez has changed agents again, from Scott Boras to Legacy Sports Group.
Sherman’s Latest: Bay, Nady, Holliday, Fuentes, Blake
The New York Post’s Joel Sherman is working hard today, filing blog posts here and here.
- Multiple teams are in the hunt for a right-handed hitting outfielder: the Mets, Rays, and maybe the Yankees. The Pirates are asking for too much for Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, while the Rockies are waiting to see what Bay costs so they can ask for more for Matt Holliday. The Rays’ might find their solution internally, with Rocco Baldelli.
- Holliday as a replacement for Manny Ramirez this winter? Right now it’s just a couple of execs speculating to Sherman.
- The Rockies want either Jon Niese from the Mets or Ian Kennedy from the Yankees for Brian Fuentes, but the two New York clubs aren’t having that.
- Nolan Ryan doesn’t want to punt on ’08 with the Rangers.
- Sherman wonders if the Marlins could match up with Texas on a catcher.
- Juan Rivera is not available at this point.
- Casey Blake is likely to be traded, partially because the Indians probably wouldn’t offer him arbitration after the season. The Mets and Yankees are said to have "at least mild interest."
Rosenthal’s Latest: Padilla, Manny, Beltre, Dunn
Rumor man Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.
- At least three teams have inquired on the Rangers’ Vicente Padilla: the Mets, Yankees, and Brewers. Jon Daniels is looking for "quality young pitching."
- Manny Ramirez‘s $20MM option for ’09 isn’t a lock. It’s a tough call – .900 OPS players on one-year deals don’t grow on trees.
- Rosenthal suggests David DeJesus or Melky Cabrera would be nice fits for the Diamondbacks, who aren’t looking for a rental. He also speculates on names like Brian Giles, David Dellucci, and Randy Winn. Note: Rosenthal is playing GM here, not relaying inside info of trade talks.
- Rosenthal believes Matt Stairs would be a nice addition for the Dodgers, and notes that the Dodgers and Blue Jays have spoken. The Jays’ direction for ’08 is still uncertain though.
- Still sounds like it’d take a "knockout offer" to pry Rich Harden loose from the A’s.
- The A’s are said to like Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre. He can block trades to eight unknown clubs though.
- Adam Dunn isn’t generating much trade interest yet.
- KC’s Ron Mahay is "drawing significant interest." The trade market for lefty relievers is fairly robust.
Odds and Ends: Meche, Horne, Manny, Uggla
Today’s random hot stove links…
- Gil Meche wants to stay with the Royals.
- Yankees pitching prospect Alan Horne may be injured. This could have hot stove ramifications – Horne could’ve been a top trade chip or even a rotation addition this year.
- Peter Abraham does not think Barry Bonds makes sense for the Yankees. Hideki Matsui will be out at least a couple of weeks with a knee injury, with surgery as a last resort.
- Manny Ramirez shoved the Red Sox’s traveling secretary. This is slightly different than the Shawn Chacon situation, in that Chacon had his hands around Ed Wade’s neck. But is Manny getting off easy because he’s Manny?
- CBS’s Scott Miller weighs in on the starting pitching market.
- Dan Uggla is in line for at least a tenfold raise in arbitration next year. The Marlins haven’t decided whether to talk extension with him.
Odds And Ends: Ramirez, Tavarez, Brewslow, Pena
Thankfully, the calendar will soon flip to June, and trade rumors will start to heat up. To tide you over until then, here are a few notes from around the league.
- Sean McAdam wonders if Manny Ramirez’s current slump will affect the team’s decision to exercise his $20MM option for 2009. Manny sounded rather confident last month that the team would pick it up. And while it’s nearly a given that he’ll recover from this month, the Red Sox could read it as a sign of decline. Still, the chances of the option being picked up are still high.
- A few days after accepting an assignment to AAA Pawtucket, Julian Tavarez has instead opted for free agency.
- Couple of transaction notes. Braves C Brayan Pena has been activated from the DL, and immediately designated for assignment. Indians reliever Craig Breslow was also DFA.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog, and can be reached here.
Cafardo’s Latest: Ramirez, Papelbon, Moss
Nick Cafardo spins Red Sox rumor gold in the Boston Globe.
- Scott Boras is the spur in Manny Ramirez‘s side. Cafardo interviews the Notorious One in the Boston Globe today. Says Boras, "Our plan for him is in place. If you can make a player comfortable, you have the ability to make a player play well." So far, so good. He doesn’t speculate on the reality of a contract extension saying, "I communicate with [Theo Epstein] on a number of things and I really let the decision-making be theirs. It’s rare if they haven’t thought about what their future plans are for a player."
- In that same piece, Cafardo quotes Jonathan Papelbon who is fine going year-to-year right now. He says he’s comfortable with his ability and his salary and shrewdly knows he’d rather wait for a big payday than make a concession for security when his talent could go beyond what he signs for.
- Two GMs apparently checked on the availability of Brandon Moss. If the Sox were to trade Coco Crisp, they would have no backup while Bobby Kielty is hurt, so the man I call "Brandy Moss" is not expendable at this point.
- From another source, Dan Kolb was released to make room for Devern Hansack in Pawtucket (say it with me: Puh-TUH-kit!).
By Nat Boyle
Odds And Ends II: Longoria, Manny, Giambi, Tejada
Rumors are a bit sparse today…this should be expected in the weeks and month to come. So here are a few articles for your afternoon reading.
- Sabernomics takes a look at the economics of the Evan Longoria deal.
- Tom Verducci puts Manny Ramirez in historical perspective. ‘Ducc thinks that Manny is better than some of us give him credit for. Which is difficult, because you have to give him all the credit in the world (at the dish, at least).
- Rob Neyer (subscription required) talks about the Yankees releasing Jason Giambi. He links to an article saying that Giambi simply cannot hit power pitchers anymore. Unfortunately, that idea is bunk, according to SG of Replacement Level.
- Keith Law (also subscription) has some thoughts on the Miguel Tejada age situation. I’m just wondering that with the way ESPN handled this, aren’t they closing doors to other interviews? If I was a past steroid user, I’d definitely be wary of an interview request from ESPN.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog.
Manny Hopes To Play Six More Years
Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez expressed no discomfort with his contract situation (Boston has $20MM options for 2009 and 2010). "They’re not stupid," he said of his bosses in the Sox front office. "They know. They know I can play and I’m ready. That’s it. I’m going to get the two options, then I’m going to get a four-year deal. I’m just going to go and get it." That would have Manny retiring at the age of 42. "Age is just a number," he added.
Sarah Green writes for the Boston Metro and UmpBump.com. She can be reached here.
Manny Looking For Four More Years In Boston
Tony Massarotti writes today that slugger Manny Ramirez wants to play in Boston for four more years. Ramirez told reporters “I’m going to get the two options and I’m going to get two more years.”
The guaranteed portion of Manny’s contract is up at the end of the 2008 season. The club owns the rights to exercise options on both the 2009 and 2010 seasons at 20MM per.
This statement may come as a surprise to the Red Sox brass, however. When Ramirez was asked if he and the club have discussed any of this, he responded, “They don’t need to. I know I’m going to get it.”
Manny Switches To Boras
This should be interesting. Just in time for his contract year, Manny Ramirez has ditched agents Scott Parker and Greg Genske in favor of Scott Boras. As Jon Heyman notes, this is not necessarily a bad thing for Boston since they’re on fine terms with Boras. Manny recently spoke to the press about his $20MM option after the season, but didn’t really add new information.
There will be a lot of Boston media chatter about Manny’s situation this year, and now plenty of Boras Hall of Fame type rhetoric as well. But really, it’s a very simple situation. The Red Sox don’t have to make a decision until after the season, and they don’t owe it to Ramirez to do so. If his new workout regime helps him stay healthy for 140+ games, the Sox will probably exercise the option. They’ll certainly have other options, but Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, and Bobby Abreu won’t sign for one year.