Manny to Dodgers: 'No Deal Again'

This is just getting absolutely ridiculous. It has been reported late Thursday that Manny Ramirez has once again turned down the Dodgers most recent contract offer. The latest contract called for a 25 million dollar deal in 2009 with a player option of 20 million for 2010. This has been the 4th offer rejected by Ramirez and agent Scott Boras. This latest offer has also been the best Ramirez has received, giving him full control over his 2010 status. The original offer from LA, while the same in dollar amounts, called for a club option on the 2010 season.

Frankly this just makes me angry. I don’t know who I’m more annoyed with, Manny or the Dodgers. I just want to scream at Manny, telling him to stop turning down a potential 45 million dollars to play 2 seasons of baseball, when there’s people all across this country who are losing their jobs and homes. Manny needs to stop being so goddamned greedy. He’s made more money in his career than most people can imagine, as has Scott Boras I’m sure. The two of them need to wake up and realize the economy isn’t improving and maybe they should be a little sensitive to that. In a time when people can’t get jobs they need to stop turning one down that pays 25-45 million dollars.

As for the Dodgers organization the first thing they need to realize is that they can win the NL West without Manny. Of course with Manny they would probably coast to the division title but they don’t necessarily need him to get to the top. They did lose their best pitcher Derek Lowe to free agency but they’ve made a number of nice moves to improve the club. They’ve replaced Lowe with left hander Randy Wolf who is coming off a strong season splitting time between Houston and San Diego. Also 21 year old phenom Clayton Kershaw should be greatly improved following his debut season in ‘08.On the offensive side they have brought in second baseman Orlando Hudson and super utility man Mark Loretta. Adding Hudson, allows them to move Blake Dewitt to a utility role. Combining with Loretta the two provide solid bats and both are capable of playing every infield position, giving LA an extremely deep and versatile bench.

If the Dodgers do continue to negotiate and finally relent to Manny’s demands, it basically makes Manny the god of LA. The worst part is, he’ll know it. Secondly it will make the Dodgers essentially powerless in any future negotiations with clients of Scott Boras. I really wish the Dodgers would walk away from Ramirez and Boras and just let them go to that ‘mystery team’ Boras keeps hinting at and see if they can find a better offer. My guess is there is no other team with serious interest and I know they won’t find a better offer out there. Manny would have it all in LA. He'd be on a serious playoff contender, he'd be the lone superstar on the team grabbing all the love from the Dodger faithful and most importantly he'd get his money. The Dodgers offers have been well beyond market value and well beyond generous. I implore Dodger owner Frank McCourt and GM Ned Colletti to make one final take-it or leave-it offer and remind Manny that he needs the Dodgers more than the Dodgers need him.

-Robb Lennahan