The following is a blog post from my other Wordpress blog, Rated PG, as created through the Los Angeles Pierce College Roundup newspaper. Rated PG can be found at www.pgroundup.wordpress.com.
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The four-month long soap opera that was the Manny Ramirez/Dodgers negotiations has finally come to a close as the two sides have agreed to a two-year $45 million pact.
Two years and $45 million — that’s been quite a familiar figure the past winter. It was four months ago today that the Dodgers extended a two-year $45 million offer with a third year option to Ramirez (at the time seeking six years at $25 million per), whose agent, Scott Boras failed to respond to claiming he wished to explore “serious offers.”
A week ago, the Dodgers extended another two-year $45 million offer to the slugging outfielder, this time with deferred compensation ($10 million in 2009-12 plus $5 million in 2013). Boras shot that offer down as well, prompting negotiations to seemingly head south as Frank McCourt revealed his anger with the Ramirez camp and promised another offer at a significantly lower value.
And yet, the deal that Ramirez signed was the exact same deal he was presented with last week and declined.
Why the sudden turnaround? That seems to be the universal question. Here’s the answer:
Manny and Boras were in panic mode. Plain and simple. The Dodgers were fed up with being rejected after four times offering to make Manny Ramirez the second-highest paid player in baseball. If McCourt had followed through with what he had promised, Ramirez most likely would have recieved a one-year deal for under $20 million. Deferred compensation or not, that is a far cry from even the deals they had turned down.
Look at the other side of the equation. If the Dodgers had dropped their offer, that would then give other teams a chance to crawl back into the fold. Take San Francisco for example. If the bar is set at a year at under $20 million, why not take a chance? In the National League West, that may have been all the Giants needed to put them over the top. Or the Yankees — they never really needed Ramirez, but for that short a duration and that “low” a value, it’s not unrealistic to think Brian Cashman could have swooped in for the kill. McCourt was not about to lose the heart and soul of his franchise just for spite.
Now that all is said and done, who won and lost their battles in this free agent pursuit like no other?
When it was rumored that McCourt was about to personally jump into the Manny negotiations,
Winners: Ned Colletti, Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras
Ned Colletti is really the only one in these negotiations who came away smelling like a rose. He handled things perfectly. When the Ramirez camp came out of the gate demanding six years, he could have given in. He didn’t. When the Angels, Yankees and Giants entered the fray, he could have offered through the roof to get it over with. He didn’t. When his offers were rejected time after time, he could have gotten angry. He didn’t. Unlike Frank McCourt, Colletti did a tremendous job keeping things mellow and professional and it paid off for him.
Ramirez and Boras did not get their six-year deal, or even four for that matter, but they entered the offseaon with a goal: get Manny Ramirez a raise. Despite a long, overblown spectacle, they did accomplish that goal (Remember, the two $20 million options Ramirez had on his contract were negotiated through another agent meaning Boras wouldn’t have made a penny on them). Manny also did a good job saving face in the pursuit’s final days. When the world was against him, calling him greedy and selfish, Ramirez personally stepped in and offered a compromise. It was made clear that he wanted to remain a Dodger and was ready to make some sacrifices.
Loser: Frank McCourt
When it was rumored that the Dodgers’ owner was going to step in, many believed it to be a positive thing. Oh, contaire! After Boras rejected the Dodgers’ fourth offer, McCourt issued a press release taking shots at the agent and his client. Too bad the press release failed to mention the deferred compensation that the media had to dig up instead. That spawned the media war between McCourt and Boras, the ugliest battle of the winter. Insults were exchanged, sarcasm, threats. McCourt may have gotten his man, but he almost blew it.
