Blog Posts For Tag: Dodgers

Everybody knew that the intensity of the MLB after the All Star game would quickly separate the real contenders from the handful of clubs that were going to receive participation trophies at best. It was what happened that has been such a surprise to those of us who do not make a living sitting down, reading all the stats, studying every box score, and enabling a Google alert for every MLB transaction.

Four months ago Frank McCourt and the Los Angeles Dodgers offered Scott Boras and Manny Ramirez $45 million dollars over two years to stay in sunny L.A. Boras retorted that he would then be taking serious offers. In the coming months magical mystery teams offered more, apparently these teams were from alternate universes because no other team that I have heard of even came to the table with enough to match the offer.

Many, including me, have condemned Scott Boras and Manny Ramirez as greedy bastards, but I think the pair knew they were never going to get the four-year, $100 deal. I think that was a mystical number chosen to do one thing: make sure Manny did not have to report to spring training until March.

With just about a week until pitchers and catchers report, there is simply an incredible number of free agents still available. This is hardly a groundbreaking observation, but I find the parallels between the deep field of quality players still looking for a contract and the layman who is trying to find work after becoming yet another causality of the economy to be too great to ignore.

Manny Ramirez needs a reality check. He is going to be 37 years old this next season. The economy is killing everyone, including professional sports team. He is going to be 37 years old. He is simply not going to get a four-year deal for $100 million. He is going to be 37 years old. I do not know what Scott Boras is telling him, but not even the big-spending New York Yankees are going to make that kind of an offer.

When I was a kid I used to wake each morning in the summer, take out the sports section, and devour the box scores. I would read each game carefully, noting who was hot and who had gone cold. I delighted in imagining the pitching duels and cringed at the visions of a reliever coming in and getting lit up, ruining a stupendous seven-inning outing by the starter. I also noticed that certain position players did certain things. The corner infielders hit for power, the outfielders hit home runs or stole bases, the catchers struck out, and the middle infielders hit .260 with about five home runs a year. Then came Jeff Kent, and suddenly a second baseman could hit 20 home runs a year.