MLB: Spring training / unsigned FA's / 2009 outlook

[MaineDolFan]

Ellsbury hit .280+ as a rookie and swiped 50 bags.  That was pretty darned good, don't you think?  On top of that he also had his playing time split with Coco.  I expect very good things out of Ellsbury this year.

[SportsChick]

not complaining about the speed, trust me. I love his speed on the bags.

I get to see them on March 30th (my 30th birthday) up at Disney, I'm looking forward to it

[MaineDolFan]

I swear - I don't know what the hell Manny & Boras are doing.  No one is beating down Manny's door here...and I think turning down these offers make other teams not want to jump in.  He just turned down another 25 million for this season and a player option @ 20 million for next year.

Article here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-dodgers-ramirez&prov=ap&type=lgns

If someone were "in the wings" they would have come forward by now.  The Dodgers brass hit it on the head.  "We're bidding against ourselves."  Yes you are.

[raptorsfan29]

great start to the season. Vernon Wells out for a month  .

I guess out of all the doom and gloom surrounding i will be excited to see a full season with Cito Gaston as the manager and Travis Snider, I don't know how many people noticed this but i was a huge Travis Snider fan ever since they drafted him. I don't feel that way about any other player.

[MUCPhin]

riiiight

Dammit that never works....

But for the sake of conversation, I am looking forward to seeing Jay Bruce play with the big boys for the whole year.  Now if they could only find a leadoff hitter with a better OBP of .220 there might be a reason for optimism.

[StL FinFan]

We will be in Cincy 4th of July weekend to see the Cardinals and Reds.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Boras has had a lot of successes, but he has also had his share of failures. I think this is going to go down as a failure on his part.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

I swear - I don't know what the hell Manny & Boras are doing.  No one is beating down Manny's door here...and I think turning down these offers make other teams not want to jump in.  He just turned down another 25 million for this season and a player option @ 20 million for next year.

Article here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-dodgers-ramirez&prov=ap&type=lgns

If someone were "in the wings" they would have come forward by now.  The Dodgers brass hit it on the head.  "We're bidding against ourselves."  Yes you are.

I'll bet he gets signed in July or August when the playoff races heat up.  He'll be the quintessential "rent-a-bat"

[stinkfish]

Does anyone think that Manny is hoping for an offer from the Yanks, or the Mets?

[SportsChick]

Seems like Manny is waiting for a big injury.

What's up with Santana? He's going for an elbow MRI? Man, if there's serious damage there, the Mets are toast

[EDGECRUSHER]

http://www.yfsf.org/2009/02/oh-that-manny.html



Maybe the Dodgers will eventually sign Manny Ramirez on his terms (whatever those are). Maybe the Giants or some other team will swoop in and sign him. But it's hard to imagine Ramirez receiving any more than the $45 million, two-year deal he rejected this week, and if that's all he gets, consider this:

Assuming Ramirez were to exercise the 2010 player option for $20 million (I think he will because anyone who thinks the teams will be in any position to pay players more money next offseason is kidding themselves), he will have received a whopping $5 million more than he would have gotten if he had simply stayed in Boston and put up his big numbers (thereby assuring that the Red Sox would have picked up their two options on him).

All of this bullshit for $5 Million MAYBE over the course of 2 seasons. IMO, I think the Red Sox would've extended him a few years at a high salary if he just shut his mouth and didn't act like a jerk.

One last thing to note, Manny switched agents to Boras. If Boras gets more than 5%, and there's a solid chance he does, that $5 Million goes down to say $2.5 Million.

[MaineDolFan]

Boston actually talked extension prior to Spring Training with Manny's former agents right before he fired them for Boras.  Appears Boston was willing to drop the two team options and pick up Manny for two years, 52 million and a third year / player option @18 million. 

Rumor has it that this offer was presented to Manny and was a driving force behind him firing these agents and picking up Boras.  Good call on that one, Man-Ram!

[SportsChick]

So Brian and I went to ESPN weekend, Curt Schilling was there. No love lost between he and Manny

[MaineDolFan]

They HATE each other.  Loathe is a good word.

Schilling will end up in Tampa this year, I just know it.  Fat fucker. 

[EDGECRUSHER]

Well, for all of his prima donna bullshit, Schilling is a gamer. He pitches hurt and puts a lot of effort into the game. Manny is the complete opposite, he is just amazingly talented that he can half ass it and still hit .320 with 43 HR. Not a surprise they don't like each other.