Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 25, 2009
Olney on Manny

Buster Olney lays Manny Ramirez's unemployment at the feet of Manny Ramirez:

The primary reason for this, unquestionably, is the sport-wide perception that he did not honor his contract in Boston, and went to extraordinary depths to get himself out of that contract. These are not the on-background musings of a couple of rogue scouts, or the chortlings of conspiracy-theorist sports writers. This is the cemented belief of many executives with many teams, reinforced by Ramirez's sudden transformation into a high-energy player as soon as he moved from the Red Sox to the Dodgers. The same guy who was clocked at 5.8 seconds going from home to first base in his last week with Boston suddenly was running full-speed for L.A., his hat flying off.

You might think that Manny is getting picked on. You might think there's no real evidence that he stopped playing hard for the Red Sox.

But apparently, there is an army of decision-makers across the game's landscape who would disagree with you. It's Feb. 25 and one of the best hitters of all-time, fresh off one of the best performances ever, is still in need of offers.

I wonder if the Dodgers or Manny will blink? He appears to have a very good deal on the table in terms of annual salary. In this market, maybe that should be the biggest factor.

Hat tip, Projo Sox Blog.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:16 AM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Or maybe, just maybe, Manny doesn't like Spring Training all that much.

Posted by: Adam B. at February 25, 2009 11:43 AM

Anyone who saw him pinch hit in that Yankee game and stand there and take three strikes knew he had no respect for the game or his team. That made him a BUM.

Posted by: THOMAS SPINELLO at February 25, 2009 01:28 PM

Thomas is right. He is getting just what he deserves.

Posted by: emains at February 25, 2009 01:35 PM

I've brought this up before but I just don't see how Manny can possibly get more than $20m a season (which is what his contract options were in Boston). Giving him more than that rewards him for his "bad" behavior which is not a precedent that the owners want to make.

Posted by: Tom at February 25, 2009 03:12 PM
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