Sure I miss his presence in the lineup, but all in all, I'm happy he's gone. Take tonight for example. A 1-1 ball game late, with runners on 1st and 3rd. Jason Bay is at the plate. He hits a ground ball to third. Inning over right? It would be if it was Manny walking briskly down to first. But instead it's Jason Bay, doing what you're supposed to, and runs out the ground ball. Sox take a 1 run lead, and would eventually go onto win 6-2.
    This article is about two things. The unsurprising statement from Manny Ramirez that he would like to sign with the Yankees (all of what 5 days after stating he wants to finish his career in LA as a Dodger), and what this means to the "investigation" launched by the commissioner's office.
First we'll start with the statement, of Manny saying he wants to sing with the Yankees in the off season. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed baseball over the past 15 years. Manny was born in the Dominican Republic but grew up in Washington Heights, overlooking Yankee Stadium. And it is well documented what kind of production he can provide, playing on a field with those dimensions.
    Also, I think we all know, the Yankees have a reputation for paying top dollar for premium free agents.
    So when you consider that Jason Giambi, Andy Pettite, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina, and Carl Pavano are free agents at the end of the year. And Johnny Damon will be in the last year of his ludicrous deal, newly acquired Xavier Nady has one more year, as well as the uncertainty of Hideki Matsui's health, the Yankees are all but an obvious fit to pay Manny at least the $40 million he is seeking over two years, plus more.
    Let's face it, with the list of above players, the Yankees are a team that can afford to spend big time money, even if it doesn't always pay off. In fact, I will not be the least bit surprised when New York goes out this off season and signs not only Ramirez to a 4 year deal for around $80 million, but also signs other high profile free agents such as Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets. With all that money coming off the books and the opening of a new stadium,(perhaps missing the playoffs for the first time in 13 years) they have even more reason then normal to spend.
    But that's a different story all together, and I'll write about that when the time comes under the title "Told You So"
    The underlying issue here is the fact that Bud Selig has launched an investigation into the departure of Ramirez. Wondering if indeed Manny was purposely (which we all know is the case) under performing in order for the Red Sox to be forced to move him. Keep in mind that Ramirez was "happy in Boston and wanted to finish his career there" that is until he changed agents. An agent named Scott Boras who is by no means an ####, who would not make a cent off of Manny if his two options were picked up, and a man who knows how to manipulate his clients into testing the free agent market.
    Boras supposedly called the Red Sox around 5 p.m. on July 31 saying that if Boston agreed to drop the 2 option years on Manny's contract he would no longer be a distraction for the remainder of the '08 season. Sox management reportedly said that "this only confirms the notion that you were behind this the whole time. Tell him to pack lots of sun block."
    When the news was broke two day's ago about the investigation , Boras stated that Ramirez only wanted out of Boston because he wanted the same sort of living environment that he had in Cleveland.
    Well then, please Scott explain to me. If the pressure of Boston who, hadn't won a world series in 82 years when he signed, was too much on his personal and professional life, how are the "bright lights of New York" going to be any more accommodating to him? How are the New York tabloids, who follow your former client in Canada, going to be any less of a problem for Manny? Don't tell me the avid fans in New York aren't going to stop him on the streets and ask him for a picture, an autograph, or to go clubbing with them.
    I don't know what the ramifications of the commissioners office can be in this situation, but it is obvious that they have reasons to investigate. Maybe Scott Boras should consider the client he is representing before he speaks for him, especially when it comes to Manny Ramirez. Who knows, tomorrow he might want to be a Cub because he likes the Polka song he heard on his ipod. Or he might decide he wants to play for the Milwaukee Brewers because the sausage race was hilarious.
    But who knows really? Maybe this is just uber agent Scott Boras's plan all along. After all he missed out on A-rod's new deal, but if you get the Yankees in on the bidding price, you drive up the price on the rest of the league.
    After all, Scott Boras is no ####, he just happens to represent one.

            With spring training underway it is now time to officially declare it baseball season. And with the start of every new year, comes the grading of the off-season. So without further ado here are my picks for losers , with winners to follow tomorrow.
            5. New York Yankees- First of all, whose in charge here? This is a classic case of to many chiefs and not enough Indians. Before the playoffs last year, how many people even knew what Hank Steinbrenner looked like?
            I say the Yankees are losers of the off season, but not for your standard reasons. All of their free agents from last year are back, but at head scratching prices. The grand total of Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and Alex Rodriguez's contracts? A potential $413 million. That's a lot of scratch to be handing out to players who "failed" their organization last year. And although they all return there are still no upgrades to the pitching staff that struggled all year long.
            The Yankees will be counting on the young arms of Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain this year after deciding to pull the plug on the Johan Santana deal.
            Still, the reason I have labeled them as losers for the off season is by no fault of their own. It's because of everything that has happened since the Mitchell Report was released.
            Lets not blind ourselves and think it was only the Yankees players using steroids and HGH from the mid ninety's to 2005, but they were certainly the most successful team during that time. Now there is a lot of talk about the "tainted" (which is bologna) championships numbered 23-26, a hard thing for the most storied franchise in Major League history to deal with.
            Few may remember the changing of the Joes this year, but all of us will remember (or misremember) Roger Clemens on capital hill, and Andy Pettitte's apology speech.
            4. Houston Astros- Does anyone over there know how to run an organization? Since the trading deadline of 2007 the Astros have traded away their back end of the bullpen. Gone are Brad Lidge, Chad Qualls, and Dan Wheeler. The good news is that Jose Valverde and his league leading 47 saves are now in the back of the pen. The bad news is there's no one to make sure he gets the ball.
            Houston does have some power bats in Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, and Hunter Pence. The rest of the lineup will be filled out by the likes of Mark Loretta, Kaz Matsui, and Michael Bourne, so putting up some runs shouldn't be a problem. Preventing them will be.
            Yes, they have Roy Oswalt as the ace, but they don't have a legitimate three or four starter let alone a number two man. If you think Woody Williamsor Shawn Chacon can get the job done do me a favor and put down that pipe for a minute. Good news Pirates fans, there's an open competition for last place in the NL Central this year.
            3. San Francisco Giants- After successfully cutting ties to the all time home run leader, they replaced his bat with Aaron Rowand. Rowand has the ability to make the highlight grab but is far overrated as a top flight center fielder. Don't believe me? He ranked dead last in expanded zone rating last season while playing at hitter friendly Citizen's Bank Park . Just wait and see how he does covering the spacious center field at A####mp;T Park this year.
            Although there is some hope in the starting rotation with Barry Zito, Matt Cain,  Tim Lincecum , and Noah Lowry, the bullpen and defense are sure to be historically  awful. No one loves Omar Vizquel more then I do (first ballot hall of famer if I could vote) but the man is well past his prime. It doesn't get any better to his left or right with Ray Durham at second and Rich Aurilia at third.
            As for the bullpen? Quick, I challenge you to name one arm, left or right, ready to come in and throw an inning. That's what I thought.
            2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim- There was a time early on where I thought the Angels were about to have the biggest off season of any one. It started with the trading of Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland. I assumed this would be the sign of something big to come. At the time Alex Rodriguez was a free agent as was Mike Lowell. When those options were no more they went out and signed Torii Hunter. "O.K." I said, "now they must have something in the works. Perhaps they will make an aggressive play for Miguel Cabrera."
            Then out of nowhere the Detroit Tigers come in and grab both Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis all because the Angels front office was afraid to part with some prospects, mainly Nick Adenhardt, Howie Kendrick, and Reggie Willits.
            Now the Angels are stuck without a solid third baseman, a veteran short stop and have 6, count 'em, 6 outfielders. The aforementioned Willits and Hunter, Gary Mathews Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, Juan Rivera and Garret Anderson. Adenhardt may well be ready for the majors this year, but will have a hard time finding a spot in the rotation that includes John Lackey, Jon Garland, Kelvim Escobar, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver. Should one of them go down at some point during the season the Angels will probably insert Ervin Santana into the rotation, sorry Nick. Maybe next year.
            1. Scott Boras- I don't know about you, but this one brings me some pleasure. He tried to make his player bigger then the game when he announced A-rod would be opting out of his contract during game 4 of the World Series in Colorado.  A-rod had to crawl on his hands and knees to the Yankees front office to get his money.
            Then  Kenny Rogers decided it was time to play it safe. Boras tried to shop Rogers when his only wish was to remain a Tiger. The gambler knew when to fold 'em and promptly fired Boras.
            Oh, and now, although it's nothing new, Gary Sheffield is running his mouth, saying quote " Scott Boras is a bad man." Apparently Sheff is waiting to dish out some more information as soon as the situation is settled. Gary also thinks by the time he's done talking (annoyed grunt, hopefully soon) no one will want to sign with Boras anymore.
            Maybe Kyle Loshe should look at the situation. Remember him? Scotty boy was going to get him a 4 year deal between $50-$60 million. Well, now that spring training has begun, how about just a 1 year deal? You at least owe it to Kyle to get him a non-roster invite to spring training don't you?

First I would like to start by giving credit where credit is due. Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez, Scott Boras, and The New York Yankees for working out the details of the biggest contract in sports history. Every one is a winner here. Alex gets to play in a market where he can be promoted as the greatest living player and be surrounded for years to come by great talent, which gives him the chance to win it all.

Scott Boras gets to add another notch on his belt for being the greatest agent out there after everyone tried to knock him down by saying he could never get anywhere close to what he was asking ($350 million/ 10 years). Although he was never even allowed in the room during the negotiations, he can still take the credit for it as he finishes the details, for his client. He will also get what matters most to him, another big commission on another historical contract.

The New York Yankees are winners as they are able to keep the most dangerous bat in baseball in the middle of their order for years to come. They make themselves look good by defeating the evil agents demands, and they will take solace in thinking they are big winners in the deal. They might be, but they might be hurting themselves down the road.

The way the contract sets up looks like this. Ten years at $275 million as a base salary. Then there are bonuses of $6 million for the following home runs: Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762), as well as an additional $6 million for breaking Bonds' major league record. He could theoretically gain a $12 million bonus in one season if he hits numbers 762 and 763, pushing the total value of his contract to $305 million.

That's fine by me. How ever the Yankees want to compensate him is their business. They don't have to do it, but they have decided to. I'm sure they could sign him to the $275 million base salary and that would most likely be a strong enough offer if indeed he does truly want to be a Yankee. And again, congratulations to Alex for getting all the money he can. It might seem unfair, but don't tell me if you could get that kind of money that you would turn it down. "I would play for free just cause I love the game." Please, don't kid yourself. There isn't one of us out there that would turn down the money if it were offered to us.

But to me this contract sets a dangerous precedence for the future of free agency. The Players Union will love it if this deal goes through, but owners should be worried. Especially the "small market" franchises. From here on out any free agent can try to get one of these clauses negotiated into their contract. If a team like The Minnesota Twins or The Florida Marlins already has a hard time holding on to its own players how is this going to help them? How will they be able to entice a big time free agent to join their club?

If they offered you an $18 million/season contract with no clauses to cash in on, and another club offered the same base salary with bonuses close to A-rods, what team would you sign with? And where does it end? 2,000 and 3,000 hits? 500 homers? Stolen bases for lead off hitters? Let's not forget pitchers here, they deserve to cash in on their 3000th strike out, or their 500th save right? Why not 200 wins? Provided we ever see another one, can you imagine what you could ask for a bonus for your 300th win?

So how does this affect the Yankees? Well it's simple really. They have a history of signing big name free agents. Most of the time when they sign these players, they are usually 7-10 years into their careers. Almost all of them will be some where near a milestone, or could potentially reach a major one during the 4-5 years over their next contracts. The Yankees will not be able to get off the hook since they have seemingly created this clause. It's hard to tell one player your not as special as another one, that you don't deserve to be treated the same.

Perhaps I'm making to big a deal out of this. Maybe I'm the only one who's given it any thought. But I have a hard time believing that if I picked up on it that there isn't someone out there, like an agent, who is salivating over this news. It could very well end up being nothing and getting swept under the rug. But it could very well change the landscape of free agency, as we know it.

A-Rods negotiation half way there.
Nov 19, 2007 | 1:45AM - Edit | Delete

It was reported today that Rodriguez's negotiations on a 10 year 275 million dollar contract had reached "the bottom of the fifth inning". Translation, we're half way there. Well I guess it's a good thing for ownership and fans he didn't say that talks were into the post season. Allow me to take a few minutes of your time to express my views on A-rod.

First of all, I will not believe that this is a done deal until ink hits the paper and I am watching a press conference welcoming Alex back to New York. Both he and Boras have given me zero reasons to believe anything that comes out of their mouths any more. I think this is merely the first step to start the bidding wars. New York says they don't want to negotiate with Boras, but they might have fallen into his trap. He tried like hell at the GM meetings to get his number one clients name out there, and the perception that the bidding had begun. He met with both Theo Epstein of the rival Red Sox, and Omar Minaya (the cross town media rivals) but neither GM would publicly admit their interest.

We had heard the names of franchise's such as the Tigers, Angels, and Joe Toree's new home the Dodgers all having interest in bringing the power hitting third baseman aboard. But again, no admitted interest other than simple statement's like "well who wouldn't want A-rod in their lineup?". Well, now we have a starting point thanks to the public of the Yankees brass. The bidding starts at 275 million for 10 years. We know Boras wanted 350 for 10 years, but all though it was ridiculous. Maybe he can get 300-325 million instead.

These are numbers that simply outrage the general public. Nobody in their right mind believes an athlete deserves that kind of money, and they're probably right. But there is a different market for an athlete or movie star that simply doesn't exist for you and me. It's not fair, but it is what it is. If you are the best at what you do, be it a doctor, lawyer, teacher, or police officer, you would expect to be paid whatever the highest paid person in your profession makes. There is no doubt that Alex is the best at what he does in his profession, and deserves to be paid like it. He might be the best pure talent the game has ever seen. And because he is the highest paid player to ever play a sport, is most likely the very reason he is disliked by so many.

But not for me, and it's not because I'm a Sox fan either. I simply (like many fans in New York) find him unrouteable. It's not just because he took a 252 million dollar pay check to play baseball for the Rangers. Let's be honest, if we were offered that kind of money we would take it too. For me it started when he said he wanted to play for the Mets, and they had made him a substantial offer. I feel like if he really wanted to be with the Mets, he would have taken the deal.

Though this is truly no fault of his, I was outraged when the baseball writers of America voted him MVP while with Texas. I will not even try to deny the fact that he had a monster season, but I believe no one should ever win an MVP on a last place team. Take him out of the lineup that year and they still would have finished in last place, end of story. If it were me, I simply would have felt foolish accepting the award.

Finally there is this, and it comes on the heals of a historic record, and an indicted player. How am I supposed to route for a guy with less personality then a rock? Love him or hate him as most do, at least Bonds has a personality. If it weren't for the raw numbers the guy (Rodriguez) puts up I believe he would go completely unnoticed like most utility players. Furthermore, If his hometown fans make a habit of booing him, what reason does that give me to cheer for him? I am a fan of the game first and a fan of my team second. I can say with all honesty that if he was on my team, I could not see myself routing for him. Not because of the paycheck, but simply because he gives me no reason to. He's image obsessed and the captain of generic interviews. I don't think I've ever seen someone who possesses so much raw talent, who plays so effortlessly, and shows so little passion.