It's so simple. A child could do it.
Is this really happening? Are we only a mere two weeks away from spring training and the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez have utterly failed to come to an agreement to keep him in LA? Who is at fault here? Is it Frank McCourt and his baffled shock at Scott Boras' intractability on getting Manny a 5 or 6 year deal at $25Mil a season? Or is it Scott "I'm holding the national pastime hostage" Boras and his comments to McCourt to "be careful when playing chicken that you just might blink" that is to blame? I mean really, what's next, a pissing contest? And is it really true that virtually NO TEAM has any interest in signing Manny? Nobody?
Uh...guys...hello. I have been talking collusion 5 for over two months now. Today the first article I have seen all winter referring to such a spectre came out. Baseball scribe Bill Shaiken mulled over this very real possibility in the LA Times Sports section. Over one hundred free agents are still without contracts. By the end of the week, Major League Baseball will have to determine if Vero Beach may have a spring training again. No, not a return by the Dodgers, but a repeat of the 1994 Homestead, Florida free-agent spring training camp needed for all of the unsigned players. What gives?
This time, "its the economy, stupid!" just doesn't cut it. Clearly there is an attempt to contravene the collective bargaining agreement which stipulates that at no time, even in tough economic climates, can an atmosphere of agreement between owners sway the market place. It is illegal, plain and simple. If Major League Baseball doesn't back down, and if the player's union decides it really has a case, then who's playing chicken now?
posted by Tony Forkush at 11:30 AM
6 Comments:
No teams interested in Manny? I thought I read that the Giants want to snatch Manny from us. That would be a pisser. What next? Celtics signing Kobe Bryant?
If there are this many free agents unsigned, it does have the smell of collusion. The owners tried this before and got caught. And how do you stage something like this with Steinbrenner in the mix? He’ll stab you in the back and take every one of your top players. (Oh, wait… he already has).
Give Manny his five years. Of course he won’t play five years, but dumbshit McCourt you can then make him a hitting coach. Not that there is a precedent for an owner paying a player that is about to retire a large amount. (Oh, yeah. Buss did that for Magic. Kind of like back pay for never asking for what he is worth).
Get this done and stop bending the heart strings of the great Dodger fans.
Possibility - Marketing gets screwed up if it drags on so the Dodgers will end up compromising at 2 years.
"Give Manny his five years" from normally reliable Pascoe - yikes. Those last couple years would be brutal at 23 million a year.
I personally think it's a disgrace that Ramirez couldn't get signed for one year at whatever it was. I mean, in these times? Give me a break. I don't know whether to blame Boras, Ramirez or Colletti/Dodgers. They're all a bunch of cocksuckers as far I'm concerned. And of course there's collusion. The rich fuckers behind baseball will scramble for any angle they can run with. Their revenues will be down but not as much as they're acting like.
I do feel bad for Dodger fans if you end up with Dunn, especially if he's expected to make up for Manny's numbers. Dunn is maddening. Adam Dunn should get his ass on the Houston Astros and get it over with for God sakes. Just like...never mind.
Rob Neyer of ESPN immediately counteracted Shaiken's article with his own article laughing off the possibility of collusion. What an a-hole. These people are all in the pocket of corporate interests. You gotta wonder if Citibank pulling its $400 Mil from the new Mets ballpark will crush the life out of them.
These thing is going to cause a work-stoppage.
Good ol' american baseball! Catch it!
The five year contract would be with the stipulation that he stays on as hitting coach. Granted that would be a very expensive hitting coach, but we don’t when he is going to retire. Whatever deal they make, they better make it quick.
Manny Ramirez signing with the Giants imminent. They have offered him a three year deal. Plachke releases hate article against Ramirez. Dylan Hernandez interviews Manny in Spanish making virtually no mention of wanting to be a Dodger.
It's all over. The Dodgers have completely fucked the city of LA. I will not step foot into Dodger stadium from this point on. I will watch games from time to time.
There will be no further Dodger discussions on this board until further notice.
FUCK EM!
I guess I have to put my Dodger gear away. This reminded me of when Georgia would not resign Eric Dickerson. I was still a Ram fan, but boycotted them. I guess I will do the same here.
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