Saturday, February 14, 2009

Market Watch

It's no secret that the market bottomed out for free agents as the offseason progressed. There's no better example than Bobby Abreu's $5M deal. So we turn to Manny, as the Dodgers enter camp without the slugger. All signs point to Manny eventually inking a deal with the Dodgers, but the question of how much still lingers. Who has the advantage here? Is it the Dodgers, who understand that Manny isn't going to get the money (or years) he wants in the open market? Or is it Manny, who understands that the Dodgers need an impact bat badly?

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I think Manny has the advantage. He really was able to bring a lot to LA, the fans loved him, the offense he brought, they just cannot do that well without him.

T-Dub said...

I can't imagine this turning out better for him than the one-year deal they offered ... Selfishly, I don't want the Cards to be better per se, but I would've gotten pretty excited to see this guy every day if that got any legs (Pujols wanting them to go after him). He's not getting a long-term deal any way you shake it.

Jim said...

Ok, so let's do over/under. How many years does Manny get? I'll set it at 2.

T-Dub said...

under

Jim said...

I'm gonna have to disagree and go with the over. I say Manny gets 3 years, because at the end of the day, the Dodgers need him badly. This is a pretty dangerous game of chicken the Dodgers and Ramirez are playing, but when all is said and done, the Dodgers will blink first.

Jim said...

How interesting this this? From LoHud blog-

I stopped Brian Cashman outside of Field 3 this afternoon to ask a few questions about Mariano Rivera. As we chatted, he told me an interesting story.

During spring training in 1996, the Yankees weren’t convinced that Derek Jeter was ready to play shortstop. Prodded by Clyde King, George Steinbrenner decided the Yankees had to trade for Felix Fermin, who was with the Mariners at the time.

Seattle didn’t need him because they they had a 20-year-old kid named Alex Rodriguez playing shortstop.

The Mariners wanted either Mariano Rivera or Bob Wickman.

“It was a big fight and we were very close to doing it. Thank God we didn’t,” Cashman said.

Unknown said...

Thank the Lord for this non deal..

T-Dub said...

PG, perhaps we should go ahead and get confirmation from all franchise owners on draft date, or if you already have, can you confirm the date is set as you have it? Just thinking back to previous ... bumps in the road ... shall we say.

Edward said...

I think he gets two years but I have a feeling that he ends up with the Yankees.