Jayson Stark reports that the Dodgers are now expressing interest in Adam Dunn, and Kenn Gurnick writes for MLB.Com that they are sniffing around Bobby Abreu as well.. Make of that what you will, but the common reportage of late is that Manny Ramirez has no suitors beyond the Dodgers and the two year deal he didn't accept while it was on the table.Manny, of course, wants a longer deal. But who out there is going to give it to him? Who has both the money and the need to sign Ramirez who hasn't already said they don't want him? Most observers are coming up with a pretty bleak outlook from Manny's point of view. See, for example, Buster Olney's rundown on the Manny Market.
More and more I sense an opportunity. Some team that Manny would enjoy playing for needs to step up - once Ramirez and Boras realize what the market is doing to them - and offer Ramirez a one year deal giving him the chance to re-enter the market next winter when, hopefully, fewer teams will be cutting back. A team like, oh, I dunno, the Blue Jays, for instance, could sell themselves as a perch, where Ramirez could play for $20 million in 2009 and then move on to his 3 year deal next winter. The signing team would not only get a highly motivated Manny, but the draft picks that come with his leaving for greener pastures.
Would the Jays have to either go to ownership for an exception, or clear other payroll (likely both)? Sure. But honestly - Rogers Communications HAS the money (I have a column I plan to write about the Yankees and the spending and one of the points therein is that you can as easily fault rich owners who DON'T spend as you can fault the Yankees for spending but that's for another day) and if you are willing to give AJ-friggin-Burnett a commitment of almost $50 million over the next three years (at least) - and $16 million at least in 2009, you're telling me you CAN'T give something which is only marginally more in 2009 to the best hitter out there? Hell, be REAL creative if you want and set up some mutual option scheme like the one in Delgado's current contract where you can exercise a 2 year option for $48 million or he can exercise a one year option for $15 (just to give him some protection if he breaks his leg or something). If he simply won't settle for $20, offer him $25 but defer seven million into seven annual payments of $1 million in future years. Hell you can buy an annuity or some such to pay that off.
Let's be real clear here, I like a lot of things about the Jays' offense but dropping Manny into the four hole revolutionizes this team. That one move puts the Jays in the very heart of the playoff conversation in the AL East. I doubt even resigning Burnett could have that impact. And if, in so doing, you have to shuffle off some salary, so be it. As I've noted before, find takers for McDonald, Tallet, and Frasor and you net around $4 million right there. That's the difference in what you were going to pay AJ and what I'm proposing to offer Manny.
Furthermore, the revenue generated by Ramirez - from the transformation of a negativistic winter into an off-season of excitement, to the potential for serious September or even October baseball also has the chance to mitigate the investment. Will it work? Meh - it's a long shot. But ownership should absolutely sign off on it and JP should get the offer on the table. If Ramirez rejects it you have lost nothing, on the other hand if his market completely dries up he might just take it.
I have the feeling there's something big left to happen in the off-season for the jays, despite JP's protestations. This might just be it. Or maybe that's indigestion I feel.
Also of note: The Jays have added feisty catcher Michael Barrett on a minor league contract to, ostensibly, be their back-up catcher. Note well that just yesterday the Red Sox gave Josh Bard a major league deal worth $1.6 million. The men were teammates with the Padres in 2008 and both, frankly, sucked in 2008.Bard, however, had one above average season in 2007 (107 OPS+) and has sucked pretty much the entire rest of his major league career. Barrett, on the other hand, has struggled with a variety of unrelated injuries the last two seasons but for three years as a Cub he put up the following OPS+ figures: 108, 110, 121.
Rod Barajas, in case you were wondering, has only ever been over 90 once in his career. Maybe this amounts to nothing, but there's every chance Barrett could take Barajas' job this year (if Cito isn't so in love with RB that he won't leave that door open) and that, Jays' fans, would be a very good thing for the Jays' offense. I'd feel better about the team today if I knew Barrett would break camp as the starter. One thing I'm all but certain of - unless there's a lingering health issue I am unaware of - the Jays did a much better job signing a catcher this week than the Red Sox did.
~Will
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the longer Manny goes unsigned, the better chance the Jays have to pick him up. Will, what do you think he’d fetch for a 1 year deal? 15 million maybe?
I’ve had this fantasy about the Jays scooping in late for Manny too. Mine however, is based on another delusion that Rogers are in negotiations presently to sell the team and that is why everything is on hold in Jays land.
The problem is, when do you implement this strategy? You can’t offer it now, because you risk alienating Ramirez from the Jays when he scoffs at the offer. So you have to wait just enough time that Ramirez realizes there really is no market, but not enough time to give another team like the Giants a similar opportunity. There are probably many teams that would want to do the same thing, nobody is worried about giving him a lucrative one year deal. Timing this move right is extremely tricky.
Guy, that would definetely explain everything. Maybe Rogers is shopping the Blue Jays, and that’s why they aren’t going on a spending spree. OR it’s the shitty economy. Or both!
“Will, what do you think he’d fetch for a 1 year deal? 15 million maybe?”
I think, to save his pride and not piss him off, you’d have to at least equal last year’s $20 million. Though perhaps you could get creative about how it’s paid our.
I like the idea and I think a normal agent would at least discuss it with their client as an option. Boras, however, is the devil.
But like you said, the Jays have absolutely nothing to lose in making this kind of an offer. I also think there is something to be said about Manny’s ability to bring fans in to help pay his contract.
From the link you gave:
“But so far, Ramirez is drifting through his free agency with no big-money shore in sight. The Dodgers made an offer of two years and $45 million, and after Boras did not respond, they withdrew the offer.”
What a douche.