So let me get this straight, the Dodgers offered Scott Boras 2 years and $42.5 Million for Manny Ramirez. Scott Boras then said he would start taking serious offers for his client now. He pretty much said that the Dodgers offer was insulting his client and that he was going to get his client 4 years and $100 million dollars. Here we are almost 5 months later and Ramirez is taking $2.5 million more than the initial "insulting" offer from the Dodgers. So what is the difference? What has changed since November and really what has changed from last week when this same contract was offered?
Here's what has changed:
1. The economic climate just got worse and progressively worse than it was in November.
In a regular year this $2.5 might be another $8 to 12 million dollars possibly. The Dodgers were in a horrible position all off season and have fawned all over Manny and Boras just knew he could get more money out of them for him. The economic climate just eliminated other teams from jumping in seriously and trying attain Manny. In a different year, the Giants probably get into the bidding and the Nationals might as well, driving up the price for the Dodgers. In the end, Boras didn't get to do what he loves to do and position two teams against each other and get his player more years and more money than teams are willing to spend. So the economic climate limited the bidders in the Manny Ramirez auction.
2. The deferment of money over the next 5 season.
This was something that Boras said he did not want over the period of time of these negotiations. So my guess is that this affects the amount of money that Boras pulls in with this contract and that option. Does that mean that Boras's money is deferred as well? If so that is a tremendous example of an agent putting his needs or concerns over those of his client. This is just something I thought of looking at how the deferment of money could affect this deal and why the Dodgers wouldn't want to do it, so it had to be Boras I guess that didn't want this because Manny deferred a ton of money the entire time he was in Boston. This time in Los Angeles he will only defer the $25 million that he makes the first year before he can.......
3. Manny can opt out of this contract at the end of the season.
This is where the deal gets slanted in favor of Ramirez and Scott Boras. People are saying that the Dodgers got the best of Boras this time, but really if Manny has a good season or a remotely good season this year, Boras will get his deferred $25 million dollars over the next 5 years and still opt out of the second year of his contract and go back out onto the market when hopefully the economy is better and concerns about how his tenure in Boston are another year in the past. So right now people are saying that the Dodgers are getting a great deal and they could be if they win the World Series this season. If they don't, they are going to have to chase what is essentially a rental player for them for another entire off season.
So the problem is, the Dodgers are going to have to go through this entire thing all over again next off season, because I don't think there is even a chance that Manny accepts his player option for the second season of this contract. Especially with Boras telling him that he can go out on the free agent market again next season and get say, 3 years and $75 million. This off season the Dodgers lost everything off their pitching staff except Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda. If they have to enter into a bidding war or a drawn out negotiation for Manny Ramirez again, they could lose out on even more.
Sterling Pingree
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