RealClearSports: Dodgers Get Manny Happy Returns
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- An odd placement for a media conference, on the
deck of the Dodgers training complex, the new ballpark behind Joe
Torre's right shoulder, the old leftfielder in California beyond those
mountains to the west.
Exhibition season, isn't it? And that was some exhibition. Torre,
in uniform, if at the last moment, and general manager Ned Colletti,
explaining how after four months of desultory conversation the Great
Manny Ramirez Confrontation had come to a happy end.
Manny will be Manny once more as a Dodger. Not that this wasn't inevitable.
He has what the Dodgers need, talent. They have what Manny (and his
agent, Scott Boras) want, money. The signing, which technically hadn't
yet taken place Wednesday afternoon, was delayed, but it also was
inevitable.
"We had a desire to try and put the personality back into the
picture instead of just the negotiations," was the Colletti
explanation of how and why Manny (and Boras) at last were willing to
accept the two-year, $45 million contract they were not willing to
accept the last four months.
The guys, pals all, we're advised, sat in the home of Dodgers owner
Frank McCourt in Malibu -- hey, you think he's going to live in Los
Angeles? -- on Tuesday night and worked over the details.
"I thought Manny seemed very happy about the possibility," said Colletti.
And so another sporting crisis is averted. It's always something in our little world, isn't it?
A-Rod's hip. As opposed to A-Rod's 'roids. Kurt Warner visiting the
49ers in search of millions, and of course, signing once more with the
Arizona Cardinals, whose flying saucer-like stadium is quite visible a
couple of miles from the new facility used by the Dodgers and Chicago
White Sox.
We sit around and worry whether the Mannys and Kurts will
eventually reconnect with their current team, or maybe a different one,
while all around us the markets collapse, the economy bottoms out and
jobs are lost by the millions.
On this warm Wednesday in the desert, the Dodgers were playing a
spring game against their rivals, the Giants, who had shown interest in
acquiring Ramirez, but only under their own conditions.
San Francisco appears to have pitching. Randy Johnson struck out
seven on Tuesday. Barry Zito looked decent Wednesday, allowing four
hits, three runs and no walks during his two-plus innings. The Giants,
however, lack hitting. They would not have that problem with Manny.
"Under the right circumstances we would have wanted to sign him,"
said Giants team president Larry Baer, in attendance Wednesday. "We did
have a lot of conversation."
What the Giants would have wanted, the Dodgers obtained. Manny
makes them the favorites in National League West. More than that, Manny
once more makes them an attraction in a town that pays attention only
to attractions.
Manny can send balls over fences. Manny can send fans through the
gates, and in these difficult times -- attendance without Manny on
Wednesday was only 5,944 at the 13,000-seat Camelback Ranch Stadium -- that
is not to be underestimated.
When Zito, in the third year of his own dream-world contract, $126
million, was told the next time he pitches against the Dodgers, Manny
would be in the L.A. lineup, he shrugged.
"He's great and a challenge," was the Zito observation. Advised
the Dodgers now would be the choice in the division, Zito said, "I
think wherever he went he would have brought that with him."
What Ramirez also brings is the infamous baggage, a reputation for
dogging it, of going by his own rules, that proved unacceptable to his
previous team, Boston, but doesn't bother his current one, Los Angeles.
"Manny certainly seems comfortable here," said Torre. The manager
and general manager, delayed by Southern California rains, had flown in
only minutes before the meeting with the press.
"I couldn't be more pleased in how excited he was," said Torre. "Just the prospect of getting back on the field. He's in shape, but
after he shows up it probably will be a week until he's ready."
The Dodgers were ready to sign Ramirez, but as is so often the case
in such situations a charade had to be played out so neither side lost
respect.
It was a chess match destined to end at checkmate and both parties expressing appreciation of the other.
Only last Sunday, McCourt said the negotiations would be started "from scratch." Did that actually occur? The figures, two years, $45
million, had been debated for a while. But we're into the month of
March, and it was time for a settlement.
"We're trying to build a team here that works together," said Colletti, "and sticks together. A team that wins."
For $45 million, that's the least to expect.
As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports
history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his
long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has
earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he has
recently been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of
America for 2009.
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