No momentum for Manny

Somehow, I don't think Manny would be real broken up about not having to report to spring training on the first day. Someone will sign him eventually, but he wont get anywhere near the kind of money Boras has him convinced he will get. He probably wont even get as much as the $40M he would have gotten if he stayed in Boston and taken the two club option years. Nobody will shed any tears, except perhaps Manny himself.

We should go after Manny who cares really I think Boston fans would accept him back....business is business WE want CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!!!! After the Tex crap really seriously lets get back to business....

Wouldnt it be funny if Manny got less than 20 mil a year? He could have stayed with the Red Sox and gotten 2 years at 20 mil. with his old contract

Thats what Greed does to ya

Time for the Dodgers to low-ball him!! They can get him for 2 x $10 million, or he can retire.

I know it'll never happen, but I would welcome back Manny. I don't give a shite about his antics--the guy can hit and we could use his bat behind Ortiz. But he's dreaming if he thinks he'll get >$20MM a year.

If MANNY DID'NT ACT LIKE A HORSE'S BUTT AND PLAYED FOR THE RED SOX LIKE HE PLAYED FOR THE DODGERS THE LAST TWO MONTHS HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AN EXTENSION FROM THE SOX.WHO EVER SIGNS HIM IS GOING TO GET A MALCONTENT THIS TIME.

The Yankees will sign him. They just won't be able to help themselves.

I love it! Perhaps even Manny's child like intellect might comprehend there are consequences for your actions.

Boston is not an option for Manny and thank God for that!!
Here is the real problem he has. His reputation as a quitter if he's not happy is hanging out there for all to see. The problem that creates is this:
The market has already dictated that he won't get the 4 or 5 year $100 million contract he and Boras originally thought. If some team decides to offer Manny say 3 years for $50 million and because of the market forces that is his best offer and he takes it, clearly he will not be a happy camper and we know what that means. That team is stuck with an unhappy Manny as his skills erode over 3 years. Especially an NL team where his defense would actually get worse than it already is. The bottom line is this: Either you overpay him and he's happy and plays hard most of the time or you pay him the market rate and take enormous risks that he'll give an honest effort and won't be a pain in the ass. It's a no-win for any team.

I hope no one signs him. That would be the ultimate payback for what he did in Boston, although I'm sure he'd be too stupid to realize it.

Best sentence in this article...
"...sprig training just over a month away..." YIPPEE!

Why anyone would pay him big bucks under any type of long term contract is beyond me. He essentially blackmailed the Red Sox into trading him. I don't ever want to see him either in a Red Sox uniform or at Fenway again. I hope he retires and given his attitude, never gets into the Hall of Fame.

Boras killed the Manny market by driving Texiera to the Yankees. If Tex signs with the Red Sox, Manny still has a live taker in New York. By Tex going to the Yanks, they were no longer a player for Manny and he sure was not coming back to the Red Sox. You can not be a "marquee" free agent and not have the Yanks or Sox in the bidding. This will do nothing but keep your price down.

He will still get at least 2 years and $45M from the Dodgers, so I think old Manny will be just fine. I bet he gets 3 years and $65M from the Dodgers in the end.

Why does everyone seem to go into total blindness when it comes to the Yankee signings? Does anyone really think that the Yankees are letting Manny go anywhere else with a lowball contract? They're simply waiting to see what their price will be. We never, ever learn.

Those were club options and I suspect that the Sox were not going to accept him back. They have who they wanted in left field now. Did Boras conspire to get Manny out and Bay in??

It wasn't up to Manny to take the two option years. It was up to the Red Sox to give them to him. As anyone with a brain who follows Boston sports knows Theo had no intention of keeping Manny here. Thus the mess Manny...and the Red Sox...are in now. Use your heads.

Manny definitely did this to himself. I do not want him back on the Red Sox. When he was sent in to pinch hit against Mariano Rivera with the game on the line, and he just took three strikes, that was it for me. You don't give up on your team like that. I hope someone signs him for little money and they make him shave his head.

Difficult to believe that any Sox fan would really want to see the lazy, ignorant, selfish, narcissitic, assaultive, loafer, who quit on the Sox a number of times, return to Boston.
I realize that there really is no justice in life, especially in pro sports, but I would love to see manny hanging out there on a limb without any kind of an offer. Wishfull thinking, I know....let's hope.

Yanks will offer 3 x $12M and 2 rings... a nice FU to Boston.

It's all about putting a$$es in the seats

What goes around comes around. You ain't so much now are you Mr. Ramirez. Yeah, it's a mystery why anyone would be reluctant to shell out 25 million a year for someone who stabbed his team mates in the back and assaulted a civilian employee. You wanted to go your own way, well you got it. You're all alone now. Safer for the rest of us.

I love it. Serves the both of them right... I hope he retires and doesn't make another dime.

Ross, are you serious?? If you think Epstein, Lucchino, & Co. would ever, EVER, allow him back on the Red Sox you're delusional... After what he did here to force himself out of that contract - no way, no how. No owner or GM with any shred of dignity would allow him back...

I would love to see Manny get a one year deal for less than $20M to show that the stunt that he pulled on the Red Sox backfired. He should not get rewarded for what he did.

don't count out the yankees just yet

THE YANKEES ARE COMING !!!!!!!

Anyone Red Sox fan who wants Ramirez back in Boston is either in total denial, blind or just an idiot wrapped in a moron!

Gas is DOWN and so is MANNY

MLB ownership was not about to reward a guy who did what Ramirez did to the Sox last year. The precedent would have been fiscally devastating.

Ramirez is slow-witted...far too stupid a man to underatand this. He won the battle but lost the war.

It's funny that during his hot August with L.A., the news reports all talked about Manny's "difficult" relationship with the Red Sox, as if the Sox somehow played a role in Manny's bruised feelings. But now that other teams have to either ante up or shut up, the reports are finally calling Ramirez's mode of departure from the Sox for what it was: criminal.

I loved Manny being Manny, and I defended the Sox left and right over the years. But he effectively went on a wildcat strike. If he was fighting for minimum wage and health care, all the power to him. But screw anyone who's ego is hurt while making $20 million+, and who throws his teammates under a bus. I hope no team capitulates to Boras on Manny. It will give Manny and Barry some quality time together on the links next spring.

Yeah Chad, and if had he stayed in Boston he would not even have had to run to first base. Don't it always seem to go....

It's pretty clear the $20-25 million per year is no longer out there. But someone will still sign him. I wouldn't be surprised if someone snatched him up in the 3/$45 million range.

I keep seeing the scenario of Manny coming back in my head. If his price keeps dropping, how far does it need to fall before Boston has to throw an offer his way? It's an interesting mess Mr. Boras has put his client in.

He's definitely going to the Yankees for less than $20 million. This will give us the chance to boo him frequently, which is what probably should've happened more often when he played here.

Manny deserves the worst here. His greed created this situation.

You play games, you can win...but you can also lose. Manny's losing big time right now.

Let's hope no team blinks and gives this guy more than what the Sox would have gladly paid him the next two years had he just been a good soldier and played baseball. Even Manny being Manny baseball.

When you smack your teammates in full view of TV cameras, and beat up on team employees, and otherwise quit on your team, you deserve what you get.

Bring him back to Boston! He may be a pain but there are more good memories than bad ones

I wonder if Manny even knows that any of this is going on right now or is he just chillin at home playing trucks with the boys?
He and Bor-ass deserve each other.

manny will retire.. no one's gonna sign that bum at the money he wants.

Manny can kiss my $40K/year heinie! I hope to never see him play baseball again and I hope his loss of $40M hurts him bad! He's a loser with no integrity!

Gas is down.....so is Manny

You know, Manny didn't leave Boston because of greed - he left because he didn't like living in Boston. He didn't like being recognized everywhere, being noticed and bugged. He was completely unprofessional and a spoiled brat in the way that he made his displeasure known, but I don't find it all that remarkable that he left. I hope he finds what he's looking for.

Money is the root of all evil....how funny would it be if he comes back to Boston

Chad, Boras wouldn't have seen a penny out of the 20 million/year option, so he wouldn't want Manny to take it

He'd rather have him with a new contract at $10 million/year

Hear Ye ! Hear Ye !.....seeing what has transpired over the last 30 days, DO NOT brush off the the chance that Man-Ram will end up in pin stripes, in the Bronx !!! Who have they got for a DH ?? Perfect for Man-Ram !! then he could haunt the Red Sox brass 18 times a year, and there's no way that the booing of Sox fans will bother him. He's too dense !!!

Boston should make an offer at the veteran minimum just to insult him!!

Boston should make an offer at the veteran minimum just to insult him!!

Speak for yourself, Ross. I'd hate to see Manny back at Fenway...unless Beckett is whizzing a fastball by his head. Now THAT? That I'd like to see.

Manny's a whiny toddler and a clubhouse cancer. Somebody else can have him.

Is any human worth $25M per year, especially a baseball player!! Let's get real!!

Ross,

Where does ManRam plays in your absurd scenario?

IF he signs with a team, he will be disgruntled by the lack of interest and length of contract, and will no doubt disrespect the game even more than before!

Old adage: Time wounds all heels.
Manny got greedy. Listened to Boras blow sweet nothings in his ear about how he would get a big juicy contract if he left the Sox.
Problem is, Manny is a one-dimensional player. He can hit. He can hit great. But his glove leaves much to be desired and he costs teams with his lousy, knuckleheaded base running.
Plus, if you want Manny, you have to put up with his crap. You have to baby the guy. You have to bend the rules you make for everyone else so you won't bruise Manny's fragile ego.
Manny, read above if you want to know why you're not striking it rich this off season.

I have had a feeling since the very beginning that Manny will be back with the Red Sox and I still do. Remember, he changed his mind about leaving right before he left. Everyone in Boston knows Scott Boras was the instigator for Manny behaving so badly. It might not be an excuse for him, but it is certainly a reason. And no matter what the naysayers say, Boston still loves Manny. So John Henry, please, bring him back.

he takes those idiotic dreadlocks ($160 million rastafarian, now that's rich) off his little pinhead and heads to the bronx, talks to the other pinhead running that club, and says for x amount of duhllas i carve them beentown mof*kas foh yu!

HIRE THIS MAN!

Not that it is really possible...............but Manny should pay a team to play for them and make Boras chip in his 20%. Manny doesn't care about actually spending his money, he just wants the big contract to feel "wanted".

Yankess = 3rd place

New York will jettison one of their current outfielders (Damon, Matsui, Gardner, Nady) and sign Manny to play left and DH.

Some of you are missing the incentive. If the SOX were to offer Manny a one year contract for $18mm with incentives to get it to $25mm. At this point, he would jump at it. He will play hard as it is effectively a contract year for him...think of the last few month in LA. He can hit...no question. He has an attitude..no doubt. But, we need a bat badly and it was really evident in the ALCS. Hell, I would even through in incentives to get him to $30mm for one year....for his bat in October. This could get him a two or three year deal and with the right attitidue and performance at $25mm per after next year with another team...including the Yanks. He clearly nows how to play for money!

Fortunately, the Yank are unable to sign Mr. Manny this year! Boras screwed his own client by helping his other client sign with the Yanks. Nice of him! He is ther real devil here....telling Manny he was worth more than those options. Well, I guess not! The Yanks have already signed three Type A free agents and cannot sign anohter. So, there is no big market out there for our boy Manny. Bring him back for one more year and we can celebrate a third world series.

Jay's got it right, Manny will be a Yankee as soon as they figure out the $, no doubt about it.

Hello, Does baseball get it, The next two years will be a deep economic slowdown. Don't be surpirsed to see baseball revenues take a huge hit.

Manny is not going to the money he wants.

Entertainment is discretionary income.

Get real !!!

Hey .... Maybe he should call Nomar .... and ask him to be his agent ....

Anyone who thinks that the Red Sox are even considering the possibility of offering Manny a contract is just plain DUMB, & does not pay attention to John Henry. They had to pay the Dodgers $7million in order to get the Brain Cancer out of Boston. We know that Boras & Manny are looking for a long term contract for at least $100million. The only offer we have heard is from the Dodgers for $45million for 2 years, not a bad raise but it's not the length that Manny is seeking, & supposedly they have since pulled the offer from the table. Now look at Manny's behavior during his tenure with the Red Sox,& especially over the last couple months when he thought he would have an opportunity to go off & get a better deal after the end of the season. I can only think of one team now that could possibly have a spot for him & have the money that he wants, & that's the Mets. They're payroll is going to have to be reduced due to the financial crisis , & what has happened with CitiGroup, ( Yeah I know Citi is planning to maintain the Naming Rights, however, It looks very unlikely that they will actually be able to uphold the contract. That's alot of money that will be off the Table, ($20mill/yr), which is crucial to the financial well-being of the Mets, now that they have a huge mortgage to cover, & all MLB Teams are expecting a loss of Revenues as a result of the Financial Crisis. The Yankees being the Yankees, may hold their numbers for a short time with the excitement of their new stadium, however, the near collapse of Wall St. is going to seriously affect their draw at the gate & in Ad Revenues over the next 5 years & possibly longer, just as it will affect all MLB Teams. MLB Brass realizes this & they are going to be very careful now before they go throwing hundred million dollar contracts out for Spoiled Babies. Manny is one of the biggest babies & will not be happy playing for any team if he doesn't get the money & term that he is expecting. So why should any of these small market teams want to consider signing him even at less time & money? He won't be happy, & the team will lose in the end if not sooner based on Manny's History

Red Sox and Yankees are both about to play poker on Mauer as their next catcher of the future. It's going to happen again to the Sox ....I hope they realize the Yankees will bid 10 Mil more and plan accordingly with a young catcher now

add another who believes manny will be a yankee

If Manny stayed for the option year or two, Scott Boras makes nothing (since he wasn't Manny's agent until recently). If Manny makes just one dollar on his next contract, Boras makes 5 cents. Boras will take the nickel every time, regardless of the negative impact on anybody else. The fleabag would sell his mother... Go Sox!!!

Someone wrote:

"Difficult to believe that any Sox fan would really want to see the lazy, ignorant, selfish, narcissitic, assaultive, loafer, who quit on the Sox a number of times, return to Boston."

Amen to that.

Someone wrote:

"Difficult to believe that any Sox fan would really want to see the lazy, ignorant, selfish, narcissitic, assaultive, loafer, who quit on the Sox a number of times, return to Boston."

Amen to that.

WHO CARES

Here's the thing: hard to believe Barry Bonds never got signed, but it happened, so it's not too farfetched to think maybe Manny won't be signed either.

ooo I hope Manny signs with the Yankmes, especially if they get him for low ball money. The games with the Red Sox get that much more interesting and then we get to watch as he slowly but surely disintegrates any chemistry the Yankme clubhouse has with his Manny being Manny schtick. With all the rest of those overpaid egos that'd go over great. The Yankme media and fans AND front office will brutalize him for every little stupid thing he does. He thought he was picked on in Boston? HA! If he signs with the Yankmes it'd be a 3-ring circus, especially if he pulls his act while the team is slumping. Oh, and I wanna see him get around the dress code there like he did in LA.

Yankmes, please sign Manny!

Manny has only one option: LA. The entire galaxy knows Boras has no leverage in this case, as LA is not competing with ANY other viable offers for Manny. NYY are out of the picture because 3 class A free agent signings are the max so they are done. After much huffing and puffing, Manny signs with LA for whatever the Dodgers choose to offer. My guess is 2 yrs. $40m + incentives. Not a whole lot better than the club option years that Boston would have picked up if he was behaving. Manny won't lose much vs. what he would have had anyway, but Boras is exposed (again) as an agent whose tactics only work when multiple big-money teams are truly interested in a player. What works great for Tex is not so great for Manny or A-Rod

I hope Manny NEVER comes back to the BoSox.
If they ever resigned him he would just dog it out like he has done repeatedly when not getting his (and Borassholes) way.
I hate the prik (Manny) actually.
Let 'Boreintoeveryonesass' deal w/ Manny now...he's HIS problem...and whoever ultimately signs him.

He certainly is not the Red Sox and we fans problem any longer...lets keep it that way.

The GM's of Baseball "Dreading the Dreadlocks"
The Red Sox don't deserve Ramirez, they deserve better aka Jason Bay.
I am glad to see Ramirez has not garnered much attention in the free agent market. Should history repeat itself and Manny is forced to sign a contract he deems not equitable due " Lack of Manny Takers", Manny will be Manny once again. Boras and Ramirez, what an ugly combination and situation you have to deal with. Good luck and my condolences to whoever sign's Ramirez. It will be a long season. In business finance ROI is short for "Return on your investment...In Manny's case "Return on your Idiot" . Let the buyer beware.

Mr. T

You're ridiculous. Theo Epstein NEVER had any intention of picking up Manny's option or signing him to an extension. Anyone who follows baseball in Boston/New England knows this. If anything the events that unfolded leading to Manny's trade played right into Theo's hands because he had an excuse to get rid of Manny and not alienate the Red Sox fan base. I am not excusing or defending Manny or the Red Sox FO. Just stating a fact.