Manny

Everybody is talking about Manny…

Rightly so.  Manny Ramirez possesses that rarest of talents – hitting baseballs…really well.  Without doubt, the last half of the 2008 season was truly fun!  Manny displayed that wonderful ability of his to make everyone and everything around him better…and more fun.

Yet, the question remains:  should the Dodgers stretch and sign this great player for the twilight years of his career?  Without the designated hitter rule?  For more money (even by percentage) than any player in Dodgers history?

Big questions.  Answers to these questions – if you read the comment traffic all over the Dodgers web sites – are chiefly emotional.  Some commenters are so emotional that they even express angry comments over the supposed lack of interest in the “fans” that the McCourts and Ned Coletti are demonstrating.

Nothing is farther from the truth, however.  The McCourts have done more for our franchise since Peter O’Malley retired!  They are simply wonderful owners for the Dodgers.  Why?  They treasure the historical force of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, but also have a vision for the future of the Dodgers…and the guts to make it happen!  A perfect combination!

Our General Manager Ned Colletti, too, is a rational thinker, and a very smart and capable baseball man.  He thinks with his head and not his heart, unlike so many of us fans.  The heart should inform the head, not command it…and we see this proper hierarchy in the actions of Dodgers management with regard to the signing of Manny Ramirez.

The two offers made to Manny have been just right.  The first – made during the team’s exclusive period with the free agent – was to demonstrate to Manny that the Dodgers highly valued him, and wanted him back.  This two-year deal, with a third potential, was ingored by the player represented by Scott Boros (ah, the dark side of Free Agency!).  The second, and most recent offer, was a rich one-year offer.  Again, rejected by the player.

The Dodgers have gotten it right.  Manny Ramirez has only a couple of years left in the National League format (no DH).  It would be counterproductive for the Dodgers to go beyond two or three years with Manny.  And, as those with a fiduciary responsibility to the franchise, the McCourts and Mr. Colletti are proceeding in a highly responsible manner! 

A message to the fans:  Stop attributing to the McCourts personal greed as the motivation to NOT sign Manny…Where they live and what they do with thier fortune has nothing to do with the signing of Manny…they and thier capable General Manager are preceeding with excellent baseball wisdom!  If we get Manny, it needs to be with a measure of common sense and baseball wisdom!

By the way…have you looked at the rest of our Team for 2009?

Pretty darn good!

Go Blue!