Seasons over... no need to track Manny's number.

If you want to track his day to day move in the free agency market... a new thread can be started.

If Frank McCourt, the image-minded owner of the Dodgers who talks about winning championships while raising prices every chance he gets, doesn't throw every available dime at Ramirez, he can never again be believed.

"Ned [Colletti]and I will talk," McCourt says after the game, but when asked, isn't it a no-brainer? he says, "It's not a no-brainer to bring him back. It takes two to tango."

McCourt has proven to date to be a good tap dancer, but the tango with agent Scott Boras will be something else, Ramirez laughing when McCourt shakes his hand and says, "We'll talk soon."

"You see," Ramirez says, "that's the second time he's talked to me. The other time was the day I arrived."

When Red Sox players met last month to determine who would get playoff shares and for how much, Ramirez was voted a two-thirds share, reflecting the fact that Ramirez had spent almost exactly two-thirds of the season with the Sox before he was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 31.

After Ramirez admitted he didn't even watch game 7 of the A.L.C.S. featuring his former team the Boston Red Sox, Manny was pretty damn happy when he found out they lost!

Around baseball, people keep wondering: Which teams might be interested in Manny Ramirez as a free agent?

Here's one: The Toronto Blue Jays.

Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi downplays his team's chances of landing Ramirez, but says the Jays' primary offseason goals are to re-sign right-hander A.J. Burnett and add a hitter.

Burnett, who is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent, could command between $15 million and $18 million per season.

If the Jays lost him, they almost certainly would not commit the same kind of money to another starting pitcher, giving them the payroll flexibility to possibly make a run at Ramirez.

"Manny is not priority No. 1. I can't even say he's priority No. 2," Ricciardi said Wednesday. "It would really be a long shot for us to bring him to Toronto. He's on our radar, but maybe not on our radar like some people will report.

"I don't see us getting involved in unbelievable, astronomical numbers. We would not go down that path."

Ken Rosenthal:

Welcome back to the AL East?

One person who's spoken to Dodgers people suggested that the team is considering proposing a contract that may come close to matching Alex Rodriguez's record $27.5-million average annual salary but on a much shorter term, perhaps only two years. That person hinted he could see the Dodgers even exceeding A-Rod's salary, as long as the length of the deal was to their liking.

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said he didn't want to say too much about their thinking until after the team had a chance to meet with Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras. But Collettti did say, "We don't have too many six-year deals,'' a reference to Ramirez's own public proclamations that he is shooting for a six-year deal.

The Los Angeles Dodgers want a full-length feature of the Manny Ramirez show after last season's short.

General manager Ned Colletti said Wednesday that the Dodgers made an offer to the free-agent slugger, and their pitch would give him the second-highest average salary in the sport behind Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez currently has the top average at $27.5 million under the 10-year deal he agreed to before last season. Mets pitcher Johan Santana is second at $22.9 million under the six-season deal he agreed to this year.

"We have now established records with a lot of veteran players, where we're seeing players perform at very high levels into their early 40s," Boras said.

"If you saw the bid, it's nothing that we're embarrassed by," Colletti said at the GM meetings. "Manny was close to that number, anyway -- closer to that area than the last place he's been."

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the Dodgers' offer is believed to be for either two years at $50 million or three years for $75 million.
...
"We said, 'Think about it for a while. It's not going to be there forever,'" Colletti said. "Things are always subject to change, and it depends on what else we do, to some extent. I've been asked a few times here if we're going to wait to see what happens with this before we do anything else. But I'm not sure we're going to have the luxury to do that. If there's something else that comes about that we feel we need to do, and the timeliness is there to do it, we'll have to do it."

DANA POINT, Calif. -- The Dodgers' two year-offer to Manny Ramirez -- believed to be for about $45 million -- is very unlikely to lead to a quick deal between the sides, or perhaps any deal.

The sides are so far apart that the Blue Jays, Orioles and perhaps the Yankees and other teams likely have moved ahead of the Dodgers in the Manny sweepstakes. Those outside teams aren't eligible to make offers until Nov. 14, but the Dodgers have thus far failed to get a jump start on the others with a proposal so far below Ramirez's asking price that Manny is likely thinking more seriously about outside options now.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Boras has informed the Dodgers that their recent contract proposal isn't long enough. The initial offer is believed to be for two seasons -- with an option for a third -- for a guaranteed $45 million.

Owners of the Yankees and Angels have already indicated interest in Ramirez and have the resources for this hand of poker with the Dodgers....Boras will be looking to lure an unexpected club into the bidding.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have withdrawn the contract offer extended to free agent Manny Ramirez, but negotiations are expected to continue, according to MLB.com.

A week before Boston traded Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers late last July, the relationship between the Red Sox and their left fielder had grown so contentious and strained that the club was prepared to take the extraordinary step of suspending its best hitter, ESPN has learned.

The letter informed Ramirez that the suspension was to go into effect the next day, Saturday, July 26. It said Ramirez was being suspended without pay for being unwilling to play. Copies of the letter were also sent to Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association and Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras.