Manny being Manny, or just the Dodgers being the Dodgers?

With only two weeks before spring training, Manny Ramirez has still not found a home.

It took less than 24 hours for Ramirez to reject the Dodgers second offer of the offseason, this time for 25 million for one year. Scott Boras has made it clear that Manny is wanting a long-term deal, possibly anywhere from four to five years.

With today's economy, things aren't looking too hot for the first ballot hall of famer and his agent, even though Boras has stated that the economy should not be a determining factor in where Ramirez plays next year.

It seems the Dodgers and Joe Torre have made it clear that they want to see Manny in Dodger blue next season.

"We are an entirely different ballclub with Manny," Joe Torre said. "He has shown our young players how to relax and have fun."

Without the presence of Ramirez, the Dodgers probably wouldn't have made the playoffs last season, and without him, the 2009 Dodgers will be in the same boat they were at the beginning of last season.

Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt has also told the public that signing Manny Ramirez is still the Dodgers main priority right now.

"Scott Boras is very difficult to work with. We've made three efforts and Boras has still not given us a specific number," McCourt said.

Boras has tried a few tricks already to try to speed up the process of signing Ramirez to a long-term deal. When Ramirez turn down the Dodgers first offer, Boras announced that the slugger would retire if he did not receive the contract he felt he deserved. This was later proven to be false about two days after that statement was made. The agent's second trick was reporting that there were other teams that were interested in Manny, besides the Dodgers, but he could not give any names.

The San Francisco Giants seem to be the only other team that is really interested in Manny, but they do not have the money to sign Ramirez. ESPN Radio reported today that Boras told Ned Colletti if the Dodgers want to play with fire, they might get burned. This is another game Boras tries to play with general managers to scare them into giving his client what he feels he deserves.
In my opinion, no Manny Ramirez in L.A. means no October for the defending NL West Champions. Although the Dodgers have many young and promising players, such as Andre Either, Russell Martin, James Loney, and Matt Kemp, it's not enough to get them to the playoffs. They need the presence and experience of Manny Ramirez to fuel their offense to the postseason.

It makes no sense to me why the Dodgers wouldn't give Ramirez a four year deal. Even if he doesn't end up producing the last year or two of his contract, it is still better to make the playoffs for the next two years rather than not making it the next four.

It's ridiculous for Ned Colletti and the rest of the organization to say they are not only looking at the present, but also the future of the club, because without a leader like Manny in the dugout and on the field, their future does not look very promising.

Ramirez turns 38 this year, which is probably the main reason why most teams are shying away from signing him to a long-term deal. Although, sometimes Ramirez might be portrayed as a player who doesn't hustle or doesn't seem to care, no one can overlook the numbers he has put up over his seventeen year career. He has a lifetime average of .314, 527 homeruns, 1725 RBI's, and 2393 hits. He also has 525 extra base hits, which means 44 percent (almost half) of his hits go for extra bases.

Three year, 62 million dollar contract. That's my prediction on what it will take to keep Manny in L.A.