Late Innings

In case anyone missed the news today, Manny Ramirez finally signed. Frank McCourt and the Dodgers’ brass acquiesced, and gave Manny the money he wanted. He’s getting the 45MM over two years, but less of it is deferred.

Some interesting quotes about the whole thing, and of course my color commentary thereafter:

The mood brightened in sunny, balmy Dodgers camp with the news that Manny Ramirez was on his way into town to continue a Dodgers career that could not have begun more auspiciously. Quirky, funny Manny isn’t due in until Thursday, after he completes a full physical Wednesday in L.A., but his peppy personality was already seen in some teammates who were just happy to hear they weren’t going to have to fend for themselves.

In case anyone figured, that was CNN’s Jon Heyman. He is to Manny as Chris Matthews is to Barack Obama. Actually I’m not sure if that’s the best analogy, but he’s been the official mouth piece in regards to this contract saga.

I’m glad to see that many other people are starting to see this Heyman/Scott Boras tie, originally brought up by Baseball Analysts’ Rich Lederer. This is from the RotoWorld blurb last night, when the contract talks were starting to converge:

That’s ESPN speak for “we blew it, but we’re going to do our best not to admit it.” It’s probably only a matter of time until something does get done here, and we’ll trust SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the unofficial mouthpiece of Boras Corp., to have the scoop.

Manny then chimed in on the whole saga:

I cannot control what people might think … The economy is making everyone adjust. I will be happy to play for L.A., win and win a couple Gold Gloves just like Andruw Jones.

Wow. Thank god this is finally over.