Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and general manager Ned Colletti made a new two-year, $45 million contract offer to Manny Ramirez during a 2-1/2-hour meeting with agent Scott Boras at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, according to a baseball source familiar with the negotiations.
At the request of Boras, Ramirez would be given the power to decide whether or not he'd like to stay for the second season, the source said. The first year of the contract is worth $25 million, and Ramirez would have a $20 million player option for 2010.
As the Dodgers played their Cactus League opener Wednesday, the ball is now in the free-agent outfielder's wheelhouse to decide if he'll soon rejoin them for at least another season.
Before the game, outfielder Matt Kemp looked into a television camera and pleaded with Ramirez, who hit .396 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI after last season's trading deadline to lead the team to a division title and a trip to the National League Championship Series.
"Manny," Kemp said. "C'mon, man. Sign. We need you."
The contract would handsomely pay Ramirez to provide the middle-of-the-order bat that the Dodgers lineup is missing. The perennial All-Star would be at least the fourth-highest paid player in the game.
If he were to sign and have a big year with the Dodgers this season, Ramirez would get the opportunity to reap the benefits by re-entering free agency after the season in an attempt to top the $20 million he would make in 2010.
The $20 million option also would be there to protect Ramirez, as he could exercise it should he suffer an injury or have a poor season. Boras did not immediately return a call for comment.
The other two known offers received by Ramirez were also from the Dodgers, and the latest one is a variation of the two.
The Dodgers in November made a two-year, $45 million contract offer with a $15 million option that was never responded to before it was pulled off the table. A one-year, $25 million offer extended more than three weeks ago was quickly rejected.
Talks with Boras had become "more frequent and longer in duration," according to Colletti on Saturday. He was not in attendance at the game against the Cubs, which the Dodgers lost 5-3. Colletti had traveled to Los Angeles for the meeting.
"I thought he was coming," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.
Before the game, Torre reiterated that the saga of a contract negotiation has not been a distraction to the team. His last call to Ramirez in an effort to personalize the talks came before the start of spring training.
"He's probably not going to play through the weekend," Torre mused before the game.
That decision might now be in Ramirez's hands.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
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