The Ramirez-Sabathia-Teixeira update: Stove getting hotter
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Major League Baseball’s general managers are gathering today at the posh St. Regis Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, according to SI.com. (The resort made the headlines a while back when troubled insurance giant AIG booked it for a retreat amid the global financial crisis.)
Nobody really knows where Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and dozens of other free agents will land for next season, or for how much, or for how long.
But that never stopped anyone from speculating!
The Brewers say they’ve already made an offer to Sabathia, but are mum on the details.
The Dodgers expect to meet with Scott Boras, Ramirez’s agent, this week. ‘We owe it to the player and Scott to hear them out and for them to hear us out,’ Dodger GM Ned Colletti told The Times’ Dylan Hernandez, employing language notable for its extreme neutrality.
A big unknown is how the economic meltdown might affect free agent bucks. The answer: Not much, at least for the top-line names: Sabathia, Teixeira and Ramirez. Beyond them, look out. The millions could be fewer and farther between for the mid-level guys, Vince Gennaro, author of ‘Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseball,’ tells CNBC’s Darren Rovell.
The most troubling report we’ve seen so far comes from San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers, who tells Barry Bloom of MLB.com:
‘I don’t see Manny landing until about Christmas time,’ the GM said. ‘I may be wrong, but with both New York clubs opening up new ballparks and having needs in the outfield, I imagine they’ll both be players along with L.A. When you get two or three big-market clubs involved, Scott’s [agent Scott Boras] going to drag this out a while.’
Christmas time? To quote Charlie Brown: ‘Aargh!’
-- Steve Clow