Posted on 10/30/2003 4:17:20 AM PST by johnny7
Silver Slugger winner to make $20.5M in '04
BOSTON (AP) -- The Red Sox placed All-Star slugger Manny Ramirez on irrevocable waivers, The New York Times and the Boston Herald reported Thursday. The move means any major league team can have Ramirez -- if it is willing to pay his salary. The outfielder has five years and $104 million remaining on a $160 million, eight-year contract. He is scheduled to make $20.5 million next season.
When contacted by The Associated Press, Red Sox spokesman Kevin Shea said: "The waiver procedure is a confidential procedure, and we're prohibited from commenting on it. We're not permitted to say whether a player is on or is not on waivers." A phone message left by the AP for Ramirez's agent, Jeff Moorad, was not immediately returned.
Ramirez hit .325 this year, one point behind teammate Bill Mueller for the AL batting title, and had 37 homers and 104 RBIs. The Red Sox won the wild card and advanced to AL championship series before losing to the New York Yankees in seven games. The left fielder was placed on waivers just two days after Boston announced it would not bring back manager Grady Little, who led the team to 188 regular-season wins the past two years.
Ramirez is one of baseball's best hitters, but he often struggles in the outfield and on the bases. He was benched by Little late this season after he missed a crucial series against the Yankees with a sore throat and fever, yet managed to pull himself out of bed to reminisce with New York infielder Enrique Wilson about their days in Cleveland. Then Ramirez didn't show up for an appointment with the team doctor, and when he joined the club the next day he sat on the bench but said he was "too weak" to pinch-hit.
And in a game at Yankee Stadium in September, the absent-minded Ramirez tossed the ball into the stands after making a nice catch, thinking there were three outs when there were only two. If no team claims Ramirez by the midnight deadline Friday, he will remain with the Red Sox, The Times reported in Thursday's editions.
Ramirez, 30, was signed as a free agent by former Boston general manager Dan Duquette in December 2000. Ramirez is scheduled to earn $20 million in 2005, $19 million in 2006, $18 million in 2007 and $20 million in 2008. He also is due $4 million a year in deferred, no-interest salary from 2004-10, and he's still owed $10 million of his $16 million signing bonus, the Herald reported on its Web site. Ramirez's club options for 2009 and 2010 are each worth $20 million.
Copyright 2003 the Associated Press.
That's all we need, Ramirez going to the Yankees....
In the ALCS, there were scenes of Manny Ramiriz actually hugging people and congratulating them for successes...one might think that was a clone, based on the previous year.
That field...Ramiriz, Damon, Nixon/Ortiz was really good.
Are we going to be hearing about a new "Grady Little curse" or "Manny Ramiriz curse" in the future? I'd bet yes...no one, fans or ownership, are going to ever blame Martiniz for his pitching or Nomar for his lacksidasial performance; it'll have to be someone else's fault or divine intervention that caused the loss.
There was also that scene of him on the high-not tight-pitch from Roger.More like his old self.
Heard on Monday that the Sox were interested is several guys with Tribe ties....Charlie Manuel for instance, and Mike Hargrove.
Manuel is a total incompetent in the manager's spot.
Even the Yankees won't spend $20 million/season on a player like Ramirez. It sounds like the Yankees plan to go after free agent OF Vladimir Guerrero from Montreal. They should be able to sign him for $13-$15 million per season. He's a lifetime .323 hitter who's averaged 37 HR and 110 RBI over the past 6 seasons.
They can have him. He's a waste of skin. He'll do wonders for the clubhouse chemistry in the Bronx.
Manny had pretty impressive numbers at the plate this year (not as good as previous years though), but I can count on one hand how many clutch hits he got (and still have a finger or two to flip him off when he goes to the Yankmees). But he'll probably be back in the Red Sox linup in April and he'll be even more unbearable.
These type of individuals have been the bane of the Red Sox for decades and I'm glad the new ownership appears serious about rooting them out. However, I am not confident that any other team out there will take Manny and the huge salary that goes with it. So the Sox risk having an even more disgruntled Manny for next year to contend with. Let's hope that the new manager has the gonads (and the ownership backing) to let Manny ride the bench if he pulls any of those shenanigans next year. Maybe he can be straightened out with the right managerial approach.
BTW, I am a manager myself and I have had to get rid of gifted employees who had a lot to offer. However, their inability to get along with their co-workers and customers affected morale and business in such an adverse way that their skills and strengths were offset by their negatives.
Ramirez is definitely an American League player. As his poor outfield skills begin to diminish further with age, he will be able to hide as a DH (see Jose Canseco, Albert Belle).
The Yankees would seem to be the only team that might take him off the BoSox' hands. (Can Sox have hands?) But then that would keep the Yanks from taking Sammy Sosa, which, as a Cubs fan, I hope they do.
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