Well, There Go The Fallback Options

Per the Washington Post, Adam Dunn has signed a two-year deal with the Washington Nationals. This, coupled with Bobby Abreu signing with the Angels, leaves the Dodgers with no real options other than signing Manny Ramirez. But we already knew that anyway.

Every other couple at the Outfield Dance has already gone upstairs to their respective hotel rooms, leaving a nearly empty dance floor with only Ned Colletti and Scott Boras batting eyes at one another from across the room.

This might just provide the impetus for the Dodgers to give Manny the three-year deal he seems to crave. I'm predicting #99 returns by Valentine's Day.

9 months ago Eric Stephen 15 comments 0 recs |

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I'll take the Valentine Day bet

My choice of eats before the Laker game.

by meercatjohn on Feb 11, 2009 12:06 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Done

by Eric Stephen on Feb 11, 2009 12:14 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Several dance couples still left

Anderson, Griffy, Edmunds come to mind.

I’m a little surprised Edmunds is not getting more play. Once he stopped using his med’s his performance really took off. I wonder if he is only looking to sign for a team who will use him in centerfield where his skills are clearly shot?

Some team might benefit by finding a RH platoon mate like Nomar and matching him up with Edmunds to play 1st base. I remember Edmunds being above average at 1st base. The Marlins come to mind, with the right tweaks that pitching staff should keep them competitive. If I was the Angels I’d rather have Edmunds playing first base then Kendry Morales, I’ve seen nothing of Kendry that suggests he is capable of hitting enough to play 1st base.

By the way Eric you cannot jump on the cash flow bandwagon if Manny is not signed. You either believe they have problems or you don’t. Not signing Manny is not indicative, not ever actually trying to sign Manny is. You have to decide before this boat sails which coast you are on.

by meercatjohn on Feb 11, 2009 12:19 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I say there aren't really serious problems

We’ll probably sign Manny, but even if we don’t we’ve gone after all sorts of free agents. They want to reduce payroll because of concerns about the economy, but thats the extent of it.

by Brendan Scolari on Feb 11, 2009 12:34 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

re:bablue

we’ve gone after all sorts of free agents

What free agents have we made offers to other then Manny that lead you to the above quote? Not CC, Not Teixeira. Other then Manny those are the only other free agents that would have put our payroll back to last years level. Do you mean the contracts we gave Wolf, Furcal, and Blake? Those kept us from decreasing our payroll by 50% from the prior year. I’m unaware of any offers to any other free agents.

by meercatjohn on Feb 11, 2009 12:54 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

re:

We would have gone after CC, but only for limited years. We signed Raffy, Blake, Wolf, Loretta, and other assorted flotsam as you said. We also might sign Manny, Hudson, and another reliever and maybe backup infielder (Nomar?). We would have gone after Cabrera if we hadn’t gotten Raffy and we also had Looper and Garland as backup plans to Wolf. We made an offer to Hoffman and tried to keep Saito. That too me is a lot of effort to sign guys, and I think it shows there aren’t serious cash flow problems. I assume you disagree?

by Brendan Scolari on Feb 11, 2009 6:00 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

re:

I see alot of assumptions with very few real offers being made. My number one rule with baseball is that actions are all that counts because you can’t believe anything a GM, Player, or agent is saying. When those actions turn into dollars I’ll fold my hand.

by meercatjohn on Feb 11, 2009 6:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think I made any assumptions.

I seem to remember a direct quote from Ned that he spoke to CC and said we could only offer him a 3 year deal, and that was understandably not okay with him. There was a post here about Cabrera being the backup plan to Raffy:

http://www.truebluela.com/2008/12/17/695697/new-day-same-story

As for Looper and Garland being our backup plans, that was put all over the internet, I assume you read that somewhere, but we got Wolf anyway.

“My number one rule with baseball is that actions are all that counts because you can’t believe anything a GM, Player, or agent is saying. When those actions turn into dollars I’ll fold my hand.”

Didn’t you just say to Eric above that he can’t jump on the cashflow bandwagon if Manny is not signed? I thought whether or not Manny signs was not supposed to factor into our decisions?

by Brendan Scolari on Feb 11, 2009 7:57 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

OK

I’m not in then. I say no significant cash flow problems.

Just brain flow problems.

by Eric Stephen on Feb 11, 2009 12:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Its Manny or bust now I think

Ned won’t go after the other remaining guys, he’ll just stick with Pierre. Can’t really blame him, athough Anderson wouldn’t be bad on a cheap one year deal.

by Brendan Scolari on Feb 11, 2009 12:28 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Where are the Nats going to play all of these guys?

Just of the guys I can think of they have Nick Johnson, Dmitri Young, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Willie Harris (underrated BTW), Austin Kearns, Lastings Milledge, and Elijah Dukes all deserving of at bats and with only the three OF spots and 1B to play them. Some guys are gonna be unhappy.

by Brendan Scolari on Feb 11, 2009 12:33 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

re:

Wily Mo Pena

Can’t count on Nick the Stick so just put him on the DL. D Young was also hurt most of the year.
Still to many bodies. They will have an interesting Spring Training as only Nick is a bonafide 1st baseman.

by meercatjohn on Feb 11, 2009 12:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Forgot him too.

I guess Dunn will play first assuming Johnson isn’t healthy. Still, you think they would trade some of these guys for some pitching or something. Or maybe invest in pitching in the first place instead of allocating all your resources towards these guys.

by Brendan Scolari on Feb 11, 2009 12:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Who benefits more from the Dunn/Abreu signing?

Knee-jerk reactions say that Manny will get his 3 yrs from the Dodgers, but I tend to think it goes both ways. That’s 2 less suitors for Manny- even though Angels maintained they weren’t in on Manny and Nats weren’t really viable for Manny, too.

by soccerman8 on Feb 11, 2009 12:54 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

re:

Seems to be the Dodgers/Giants/Mets unless the Yankee’s swoop in with a last minute offer. The numbers are saying Dunn for 2/20 Million. Is Manny worth twice the price of Dunn? Probably, but why go any higher. 3 / 60 Million should get it done. Who will offer it up first?

My stance has always been the Dodgers never intended on signing Manny. They went public with their offers to let the public know they were trying. Who does that? Who makes offers to a client while at the same time telling the rest of the baseball world the offers they are making?

Because of my stance the Dodgers will now probably sign Manny before V-Day while Eric is moving just to make me write about it and eat crow at the same time.

by meercatjohn on Feb 11, 2009 1:04 PM PST reply actions 0 recs