"You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring
Waiting for someone to tell you everything
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring
Maybe a diamond ring"-Traveling Wilburys, End of the Line
The big story of Monday morning at Camelback Ranch appears to be something we have all known since last May 7: that 2010 would be Manny's last season as a Dodger. Ever since his 50-game suspension was announced, it was all but a foregone conclusion that Manny wouldn't be back once his contract was up. If Manny didn't exercise his $20 million player option for this season, he wouldn't even be back now. Of course, nobody really has talked about this on record. Until today, that is.
Manny Ramirez met with the media today, and he delved into the topic of this season. For more details, you can find Tony Jackson of ESPN/LA, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, and Jeff Fletcher of AOL all covered the story. From Jackson:
"I won't be here next year, so I just want to enjoy myself,'' Ramirez said. "I don't know [if I'll play next year]. I just know I'm not going to be here. When the season is over, I will see where I'm at."
All of a sudden, this non-story became big news, even though we have known it for some time. Such is the nature of the first few days of spring training. We are so starved for baseball, that we will devour any and all baseball talk.
Joe Torre didn't think the Manny news would have any effect on this season: "Our concern is this year and we're to try and do something special. No one knows where they are going to be next year." Torre also noted that Manny would rest more often in 2010, perhaps two to three games every two weeks or so.
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In other news, Will Leitch has his preview of the 2010 Dodgers up on Deadspin.