The claim of Manny Ramirez has been awarded to the White Sox, per Jayson Stark of ESPN. The Dodgers now have until Tuesday to work out a trade with Chicago or simply let Ramirez and his salary go to the White Sox for nothing in return.
The earliest Manny could be on the White Sox is reasonably tomorrow, with 37 days left in the regular season, and the latest is Tuesday night, with 33 days left in the regular season. Salaries are pro-rated over the 183-day season, so what's left of Manny's $20 million is between $3,606,557 and $4.043,716.
Ramirez has a no-trade clause, meaning he would have to approve any deal, but perhaps the biggest obstacle to a trade is the thought by the Dodgers that they are still in the race. They stand five games out of the wild card lead and trail four teams, but happen to play three of those teams ahead of them in the next nine games. Luckily, the Dodgers don't have to decide until Tuesday, so the club has four more games to figure out whether or not they are in the race.
For the record, Baseball Prospectus has the Dodgers' chances of making the playoffs at 3.47%, as of this morning.
The tragically comical portion of a potential transaction with Chicago is that the White Sox could have each of the last three big free agent outfielders signed by the Dodgers, with Manny joining Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. The Dodgers will be paying Pierre through 2012, Ramirez through 2013, and Jones through 2014.
In 221 games with the Dodgers, Manny Ramirez has hit .323/.433/.580 with 44 home runs and 156 RBI. However, he has missed 122 of 290 games since the beginning of 2009, either due to suspension or injuries.