Manny Ramirez returns to Dodgers for 2010

Links to come ...

Update: "Obviously, he enjoys L.A.," agent Scott Boras told Dylan Hernandez of The Times. "If he went into the marketplace, the real negative was that he could end up playing in a place he wasn't comfortable playing." Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has a longer notebook on Ramirez and other Dodgers.

Comments

[SteveLA]

Great news, especially now that Manny is not trying to get pregnant anymore. Who knows he might have a great year!

[Larry]

Longtime lurker who loves this forum - thank you for having me! 8^)

It'll be Manny's contract year, and a motivate Manny is a very productive Manny. Happy to have him and one less off-season drama!

L.

[nsxtasy]

>> It's nice to know he's coming back two weeks after the season ends instead of two weeks before the season starts.

The notification date was written into his contract, so waiting until spring was not an option this time.

[Deuces are Wild]

Hey! Five months sooner than last year!

[Alex41592]

I think it's safe to call this for real. Dodgers have sent out e-mails as well.

[Jack Dawkins]

He didn't make me sweat out the weekend. Now what will I worry about?

[artieboy]

What's the over/under on homeruns for next season???

[Brian C.]

Well thank god for that......he's such a great guy to use his players option to get his $25 million for next season.......wait....is that a rainbow I see over yonder???

[samhain31]

JPG in the thread below mentioned that the only first baseman he could think of who was an excellent manager was Gil Hodges. Add to that list Frank Chance AKA "The Peerless Leader". Chance retired after eleven years with a career winning percentage of .593 and two world championships, along with, I believe, four pennants.

Also add to the list of great managers who were catchers, one Connie Mack; who before he was kept on for decades past his prime by an obliging owner (himself) was widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball minds ever.
He managed the Athletics for fifty years and his below .500 winning percentage reflects more how bad his teams were for the last forty than his own shortcomings. He retired as manager at eighty-seven.
(A brilliant pre-1900 player, Mack is credited as being the first catcher to move up directly behind the batter.)

[WBB]

My best guess is that we'll see something between the unworldly Manny of 2008, and the slumping Manny of late 2009 (who was bad only in relative terms). I'm assuming the wrist injury, which can be slow to heal, had as much or more to do with his late season performance as the absence of PEDs, but I could be wrong. In any event, it seems likely that, in 2010, he'll be a DH in the other league.

[artieboy]

"In any event, it seems likely that, in 2010, he'll be a DH in the other league."

2010 or 2011? Are you saying he won't finish 2010 with the ball club???

[artieboy]

If Manny hits 20 homeruns next season that will be 1 million per homer. In today's market would that be market value?

[sarcastro]

I kinda have mixed feelings about this, but it's no surprise. All that talk of him turning down $20 mil because he didn't want to run around in left field seemed borderline laughable. Even HE'S not that lazy! :))

Like every Dodger fan out there, I just hope the majority of his struggles- and don't kid yourselves guys, the last month of the regular season was BAD- can be attributed more to factors NOT relating to PEDs and his age. Seeing his status with fans now when even compared to the MIDDLE of the 2009 season is almost shocking. I just hope he doesn't close his legacy in Blue by being in the red!

[louisinsf]

Glad to see that one of our potential free agents is taken care of. A few Dodger sites have noted that Belliard is a type B free agent. Ned says he needs to rebuild the bench and figure out 2nd base.

As far as utility infielders, a decent bat off the bench and a realistic back-up 2nd basemen if DeWitt doesn't make it, wouldn't it make sense to consider offering Belliard a contract for a few million a year. I can't see him getting much more? He also gets along well with Manny.

[Wilbur]

Great news if we had a DH spot. Post steroids Manny is making Juan Pierre look better and better.

[Hollywood Joe]

There is no amount of wrong that could ever make JP look right

[Humma Kavula]

Manny Ramirez deciding to return and not to opt out is the decision that will have the most impact upon the Dodgers' off-season and hopes for a championship next year.

Manny, post-suspension, had an OPS of 881. That's not his usual standard, but it's still fantastic.

[Humma Kavula]

I just hope the majority of his struggles- and don't kid yourselves guys, the last month of the regular season was BAD

Manny Ramirez OPS Sept 1 - Oct 4: 833
Andre Ethier OPS Sept 1 - Oct 4: 729
Matt Kemp OPS Sept 1 - Oct 4: 637

Look, Kemp and Ethier were the Dodgers' MVPs in 2009, but Manny was just fine.

[Alex41592]

Post bobbleslam on July 22nd (or after being hit on wrist):

.251/.378/.431/.809 - Manny

Not very pretty.

Juan Pierre in 425 plate appearances throughout the season:

.308/.365/.392/.757

Bad Manny still more productive. By the way Manny had 431 plate appearances throughout the season. Just six more than Pierre.

From July 3rd until the Bobbleslam Manny had Manny type numbers.

.347/.439/.755/1.194

I'll use the wrist injury as an excuse. Some can use PED's. Whatever but when he was hit that was the turning point of his 2009 season not the suspension.

[jasonungar]

I wonder if Pierre is gonna demand a trade again?

[sarcastro]

"I just hope the majority of his struggles- and don't kid yourselves guys, the last month of the regular season was BAD

Manny Ramirez OPS Sept 1 - Oct 4: 833
Andre Ethier OPS Sept 1 - Oct 4: 729
Matt Kemp OPS Sept 1 - Oct 4: 637

Look, Kemp and Ethier were the Dodgers' MVPs in 2009, but Manny was just fine.

Posted by: Humma Kavula | November 06, 2009 at 07:46 PM "

Good point, Humma, but remember that Kemp and Ethier were also going through nasty slumps the last couple of weeks, Ethier in particular looking atrocious. Fair or not, it's much easier (at least for me) to dismiss slumps from guys in their mid 20's than it is for a PED user who's in his late 30's, and just didn't quite look like "himself" most of the second half. And let's not forget October, where outside of game 3 of the NLDS, and a could-have-been-memorable home run off of Cole Hamels, Manny uncharacterstically did very little, whereas Kemp and Ethier had a few very solid games.

I'll freely admit I'm being biased here, and hope that I'm proven wrong next year. But something just didn't feel right about Manny the entire 2nd half, and I can only hope that it's much ado about nothing. Either way, it's going to be interesting to find out!

[regfairfield]

Manny Ramirez career OPS+: 155
Manny Ramirez 2009: 149

Can you ask for much more from a 37 year old?

[Humma Kavula]

That's fair enough. I'm with Alex -- I think any Manny Not Being Manny that we saw last year is due more to being hit on the wrist than anything else. That said, I could be fooling myself.

I'll stand by this, tho... if Manny had opted out, then the Dodgers would have had to pick up a big bat. Holliday or Bay or somebody. And there is going to be a huge market for those services -- the Dodgers could make a serious run and not get them. And if that happened -- the big bats sign elsewhere -- the Dodgers would be starting Juan Pierre in LF.

From that perspective, Manny choosing not to opt out is great news for the Dodgers for 2010.

[Alex41592]

This also means Manny will be going back to Fenway. Barring anything unforeseen.

But, when does that happen...?

[D Wreck]

Great news if we had a DH spot. Post steroids Manny is making Juan Pierre look better and better.

Posted by: Wilbur | November 06, 2009 at 07:31 PM

How so?

[artieboy]

How do Manny's 2009 numbers (actual + projected) compare to 2008. And how do those numbers compare to 2007.

Is Manny's production declining as we would expect of any player reaching the end of his career?

[BobinLV]

Even tho I don't think Manny has any realistic alternatives, I'm still hesitant to believe anything Boras says regarding exercising options after the J.D. Drew episode.

[Michael D]

Let me fix the quote from Boras:

"Obviously, he enjoys making 20 million dollars" agent Scott Boras told Dylan Hernandez of The Times. "If he went into the marketplace, the real negative was that he could end up playing in a place where he wasn't comfortable making less than 20 million dollars."

[BLW]

Scott Boras is saying that Manny Ramirez 'enjoys L.A.' is because if he does opt out of his contract, they both know they will not get close to the amount of money he will get elsewhere; while playing out his contract from the Dodgers.

So this has not anything to do with being comfortable, but it's about the money.

[Craig88USC]

Manny's comin' back! Oh yeah!!!

Some of you worry a tad much. ;)

Btw, maybe we should let JP's agent see if there's any interest out there, after a pretty nice year for Juan. Otherwise, he'll be a fine #4 again imo.

Now sign Wolfy by Thanksgiving.

And another big starter from Texas by Christmas! (Abilene) .<; )

[waus]

Great, a Roidless Ramirez for $20 million will make the Adruw Jones deal seem like the best deal since the Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Sox.

I beg of you Manny, please get back on the roids during the off season, fail a test and get a 100 game suspension. That will save the Dodgers financially and emotionally.

[bumsrap]

Depending on whether the Dodgers are sold or kept and scaled down, or kept and continue with a $90M+ payroll will tell me whether Manny coming back is good or disastrous.

If McCourt has to reduce payroll and the Dodgers can't trade Manny the Dodgers could have to trade away some of the young core that stand to make between $4M and $8M next year.

Would the Yankees want Manny as a DH should Matsui and Damon sign elsewhere and if so, how much of the $20M would the Dodgers have to pay?

If the Red Sox don't sign Bay or Holland would they be interested in Pierre, Furcal, and Blake in exchange for prospects?

How good would the Dodgers be with a lineup containing no one paid higher than $7M?

C Martin
2b Dewitt
CF Kemp
1b Loney
RF Ethier
3b Brandon Wood
LF Paul/Lambo
SS Hu

Billingsley
Kershaw
Elbert
McDonald
Prospect

Broxton
Wade
Troncoso
Bellisario
Kuo

[AE Newman]

with that team, we'd be the AZ D'backs of 2009

[OhioVic]

I'm guessing this doesn't change anything for Coletti this off season. For one, it's the expected outcome. Manny signaled pretty clearly post-suspension that he would be back in 2010.

Secondly, it's pure speculation on my part (though based partly on my experience with a privately held company that experienced a crisis) that Coletti was given some instructions on what he can/can't do this offseason. I'm guessing that he was told to go ahead and negotiate as needed on the young group of arbitration eligible players, but probably also told not to sign any to long term deals and was probably also told not to sign any "big money" free agents. I also think that "big money" is defined for him.

If Manny had exercised his option to become a free agent, my guess is McCourt would have viewed that as a financial blessing, but would probably not have changed his counsel to Coletti.

[bumsrap]

Depending on the players received in return for the aforementioned trades, the team could be a little better than listed.

Also, that low payroll team could be a team kids could grow up with and there are pitchers coming up to replace those that don't do as well as everyone want.

[bumsrap]

with that team, we'd be the AZ D'backs of 2009
Posted by: AE Newman | November 07, 2009 at 07:08 AM

Did you mean the Los Angeles Dodgers of Phoenix or
the Arizona Diamondbacks of Los Angeles of 2009?

[Craig88USC]

Except, now that Manny IS coming back and
playin' for his new Boras 2011 future deal...

The '10 Dodgers will STAY* the BEST of the WEST.

Three years in a row, hopefully, baby! :)

(*disclaimer - Gail Goodrich disagrees)

[Craig88USC]

Longtime lurker who loves this forum - thank you for having me! 8^)

It'll be Manny's contract year, and a motivate Manny is a very productive Manny. Happy to have him and one less off-season drama!

L.

Posted by: Larry | November 06, 2009 at 05:41 PM

WELCOME aboard, Larry :)

[Horace Andy]

I'd rather have Manny for one year than Jason Bay or Matt Holiday for 6.

Next year, the Dodgers can decide what the future of LF is, but I for one am glad to have Manny back out there.

He may not hit as many homeruns as the past but I think he will be very productive.

[Craig88USC]

Craigday fearless predictions (use Monopoly money)

Navy over Charlie's Notre Dame schemes
Wake over Tech
Oregon over(time) Stanford
Us over Sun Devils
LSU over Alabama (Great game!)
Ohio State over Penn State
Air Force soaring over Army
Iowa over Northwestern
Oregon State over California
UCLA over Washington

Tie breaker in Shanghai: Lefty over Tiger at the final World Golf Championship of the year :)

[356man]

Craig: What? No Florida/Vanderbilt prognostication?

[jasonungar]

I thought Manny was pretty bad in the 2nd half last year.

So bad that for the year he was only the highest OPS'ing LF by a little, not alot.

All starts such as....Braun, Dunn, Bay, Holliday, Ibanez, Matsui were all behind Manny by 40 -50 points, and our other LF option for 2010 a couple hundred points....

[underdog]

(wording from MLBTR:) The return of Manny Ramirez allows the Dodgers to resume searching for a trade partner for Juan Pierre, according to Dylan Hernandez of The LA Times. Pierre still has two-years and $18.5MM remaining on his contract.

http://bit.ly/4yP3du

[dodgerkramer]

Hahaha! Oh, yeah, I'm sure that Manny took the option because he likes to play in Los Angeles. Hahaha! Nah, money has nothing to do with it. Hahaha!

Do you think Boras was laughing when he spoke those words to Dylan Hernandez?

Gosh, how dumb does Boras think people are?

[underdog]

Craig88USC | November 07, 2009 at 08:48 AM

Please don't summon the name of that demon! ;-) (Though presumably without any baseball for awhile they won't show up until it's Troll Season again.)

[underdog]

Of course he wants the money, kramer, but do you doubt that it's true he prefers playing in LA? He knows a lot of other places will be less friendly toward him than "Mannywood"; he's comfortable in LA. I think it's sincere that he's happy in LA, even if there's no doubt he also wants as much money as possible.

[68elcamino427]

Manny ... Bison ... D're
Blake ... Furcal ... DeWitt ... Loney
Martin

Billingsley
Kershaw
Kuroda
Elbert
McDonald

Prediction: We'll see how these guys work out for the first half of the season.

[Alex41592]

Iowa loses their quarterback and their perfect season. Cincinnati and/or TCU can benefit.

[nsxtasy]

>> I'm guessing that he was told to go ahead and negotiate as needed on the young group of arbitration eligible players, but probably also told not to sign any to long term deals and was probably also told not to sign any "big money" free agents. I also think that "big money" is defined for him.

In other words, he was given the same instructions as a year ago.

[artieboy]

"He may not hit as many homeruns as the past but I think he will be very productive. "

I think just as important was how he made the other batters in the lineup (Either, Kent the year before) more productive because they saw better pitches.

If that starts to wane (and I think that was evident last year) then that can have a negative effect on the lineup if you rely on Manny to be the big gun.

Is that what we saw during the second half?

[regfairfield]

Why would Manny be happy to come back to a place that turned on him once he stopped OPSing 1.200 and suggested he get replaced by Juan Pierre. Of course it's about the money.

[SteveLA]

So does this mean that Manny will show up on time for Spring Training, with a haircut?

[regfairfield]

Now Clayton Kershaw, there's a haircut you can set your watch to.

[El Lay Dave]

Say reg, speaking of hair, what color is yours these days?

[regfairfield]

Some mixture of dark brown and golden blonde thank you very much.

[kinbote]

Stanford looks good today.

[68elcamino427]

Stanford very impressive today with 17 1st quarter points and right in front of the goal line again to begin the 2nd quarter.

[underdog]

Implying that all of Dodgerdom turned on Manny seems a bit of a stretch Reg. There are people who basically didn't like him since the suspension and wanted Pierre for moral reasons. There are people who were indeed fickle and turned on him. There are people who will love him no matter what, or as soon as he hits his next grand slam. There are people like me who knew his OPS was still pretty good. My sense is most Dodger fans are okay with Manny being their leftfielder and that, yes, he's happy in LA. I still don't understand why it's either/or, money or being happy in a place.

[68elcamino427]

Underestimate Manny Ramirez at your own peril.
His body of work speaks for itself.
The man is an all time player.
He's not the only one still playing who used peds.
Pettite? A Rod?
Re peds, probably make a shorter search to find those who did not use at some point.
If someone told you there was a pill you could take and it would boost your earning power by 30% ... and there was no real enforcement against taking the pill, would you take it?
Not presenting a justification nor a rationalization for taking such an action, but wasn't that the way it worked in the MLB for quite a while?

If Manny puts up offensive numbers that are 80% of his career average next season, will he still be one of the best offensive left fielders in the game?

[herchyzer]

I'll love Manny as long as the Dodgers are winning. Should they start to lose, I plan to "Blame Manny", although with Martin on the team I guess there's always the option to "Blame C..." Ah! I guess that one's played out. I'm hopeful that in the offseason the Dodgers get someone to take Pierre's contract so I won't be tempted to "Blame Juan". I'm kind of tired of that, especially when I hear he's a pretty great guy.

[jujibee]

With Manny locked up, our primary needs are now at 2nd and starting pitching. After a quick glimpse at the avilable 2nd baseman, I'd rather see what Dewitt can do and avoid signing one of the available PVL free agents. If Ned feels uncomfortable with Dewitt, which I'm sure he does given his track record, I say he explore the trade market. Maybe a Pierre to the Cubs, Soriano and cash to the Dodgers type of deal, moving Soriano back to second. (I know his defense is not that great there, but his bat still has some life in it) If the Cubs can give us 5ish mil annually to take on Soriano's contract, this might not be that bad of a deal. Soriano is set to make 18 mil for the next 4 years. Ridding ourselves of JP would further reduce the overall cost of adding Soriano and fill the hole at 2nd without costing the farm. The Cubs would be paying 38.5 mil for 2 years of Pierre, but saving 52 mil on Soriano's contract, over 4 years.

[68elcamino427]

Give DeWitt a full season of at bats this year and I will predict today that #33 will hit at least 15 HR and post a BA fo at least .254 for the seaon. Not too bad, especially for a real young guy like him.
That and he doesn't get paid millions of dollars a year yet.

[356man]

Craig: Good thing you are plying with Monopoly money...:)

[Jon Weisman]

Go Stanford!

[68elcamino427]

Stanford posts 51 on Oregon!
Very Nice indeed.

[Andrew Shimmin]

I've never had much luck plying anyone with monopoly money. Outside, it goes without saying, of strip-monopoly.

[Craig88USC]

#356man, I don't get your point...

I just guessed at 10 games this morning. I had:

Navy -Upset WIN #1
Ohio State -Upset WIN #2
Air Force -Win #3
UCLA -Upset WIN #4

And if Oregon State and SC WIN tonight...and that's a big IF

I would have gone 6-4 outright PLUS my Wake Forest also covered to make it a potential 7-3!

(Not to mention, in my 3 "wrong guesses" - both Iowa and LSU
lost their starting QB's while both were leading plus ORE/STAN
WAS a true nailbiter 51-42 - I predicted overtime)

I've done a lot worse. You think it's easy? ;)

[Craig88USC]

Get well, Jahvid. We're praying for you.

[underdog]

Ay caramba. I just saw that play with Best... Yikes. I really hope he's okay.

I really like watching him run at Cal. Mostly I just hope he's okay.

[Jon Weisman]

One of the scariest landings and reactions I've ever seen.

[nsxtasy]

How much do folks here think John Lackey will sign for? I'm guessing something like $60 million for 4 years, like Derek Lowe's contract a year ago. (And given that price and duration, I'm also going to guess the Dodgers won't be the ones doing the signing. Maybe the Phillies, Mets, or Cubs.) Other thoughts?

[nsxtasy]

I'd also guess similar figures for Randy Wolf...

[Craig88USC]

Rose Bowl probably ain't gonna happen, but with ND and Penn State losing TODAY, a BCS bid is USC's for sure if the Trojans can win out. It would give the fans the opportunity to travel; Fiesta, Sugar or Orange... and we'd get more national exposure. Plus, we wouldn't be playin' another Big-10 team.
No offense to Big 10 teams or their fans. Just nice to play another conference for a change come January. : )

[Craig88USC]

Oregon State 7 14 - - 21
California 0 7* - - 7

*Jahvid Best's touchdown (before he was rushed to the hospital)

[KG16]

Craig, with TCU and Boise State set to both bust the BCS this year, USC may not get in. ESPN has USC going to the Holiday Bowl.

[Craig88USC]

NSX, I was thinkin' more of...

Big John Lackey = 3 years $13 mil per year

Lone Randy Wolf = 2 years $9 mil per year

At least, those are the offers I think LA should present. :)

It would be nice to keep 'em off the Phillies, Cards, Rocks, Giants, Yanks or RSox.

[Craig88USC]

KG, I was kinda set on goin' down to San Diego for that, too.

But I changed my mind after reading through this:

http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bcs_explained.html.

[Craig88USC]

1st TD wins the USC/Arizona State game.

USC 0 0 - - ... 0
AZ St 0 0 - - ... 0

[Craig88USC]

Per Cal Scout board. Jahvid Best has

movement in all limbs and is conscious.

Concussion and hospital evaluation...

[miketink]

Just caught up here then watched the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game for a few minutes. It's in the bottom of the 7th and can be seen at mlb.com. I think only Guerra and May are representing the Dodgers. Guerra pitched the 3rd inning and May hasn't appeared as yet.

[bigcpa]

In his "10 offseason storylines" column Tim Kurkjian suggests the dodgers deal Billingsley for "pitching help." Mmmkay.

[OhioVic]

Billingsley
Kershaw
Kuroda
Elbert
McDonald

Prediction: We'll see how these guys work out for the first half of the season.

Posted by: 68elcamino427 | November 07, 2009 at 11:30 AM

I think elcamino may be correct about what is going to happen, but Coletti can't be comfortable with that as a starting rotation (nor should we). Neither JMac nor Elbert have proven they can start effectively in the big leagues. Elbert's never started a game at all. Ned MIGHT go with 1 spot being up for grabs between the 2 in the Spring, but no way he would count on both if things were "normal". If things were "normal", he'd be in the market looking for a proven starter for sure. Whether he does or not will give us the clearest picture on what hand cuffs, if any, McCourt has on him.

[68elcamino427]

Timmy not thinking things through.
Remember next time he open mouth.

[356man]

Craig: You got lucky down the stretch. But somehow I knew you'd bleaux the LSU-Alabama outcome. Can't help yourself, huh? And SC right now isn't impressing me... :)

[EMDarrow]

Kurkjian analyzing various topics heading into the hot stove.

This bit jumped out at me as particularly humorous:

>> The Dodgers need to acquire at least one topflight starting pitcher, but there is already speculation that they will not have enough money to re-sign left-hander Randy Wolf. If they don't have the money to improve the club, they might have to make a trade or two, and that has to begin with pitcher Chad Billingsley. For him to not make a start in the National League Championship Series -- but Hiroki Kuroda did, and Vicente Padilla made two -- means it's time for him to go. <<

(emphasis mine)

http://tinyurl.com/ybe6jv2

[bhsportsguy]

Not only is Chad Billingsley very comparable with his similarly experienced fraternity of pitchers.

At worst, you can say that Kershaw may be the ace and Chad may be the number two but that is the worst you can say. Kershaw is not on the list linked below since he has not pitched in 60 games yet.

http://bit.ly/3AejpU

[David Young]

Kurkjian's argument is full of holes. I wrote the following comment at TBLA:
Perhaps Kurkjian was hanging out with Lincecum and the two Tims were getting high together. Just how are the Dodgers, who Kurkjian claims lack “significant funds” supposed to package Billingsley – whose value maybe down a little due to his second-half slump – in a trade to obtain “pitching help” that won’t be a significant payroll increase over Billingsley’s first-year arb-eligible salary, which Eric estimated at $4M some time ago, but may be dropping with his slump and playoff snub. Think that through, Tim.

The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.

by David Young on Nov 7, 2009 12:54 PM PST

[bhsportsguy]

If you want to see how players in the Dodger Org are doing in Winter ball, go here: http://bit.ly/3BsW7r

[Horace Andy]

Soriano has one of the worst contracts in baseball. Given the years and money, I'd rather have JP.

I think JP will definitely be traded this off-season. I don't know that they'll get much back for him, though.

[Jon Weisman]

New post up top.

[Craig88USC]

BCS Bowl picks by Craig the Greek ; ) ...

Rose Bowl presented by Citi
January 1, Pasadena, CA 5 pm ABC
BCS vs. BCS (Big Ten vs. Pac 10 champion, if availabe)
CraigPicks: OHIO ST vs. OREGON

Allstate Sugar Bowl
January 1, New Orleans, LA 8:30 pm Fox
BCS vs. BCS (SEC Champion, if available)
CraigPicks: ALABAMA vs. TCU (BcS Buster!!!)

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
January 4, Phoenix, AZ 8 pm Fox
BCS vs. BCS (Big 12 Champion, if available- Won't be; so Pac 10 2nd place team gets nod)
CraigPicks: STANFORD or ARIZONA or USC vs. BOISE ST (BcS Buster!!!)

FedEx Orange Bowl
January 5, Miami Gardens, FL, 8 pm Fox
BCS vs. BCS (ACC Champion, if available)
CraigPicks: GEORGIA TECH vs. CINCINATTI or PITTSBURGH (Big East Champion, that is)

Citi BCS National Championship
January 7, Pasadena, CA, 8 pm Fox
BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2
CraigPicks: THE TEBOWS vs. THE MCCOYS (In a CLASSIC matchup but QB Tim does NOT lose, he just toys with the oppositon for four quarters)

[smh]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Manny can gtet back on track this off season

[artieboy]

"If someone told you there was a pill you could take and it would boost your earning power by 30% ... and there was no real enforcement against taking the pill, would you take it?"

Absolutely.

"If Manny puts up offensive numbers that are 80% of his "career average next season, will he still be one of the best offensive left fielders in the game?"

That depends on how the other LF's do. But I will say this: there is a big difference between hitting a HR with no one on and grounding out with the bases loaded. Its not the numbers per say (did I spell that right?) rather the situation. Particularly when that same player will allow a double to turn into a triple.

[artieboy]

"I think JP will definitely be traded this off-season. I don't know that they'll get much back for him, though."

If someone would take JP that would be unbelievable.

Who would want a CF with no range or arm?
Who would want a LF with no power?

You know who...The Dodgers!!
That's what happens when you place less emphasis on your farm system. You are then required to pay outrageous amounts of money for mediocrity and it becomes a vicious cycle...Strawberry, Eric Davis, Roberto Kelley, Drew, Pierre, Jones, Manny.

Sometimes you'll get lucky (Butler) but for the most part its just painful and frustrating.