Manny being....stupid?

It's March 3rd, and time to check in our former left fielder. At the season's end, I never would have guessed that we would get to this point in Spring Training, and Manny Ramirez would still be unemployed. The contract negotiations with the Dodgers have dragged on all winter. Last week Ramirez and his agent the Evil Scott Boras rejected a $45 million offer, mainly because a chunk of the money was deferred and to be paid over several years. This weekend, Dodger owner Frank McCourt said they were "back to scratch" in the talks. Boras, meanwhile, keeps referring to other teams that are interested. Right.

Who's to blame here? Most agree that, while he is a genius at baseball, Manny lacks some sense in other areas of his life. Still, he's an adult who has played professional sports his whole life. He has the power to direct his agent. He's had the power to accept or reject offers.

It would be easy to blame the Evil Boras. He has proven to be the puppetmaster in past negotiations. He certainly orchestrated Manny's exit from Boston, despite his protests to the contrary. His talent as an agent is undisputed. But in recent years, the size of his ego seems to be exceeding his talent. Several of his deals this off season have not worked out as he seemed to have planned - Jason Varitek can attest to that.

In this case, he decided Manny's worth and has stuck with that. He doesn't want to budge from his figure - and has stroked Manny's ego to the point where Manny believes any lesser offer is a sign of disrespect. So, this whole debacle is the perfect storm - two huge egos unable to adjust their expectations to the economic realities of 2009. Add to this the growing suspicion that maybe the Red Sox were right to rid their clubhouse of this "virus" when they did - well, I'm sure many GMs and owners are realizing they might not want to deal with the headaches this hitting savant might bring with him.

Meanwhile, as a Red Sox fan, it's such a relief not to be dealing with this. No more wondering when Manny will show up at camp. No more wondering what Manny will do next... The biggest complaint from the Boston press has been the "boring" nature of the Red Sox camp. Just a team of professionals trying to prepare themselves for another World Championship. Personally, I'm enjoying the fact that the biggest story out of Fort Myers is the facial hair of our first baseman!