Manny and the Contract Dilemma

I like most Dodger fans am getting a little tired of this problem with the contract but it is no longer Manny and the Dodgers and really never was. This is a battle of two men, whose ego's go well beyond what they should be. The two men are Boras and McCourt and this is something that dates back to when McCourt first bought the Dodgers. This is a grudge match between two "baseball people" who have so much animosity towards each other it could wind up costing both of them more then they think if Manny does not sign with the Dodgers.

The first blow landed by Boras was the J.D. Drew deal (who in my opinion is as big a scumbag as Boras when he opted out of his $55 million deal after one year when McCourt could of used that money we spent on him and retained Adrian Beltre and with no disrespect to Casey Blake who I believe is gonna play great for us and liked in Cleveland would of kept our infield and line up a lot more solid the last three years. Second blow by Boras was probably the offseason he drove up the price on Maddux and Gagne and they signed else where. Yes, Gagne didn't work out as good but Maddux would of had 2 1/2 years tutoring the Dodgers young pitchers instead of for only 4 months spread out over 2 years. 3rd blow by Boras was the bad contract of Andruw Jones for a ridiculous amount of money for his production. When I first saw this signing I thought it was too much money but was hoping like everyone that it was gonna work out right for our boys in blue but that was not the case as we see and gonna see for the next couple of years. Also I read a report friday night that Boras had something to do with the bad blood between the Dodgers and D-Lowe.

So McCourt can't stand Boras for all the trouble he has caused him in his short tenure as Dodger owner but that is part of the game. What both of them need to realize is that there are more people this is gonna effect then just Manny. Manny, I truely believe wants to be a Dodger and possibly finish his career here because of the many benefits of what the Dodgers as an organization can offer him with the coaching staff and players that are in the lineup and locker room with him. Also due to the cultural diversity surrounding the location of Dodger Stadium and their fans that have already in two and a half month's of playing for our team have grown to love him. He has stated in interviews that he likes it here cause when he leaves the ballpark he leaves as a man who can live his life and do normal things like go to dinner and the movies with his family without being hounded unlike in Boston where all they have are their sports stars. In So Cal and especially LA we have all the movie stars doing crazy and stupid stuff that the paparazzi and people follow, leaving our sport stars to live their life for the most part.

You may ask who is this gonna affect other then Manny. Well in my opinion it is gonna affect most importantly the Dodgernation whom have been waiting a long time for the right pieces to fall into their laps to take this organization back to the glory years of the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's where the Dodgers were the team baseball looked up to on how to do things.

Next it is going to affect McCourt himself, who is gonna have a rude awakening when he is really gonna feel this "economic crisis" that he keeps using as his excuse for not giving Manny any kind of contract near what he wants. What I mean by this statement is that people are gonna really stop coming to the games because McCourt really has not done enough to make the Dodgernation happy and shown he is trying to build a winner with the signings he has signed off on. Granted this offseason has been his best so far but not enough. I love the talent of the young guys we have but I don't think they are up to the Rays level yet since most of their young guys have been in the game almost double that of the Dodgers young guys. Also he keeps increasing ticket prices and for what, a team that makes the playoffs one year and finishes fourth or last in the "weak" NL West the next. There is only so much you can tell your teams fanbase and lead them on with, and I am not talking about the fans who show up to games and cause all the problems and just get wasted but the ones who can actually remember and watched on tv or in person the last two times the team won a World Title and keep them believing your vision. With the way things are going the fans are just gonna get tired of it and find someone else to root for and spend their hard earned cash on who is gonna back up their vision. Mr. McCourt needs to realize that the players aren't the only ones that needs to produce but he has to also by giving us a good product to root for and support and not just a decent product.

The next group that is gonna suffer is Joe Torre, the coaching staff, and the rest of the players. They all want him back probably more then the fans themselves cause he was such a positive impact to them all. He improved everybody with what he brought to the table with his laid back attitude, the advice and work ethic he showed the young guys on how to approach the game, and the fear he struck into every opponent the Dodgers faced down the stretch last year. Out of this group it will the young guys that it will effect. Because the things Manny excels at the most is what they need the most which is working the count to their advantage, recognizing what pitches that are best for them and how to handle the ones that aren't the best for them, and how to truely terrorize the opponent.

The last group of people I think this really gonna hurt is Tommy and Vin. They have been Dodgers their whole careers and for them to have to go through this dark time in the organization where an owner is making himself appear larger then the team and organization and trying to make an example or point out of a player because of he has a problem with his agent is truely unfair. Yes the team is run better then the Foxcorp days but atleast during that time they spent money on players to try to make a winner and didn't half a$$ it like what is going on now eventhough they did trade away players that should have never left. The players they did sign just didn't work out.

I also feel people need to lay off Ned (I can't believe I just typed that) and Manny. The reason I say this is because Ned is stuck in the middle of the two egomaniacs and can only do so much if McCourt isn't gonna sign off on the deal. I think the negative people need to lay off Manny because yes he wants his pay but in my opinion for where the baseball market is at he deserves that especially when A-Fraud is making $27.5 million a year and what has he done. Absolutely Nothing with the Yankees. Manny is the best right handed hitter in the game now. More so then Pujols, A-Fraud, you name it he beats them with the lumber. He may not lead the league in a single catagory but he is always in the mix and is Mr. Clutch and the best playoff hitter I have ever witnessed and maybe ever.

What irritated me most about thursday was the way we as a fanbase and the media were misled by the negotiations with this whole thing and the deferred money in the contract. This was the first time we were notified about these stipulations and I have to side with Manny on this that why should he play two years for us and not get his full salary until 3 years after he has left the team. What a slimball move McCourt and way to lower yourself to Boras' level. Right now we have Manny saying ok I will take the 2yr/$45 million if it is not deferred and with the player option so Mr. McCourt just give in and reep the benefits because I doubt the economy is gonna get any better before this contract is up which means Manny for 2 years and a good possiblity of 2 World Titles with him and the start of putting the Dodgers back to where they belong.