Quick Thoughts on the DiceMan and Manny
Real quick post here, as I’ve got a ton of things to do tonight, and I feel really lousy.
First, I made a prediction on the Daisuke Matsuzaka contracts (assuming it happens) Unfortunately, it’s in the comments section of another blog, so if you want to see it, you’ll have to scroll to just about the bottom of the page.
If you don’t feel like clicking, here’s the basic info. I put the number at 5 years, $82.5 Million, probably with a couple of mutual option years. However, the general rumors being tossed around today (and by “tossed around”, I of course mean the gospel as read by ESPN.com…) is that Matsuzaka and super-turd agent Scott Boras are on a plane back to Boston as I type this, prepared to agree on a deal in the area of 6 years, $52 Million, with incentive clauses that could push the total package up over $60 Million. So take it all for what it’s worth – absolutely nothing until pen meets paper.
Remember – ESPN also “predicted” that the posting fee would be around $25 Million. Little bit off there.
Secondly, I just finished listening to an interview with Red Sox owner John Henry on WEEI. At the end of the interview, he was asked a seemingly innocuous question about Manny Ramirez – the type of question that most people assume he would either pan with a “no comment” or maybe give the party line answer without really answering.
What intrigued me was his actual answer…
Glen Ordway (paraphrasing): “John, are you worried that Manny might come to Spring Training in
John Henry: “I think… um… I think that if Manny is at Spring Training, then he’s here for good.”
Now, on its face, that might seem like a perfectly reasonable comment from Henry. But this is an organization that in the past two seasons has emphasized not speaking about contract or trade situations. More importantly, John Henry has always chosen his words very carefully when discussing players. So that says to me that he is quite worried about Manny.
But the biggest thing I took away from that little sentence is this:
Manny has most likely already threatened not to show up for Spring Training.
If that’s the case, then the Manny trade talks are not dead, by any stretch of the imagination. Which then reopens the possibility that J.D. Drew is the #4 hitter of this team on Opening Day, 2007.
Or, even further, may reopen the possibility of a second trade to bring in a viable #4 hitter (Adam Dunn, Miguel Tejada if Julio Lugo would play second, Andruw Jones, etc.)
I don’t have any inside info here, I’m just reading between the lines. Maybe nothing happens, and John Henry just made a Freudian slip. Guess we won’t know for sure until sometime in March.
Quickly, the pick for tomorrow’s game. I’ll have the rest of the weekend’s picks tomorrow night or Friday morning.
49ers (+10) over SEAHAWKS: Both teams are coming off inexcusable losses to far inferior teams last week, the Niners to Green Bay and the Seahawks to the Cardinals. But if the numbers tell us one thing this season, it’s this: 10 points is too much to give up. Period. Underdogs are covering far too many lines to ever feel comfortable with a double-digit spread.
Lata.
posted by Big D @ 4:34 PM
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