Cleaning Up the Manny Mess

at least how I see it...

So Manny rejected the Dodgers 1 year $25m offer, only the 2nd offer that he has received that we know about, the other being the 2 year $45m one from the Dodgers early in the offseason. If the Dodgers are out of the race as they say, the only two remaining teams that have had an interest in Manny are the Angels and the Giants. Signing Manny makes sense for both those teams as well as some others (Royals/Reds if they want to go for a splash) especially if his demands come down.

Problem is it doesn't look like Manny and Boras want to lower their price. Manny is a great hitter, scratch that, unbelievable hitter and he's arguably the biggest winner in all of baseball. But he's selfish. He's 36 years old and wants a 4-5 year deal at $25m per during this economy. Bobby Abreu is rumored to a 1 year $8m deal, Burrell only gets a 2 year deal, and Dunn is still unsigned. Manny is better than all of those especially if he can DH, but to expect that lucrative a deal is just ridiculous on his part. Manny had his problems in Boston, and the way he's gone about this free agent process so far isn't helping teams forget those issues.

Back to potential suitors because he's too good not to sign. The Giants were rumored to be in talks with Manny, and that would surely cap an excellent offseason. The Dodgers and Giants are each basically one Manny away from being the favorites in the division. The Giants have had some nice experience with left fielders after age 36, so does it make perfect sense for them to get Manny? I would say yes if the Angels weren't in the picture. The A's are right on the Angels tails and this move would help push them back. There is a reason the Angels traded for Teixeira last year, they needed help in their lineup. Now they lose him, Garret Anderson, and Vlad's one year older, he posted a 130 ops+ the lowest since his first full year. The Angels rely on team chemistry and there is an obvious worry that this would change that. But when your roster is declining this fast you may have to change that strategy, or at least deviate from it a little. If the Angels go into the season as is I think I would confidently make the trendy pick that the A's will win the division.

With that said, I have this gut feeling the Angels won't sign him. It almost makes too much sense baseball wise that they won't do it. I won't say chemistry in a clubhouse is meaningless, but I have a feeling the Angels may put too much stock in it, especially if that's a main reason for not signing Manny. The Royals or Reds could take a shot at Manny, show their fans they're serious and give each team a realistic shot to win their divisions. But, does that ruin their future plans? If it does than it's questionable. I think the Giants will sneak in and sign Manny. The Dodgers said no twice, and signing Manny would really stick it too them. So that's my pick. My sleeper pick is the Yankees. If they can find a suitor for Matsui that's about $12m, then you trade Nady and there is another $6m or so, add on a few and the Yanks can still sign Manny without going over last years budget.