Thursday, March 5, 2009

Manny Ramirez Signs with the Dodgers

After a winter-long negotiation with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and really only the Dodgers, Manny Ramirez is officially back with the Dodgers.

This move makes the Dodgers a legit contender in the NL West. This sums up my take on the Dodger's improvement with Manny B. Manny in the lineup. Before the signing, the Dodgers and D-backs had a similar lineup. All pretty good to good hitters but neither team having the superstar slugger. Both teams had comparable pitching staffs with Webb and Haren slightly edging Billingsley and the projected numbers of Kershaw. Unless Justin Upton makes the big leap this year, which is a strong possibility but next year is more probably, the Dodgers now have the slight advantage. Regardless, this is going to be a good race and the loser has a shot at the Wild Card. Also, Ned Colletti needs to look at that lineup and see the lack of Juan Pierre. Congratulations Colletti, you have a $44 million pinch runner sitting on the bench.

The other part of the discussion is Manny's greed. I'm not sure why athletes are held to this standard where they should sign for less money and play for the love of the game. I'm sure most athletes love the game, but they also want to get paid tons of money. I love writing and I write for here for free, but I also look to get paid for my writing through magazines. As far as Manny signing for less money, look, the Dodgers aren't lowering ticket prices, concessions and parking. So if you're going to pay that much money, don't you want to see a good team?

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