Manny’s Return to the Dodgers Purely Financially Motivated

As of last Friday, Manny Ramirez is expected to remain a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010, as the 37 year-old outfielder will not exercise the escape clause in the two-year, $45-million contract he signed last spring according to his agent Scott Boras. Last season, Ramirez hit .290 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs despite missing 50 games while serving a suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy.

“Obviously, he enjoys L.A.,” agent Scott Boras told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times shortly after the decision was announced on Friday. “If he went into the marketplace, the real negative was that he could end up playing in a place he wasn’t comfortable playing.”

But while most fans and Boras are excited to see #99 back in Dodger blue, it’s important to keep his signing in proper perspective.

Manny Ramirez is not returning to the Dodgers based on the simple facts that he loves playing in Los Angeles and wants to chase a World Series title under Joe Torre. As most baseball experts will clearly note, it’s not his comfortability that was the deciding factor in his decision not to exercise that escape clause. In all reality, the Dominican Republic native is set to suite up for the Dodgers in 2010, because it guarantees him the highest financial earnings next season.

Judging by his actions over his professional career, it is quite clear that Manny has always placed a premium on the monetary aspect of the game. When he forced the Red Sox to trade him away from Boston midway through the 2008 season, the move was orchestrated in large part, because he felt that a trade would enable him to receive a more lucrative contract at the end of the year if he was playing elsewhere.

Now, after a season in which he missed significant playing time due to a suspension and underwent a slump midway through the second half of the season, it is quite clear that Manny would not have received a big-time contract if he were to have declared for free agency. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com emphasized this point over the weekend as well:

However, finding anything close to a $20 million salary in an uncertain economic climate, combined with the baggage of his 50-game PED suspension this year, made free agency an unattractive proposition for Ramirez, who hit .290 with 19 homers and 63 RBIs in 104 games this season.

I’m not pretending to be extremely insightful when making the statement that a professional athlete such as Ramirez was merely looking to make a decision that would protect his own financial interests. However, I do want to make it clear that all those Dodger fans running around Southern California explaining that Manny’s decision was based on his love of playing in the city of Los Angeles are a little delusional at this point.

Related posts

• No related posts.