The General Manager's Almananc...Nov. 18
A near-daily look at the winter Hot Stove League on the 141st anniversary of Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" first being published in the New York Saturday Press.
There are a lot of rumors flying out there these days - some more credible than others but all getting big play on the highly inflammable internet - and it appears that Manny Ramirez's name will get thrown out there a lot this winter.
One report suggested the Rangers were talking to the Red Sox about trading for Ramirez. But Rangers officials called that "inaccurate" and general manager Jon Daniels said he's still focused on two starting pitchers and a center fielder.
Ramirez is still a great hitter and only has two years left on a contract that will pay him $17 million in each of the next two seasons. But he still has a no-trade clause and may even demand a contract extension in return for waiving that.
Should he give his consent to be traded - and nobody really knows what Ramirez will do or why - the Red Sox are not going to give him away just to dump his salary. They will demand much in return because this is a team that wants to win now, especially with the money they are paying for Daisuke Matsuzaka.
The Rangers would rather look for a center fielder and there are two ways they could go if they don't re-sign Gary Matthews Jr. One is they could pursue Juan Pierre or Dave Roberts on a multi-year contract or they could go for a one-year guy like Steve Finley or Kenny Lofton.
That would put them in position to be aggressive next winter when Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells become free agents. But even if they did sign Pierre or Roberts, they could still move that guy to left field in 2008 if they were able to sign Wells.
The Rangers, of course, are fully aware that Wells, an Arlington native, can be a free agent after this season. They will be ready when that happens and it's not likely that they'll want Ramirez taking up a large chunk of the payroll that could be used to finally bring home the prodigal son.
Eventhough Wells is from Arlington, Texas he is not coming to play for the Texas Rangers. Wells is a winner and knows the Rangers are not committed to winning. The only thing the Rangers offer is excuses on why they did this or why they didn't do that. It all comes down to the money. Hicks wants bargain basement players at bargain basement prices. This would be ok if he would spend his money on great pitching but sooner or later you have to pay the piper.
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