Can the Yankees sign Manny???

After committing nearly $424 million in future salaries, many believe the Yankees’ free agent spending spree will continue. Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets have been rumored, but the name that everyone is wondering will be the next to flash across tickers announcing their signing with the Yankees is Manny Ramirez. While it would make interesting press when the Yanks and Sox squared off 19 times in 2009, the question has to be asked; can the Yankees even sign Manny? No, it’s not a question of money or Manny’s willingness to play in New York, it’s a question of league rules when it comes to signing Type A free agents.

Quota

(a) Clubs shall be limited in the number of Type A and B Players, as defined below, they may subsequently sign to contracts. The number of signings permitted shall be related to the number of Players electing free agency under this Section B. If there are 14 or less such Players, no Club may sign more than one Type A or B Player. If there are from 15 to 38 such Players, no Club may sign more than two Type A or B Players. If there are from 39 to 62 such Players, no Club may sign more than three Type A or B Players. If there are more than 62 such Players, the Club quotas shall be increased accordingly. There shall be no restrictions on the number of unranked Players that a Club may sign to contracts.

(b) Irrespective of the provisions of subparagraph (a) above, a Club shall be eligible to sign at least as many Type A and B Players as it may have lost through Players having become free agents under this Section at the close of the season just concluded.

According to MLBtraderumors.com, there were 43 Type A/B players who filed for free agency, meaning that teams could only sign 3 Type A/B free agents or a number equal to the number of Type A/B free agents they lose. In the case of the Yankees, they will more than likely see Pudge, Abreu and possibly Pettitte sign elsewhere. The Yankees resigned another A/B free agent, reliever Damaso Marte. However, according to MLB rules, he will not not count towards the Yankees as an A/B free agent signed.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the free agent and his former
Club may engage in negotiations and enter into a contract during
said period. Should they enter into a contract during said period,
the Club shall be deemed not to have signed a free agent for purposes
of paragraph (5) of this Section B.

This would also mean the Yankees could bring Pettitte back without him counting as an A/B free agent signed by the club.

So, it would appear that the Yankees have already met their qouta. But hold on, there is the question about Mike Mussina who was designated a Type A Free Agent. Though he retired and did not sign with another club, MLB rules are a bit nebulous as to this question:

a Club shall be eligible to sign at least as many Type A and B Players
as it may have lost through Players having become free agents under
this Section at the close of the season just concluded.

What exactly does “lost through players having become free agents….” constitute? Mussina filed for free agency a week prior to announcing his retirement, but does a player have to sign with another club in order for that player be considered a player lost by having become a free agent? One would assume that Mussina would not be considered as a Type A/B Free Agent lost by the Yankees, but MLB has not always done the most obvious thing–like its previous steroid policies.

Monday Morning Quick Hitters

The Dallas Cowboys squeeked out a late win in Tony Romo’s return from a finger injury, beating the Washington Redskins 14 – 10

Injury riddled Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons 24 – 20.

Apparently Donovan McNabb doesn’t know that an NFL game could end in a tie…”I didn’t know that, I’ve never been part of a tie. I never even knew it was in the rule book. I was looking forward to getting the opportunity to get out there and try to drive to win the game. But unfortunately with the rules, we settled with a tie.”…OK….for the 1st time in 6 years, the Philadelphia Eagles tied Cincinnati Bengals 13 – 13.

The Green Bay Packers manhandled perennial rival Chicago Bears 37 – 3

The Indianapolis Colts no huddled their way past the Houston Texans once again 33 – 27. Peyton Manning had 300 yrds passing and Joseph Addai had 100 yards rushing together for the 1st time this season.

Does anyone care that the New Orleans Saints beat the Kansas City Chiefs 30 – 20? Didn’t think so.

The Miami Dolphins squeaked out another win against a bad team, beating the Oakland Raiders on a late field goal, 17 – 15.

The New York Giants proved once again that they are the class of the NFL this season. The Giants rushed for over 200 yards once again, slamming the Baltimore Ravens 30 – 10.

Jeff Garcia drove the Tampa Bay Bucs to 2 4th quarter field goal drives to beat the Minnesota Vikings 19 – 13.

Jake Delhomme threw for only 98 yards, but the Carolina Panthers running game rushed for a franchise record 264 yards beating the still winless Detroit Lions 31 -22.

The San Francisco 49ers scored 28 points in the 2nd Quarter to power the win over the St Louis Rams 35 – 16.

The Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks 26 – 20 Sunday, to move to 7 – 3 for the 1st time since they were in St Louis in 1977.

The Tennessee Titans scored 21 unanswered points to topple the upset minded Jacksonville Jaguars 24 – 14.

The Pittsburgh Steelers hit a late field goal to eek past the San Diego Chargers 11 – 10. The 11 – 10 score is the 1st of that final score in NFL history.

ESPN’s Pedro Gomez (HEY, they finally let him away from Barry Bonds) reports the Boston Red Sox were ready to suspend Manny Ramirez.

The World Champion Philadelphia Phillies () will be raising ticket prices next season.

The Phoenix Suns survived a Shaq ejection to beat the Detroit Pistons 104 – 86.

The other team involved in the Chauncey Billups/Allen Iverson trade is going in the other direction, as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 90 – 84.

The Carolina Hurricanes spoiled Rick Tocchet’s debut as the Tampa Bay Lightning coach, beating the Lightning 3 – 2.

Former Portland Pirate Goalie, Jonas Hiller got his 1st NHL shutout for the Anaheim Ducks, beating the LA Kings 2 – 0

Manny Who?

After the Bay for Manny deal there was a wide gulf between those of the Red Sox faithful who thought dealing Manny would damage the Sox hopes for a repeat and those who believed Bay would replace Manny’s production sans the headaches. 18 games into his Red Sox career Bay has shown to be more than ample replacement.

Here are Manny’s 2008 stats while with the Red Sox.

.299 average, 20 HR, 68 RBI, .398 OBP, .927 OPS in 100 games

Here are Bay’s 2008 numbers while with the Red Sox

.347 average, 4 HR, 18 RBI, .398 OPB, .971 OPS in 18 games.

While Manny has posted even bigger numbers since going to LA, those are irrelevant because the situation is different in LA now that the options on his contract have been voided and he is playing for a new deal; motivation that would not have existed in Boston given it was highly unlikely the options would have been voided.

Jason Bay will not have a Manny Ramirez like career, however, he is an All-Star outfielder who, to this point, has replaced Manny’s production in the line up and then some, and if Boston falters in their bid to repeat it will not be because of Bay’s lack of production

Monday Morning Quickies

MLB

Xavier Nady seems to like being on the Yankees just fine, thank you. Yanks earn the split with the Angels 14 – 9.

Dice K came back to have a strong game, along with Jed Lowrie, beat the A’s 5 – 2.

Ben Sheets continued his mini slide losing to the Braves 5 – 0. The Brewers slipped to 5 games back of the Chicago Cubs. An Atlanta Braves note, longtime Braves announcer Skip Carey passed away late Saturday. Carey was 68.

The New York Mets slipped to 2 1/2 games behind the Phillies by losing to the Houston Astros 4 – 0.

Speaking of the Philadelphia Phillies, they have a huge comeback in the 8th inning, scoring 4 runs and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5 – 4.

The Chicago White Sox dropped out of 1st place for the 1st time since May, losing to the Kansas City Royals (who were in their throwback powder blues) 14 – 3. The game included a bench clearing, well, dance rather than brawl.

The Minnesota Twins took a 1/2 game lead on the Pale Hose by beating Cleveland 6 – 2. Francisco Liriano was resurrected, after a stellar few months in AAA, throwing 6 innings and giving up only 3 hits.

Manny Ramirez is hitting .615 with the LA Dodgers. Let that sit a while Sox fans. Manny went 4 – 5 with 3 RBIs in the win over NL West Division leading Diamondbacks. The Dodgers beat the D-Backs 9 – 3.

Tampa Bay stays 3 games up on the Red Sox by beating the Detroit Tigers 6 – 5.

NFL

There was real football on the field last night, albeit preseason, the Washington Redskins beat the Indianapolis Colts 30 – 16.

The Brett Favre situation gets weirder and weirder. In more Packer news, Ryan Grant was welcomed back into the fold Sunday, signing a 4 year, $30 Million contract.

Nick Kaczur spoke with the media on Sunday, admitting to “making mistakes”.

Former Patriot Tebucky Jones is in some trouble.

Cincy Bengals top draft pick Keith Rivers, still isn’t in camp.

Denver WR Brandon Marshall will be suspended by the league this morning.

NBA

Another established NBA veteran heading overseas. Orlando Magic guard Carlos Arroyo is heading to Israel to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

David Stern getting into a urination contest with former Sonics owner.

Paul Pierce had a little too much fun in Vegas.

Saturday Morning Quick Hits

Well Jason Bay, welcome to Boston!!! Bay scored both Red Sox runs, got on base 4 times, made 2 nice defensive plays and almost hit a walk off HR in the 12 inning. Trust me Mr. Bay, the days won’t all be like this. Bay just missed a HR in the 12 having to settle for a triple. The A’s then intentionally walked JD Drew to get to Jed Lowery, who left the bases loaded in the 10th. Lowery hit a chopper to Alan Embree that was too high to get and too slow for Bobby Crosby so Lowery beat the throw and Bay scored the winning run. Both starters, the A’s Justin Duchscherer and Tim Wakefield both pitched very solid games. The Sox won 2 – 1. More and more is coming out about Manny Ramirez. Gordon Edes has an absolutely bizarre account of Manny’s last Red Sox actions.

The California Angels beat the NY Yankees 1 – 0 in the Bronx. Torri Hunter continued an amazing stretch of offense for him, getting the game winning hit against Mo Rivera in the 9th inning. The win put the Angels 12 1/2 games uop in the AL West and the Yanks 5 games back of Tampa in the AL East.

With the Manny Ramirez show heading west to Los Angeles, The LA Dodgers played NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks. Chan Ho Park gave up the 1 – 0 lead in the 7th inning with a HR to Tony Clark and a Steven Drew double, and Manny grounded into a 6-4-3 double play in the 9th, to give Arizona a 2 – 1 win. Arizona is now 3 games up on LA in the west.

Pedro Martinez returned to the mound for the Mets Friday night against the Houston Astros. Pedro went 5 good inning allowing 5 hits and 3 solo home runs. The Huston Astros loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th and pinch hitter and former Red Sox 2nd baseman Mark Loretta launched a grand slam off reliever Aaron Heilman, leading the Astros to the 7 – 4 win over the Mets.

The Philadelphia Phillies missed an opportunity to increase their lead over the Mets, losing to the St Louis Cardinals 6 – 3. Cole Hamels got beat up and former Phillie Kyle Lohse took a no hitter into the 5th and finished with 6 strong innings. The Phillies stayed 1 game up on the Mets.

The Milwaukee Brewers’ offense came to life against the hapless Atlanta Braves in a 9 – 0 win. The win keeps the Brew Crew 3 games back of the Cubs.

Tampa stays 3 games up on the Sox by beating Detroit 5 – 2.

Jeff Karstens paid immediate dividends for the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitching 6 strong inning leading to a shutout of the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs. They beat the Cubs 3 – 0.

Another newcomer, Ken Griffey Jr., helped keep the Chicago White Sox 1/2 game up on the Minnesota Twins, with 2 hits and 2 RBIs and beating the KC Royals 4 – 2.

The Twins kept pace by beating Cleveland 4 -1.

NFL

Steve Smith went Muhammad Ali on Panthers CB Ken Lucas during practice on Friday. The Panthers are weighing disciplinary actions.

ESPN reports, shocker, Todd Sauerbrun suspended from the NFL a second time.

NBA

Ron Artest attempts to smooth things over with Yao.

The law claims another NBA player, Josh Howard arrested for street racing.

Don Nelson wins big arbitration case against Mark Cuban.

Paul Pierce still says he is “the best player in the world“.

SHOCKER!!! College Football

Georgia got 22 1st place votes to take the pre-season poll. The Top 5 teams are Georgia, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Florida.

A Look At The Ramirez Deal, Minus The Red Sox Nation Glasses

I have been cursed, err, blessed, enough to live in the heart of Red Sox nation for over 25 years. During this time I have watched the Red Sox evolve into a money making media machine, with an army of fans that span the globe and invade visiting teams ballparks and take over (talking to you Baltimore fans). For the last week on local sports talk radio, my radio show, this blog, and other forums, the general opinion, outside of a handful of people, was to move Manny Ramirez for a bag of baseballs and case of G2. In fact, when it seemed like at 3:45 yesterday that Manny was staying, it looked like one of those black cartoon clouds had enveloped all of New England, or that the groundhog had seen his shadow (which looked like dreadlocks) and predicted 8 more weeks of Manny. But the sky parted, the sun shined, the birds chirped and Manny was packing his bags and was almost as far away as they could send him. Then, Red Sox Nation, once again remembering they were in a pennant race, remembered that Manny hit over.300 with runners in scoring position, and Jason Bay hit only .216. The clouds and attitudes got dark again.

Watching New England Sports tonight, although everyone agreed Manny had to go, people wondered if the price tag was too high. Could Brandon Moss be another David Murphy? Could Craig Hansen turn it around? Why did we have to pay Manny’s salary? I am going to answer these questions for all of you now, and in order. No, maybe, and because the Red Sox make more money than Warren Buffett and they were desperate to get Manny out of that clubhouse(to do your part,renew your Red Sox nation membership early, or get one for your dog). Brandon Moss is going to be, at best, a 4th outfielder on a National League club, Hansen could be a closer, but needs to figure out the control aspect of the game, and fans should not care when cash is sent away, especially when it will only affect two months of the season. Yes, Bay has a low average with RISP, but with a team in front of him that will give him more chances, the average will go up. He doesn’t have to be THE guy, he just has to be A guy. Plus he’s Canadian, so the chances of him coming to the plate the Bryan Adams “Summer of 69” are pretty good, right?

Look, it’s normal to have buyers remorse. I understand, even though the old car was poisoning your lungs with an exhaust leak, you still have memories of when you drove it to Long Island. In this case 2004, when he came back from not being traded in 2005, 2007, and high-fiving the fan in Baltimore. There will always be good stories of Manny, but there was also the times he sat down against hard throwing pitchers, when he complained about knee injuries that MRI’s showed nothing wrong with, when he put forth the weakest at bat in the history of baseball in Yankee Stadium, when he lallygagged down the line, stared at home runs, pimp slapped teammates for showing intensity, and when he assaulted a 60 year old man because of tickets. One of the best representations of Manny was the old Olympia sports commercial, before the 04 Series, when Manny was looking at shoes and day dreaming about being the World Series MVP. he may have been day dreaming, but he was dreaming about a place where he wouldn’t be under a microscope, where people show up in the 2nd and leave in the 7th, where you have to be Andruw Jones to get booed. Manny is gone, and this team and this fan base should be better for it both spiritually and emotionally. Now give Jason Bay a standing O when he gets to the plate tonight, be patient with him, and enjoy the fact you have left fielder who will show up to work every day and do what he is supposed to do, play baseball.

Matt Boutwell is a writer for Independent Pub and co-hosts the Sports Vortex on WJZF

Better Late Than Never Quick Hitters

Well the aftermath of the Manny trade is far and wide. New England newspapers, websites and sports radio are rampant with after the fact Manny stories. Apparently Sox players had to beg Manny to go to Seattle from LA. Manny told the players he was going to be out 11 weeks with injured knees. Sox management threatened Manny with suspension if he didn’t play the 2nd game in Yankee Stadium, for the rest of the year. No matter how you look at it, the Manny Ramirez Era in Boston is over.

Bill Reynolds of The PriJo has a nice write up.

Dan Shaughnessy always has his $ .02.

And as always, a no holds barred approach from Gerry Callahan.

And from the other coast, everyone’s favorite, Bill Plaschke.

MLB

The California Angels spoiled I Rod’s debut with the Yanks, slamming them 12 – 6. Torri Hunter, Vlad Guerrero and Juan Rivera all blasted 3 run homers off Yankee pitching. The Angels are 11 – 2 post All Star break.

The Chicago Cubs complete a 4 game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 11 – 4 drubbing. Jim Edmonds continues his offensive surge, going 2 for 3, 2 HRs including a grand slam and 5 RBIs. The win put the Cubs 5 games ahead of both the Brew Crew and the Cards.

The Philadelphia Phillies move to 1 game up over the Mets in the NL East with an 8 – 4 win over the Washington Nationals. Rollins and Werth homered in thbe win. The Phils are winners of 5 straight.

Florida kept pace in the east beating the Rockies 12 – 2. Anibal Sanchez looked like his rookie form in 5 2/3 innings. Florida is coming off a day where they almost landed the biggest Marlin if all…Manny Ramirez.

The Minnesota Twins survive John Danks, their manager being tossed and unruly fans, to beat the Chicago White Sox 10 – 6, to move 1/2 game behind the Pale Hose. Ron Gardenhire got tossed when the umps changes a HBP to strike while it looked clearly like a HBP. Then the Twins fans on top of the White Sox dugout got into it with Ozzie Guillen and hats and balls began peppering the field. Guillen pulled his team off the field until order was restored.

NFL

The Miami Dolphins add 1 more QB to the competition.

Steven Jackson’s holdout reaches 7th day.

Manny Loves LA, Bay to Beantown, Pitt Restocks Farm

The Manny Ramirez saga finally came to a merciful end this afternoon, with the Dodgers snagging the disgruntled outfielder for Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris (who were sent to Pittsburgh). The Pirates sent Jason Bay to Boston, who gave up Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen (also to Pittsburgh). The Sox are also playing Manny’s salary for the rest of this year as well. Thanks to everyone in the live chat this afternoon for being there during this.

Instant Analysis? Manny gives the Dodgers the bat they have needed for years, Bay gives the Red Sox a more than capable replacement in left, and the Pirates get a much better haul than they did in the Nady/Marte deal. Like this deal all the way around.

Manny is a Marlin? (Tentatively)?

Update-7/31/2008 9:06 am
Trade still not official, however when Marlins beat writers put something up like this I will link to it. I have a hunch this is going to be official this afternoon. It was classified as dead at 1pm est.

7/31/2008 12:08 am
The Palm Beach Post is reporting that a tentative deal is in place to send Manny Ramirez to Florida, Jeremy Hermida to Pittsburgh, and Jason Bay and John Grabow to Boston. The Sox will also cover Manny’s contract for the rest of the season, and Pittsburgh will get 4 prospects as well as Hermida. Win-Win deal for everyone, and who would have thought that amongst the Phillies, Mets, and Marlins, the Marlins would get the impact bat? Certainly not I. How did the Manny era end?(if this goes through) With a fly out to center field in the 8th inning on July 30th, 2008. More links in the morning, and an updated podcast from tonight as well.

Wednesday Rumor Updates

UPDATE 4:40 PM EST

The New York Yankees acquire Ivan Rodriguez.

Don’t forget TONIGHT!! 10 PM TO MIDNIGHT!! THE SPORTS VORTEX LIVE!!! We will wrap up the days happenings and continue updates on all rumor activity. Listen live from right here on CentralMaineSportsBlog.com. The link is to the left. Archived episodes are available here as well!
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UPDATE 3:52 PM EST

The Miami Herald is reporting that The Florida Marlins may land Arthur Rhodes.

The Star Telegram is reporting that the multitude of Texas Rangers catchers are generating MANY inquiries.

WIP in Philadelphia is reporting that Pat Gilick is saying there is “no truth” in the Manny Ramirez for Geoff Jenkins and AA Catcher Lou Marson.

Gordon Edes of The Boston Globe is reporting the Red Sox are hot on the trail of Will Ohman

UPDATE 1:42 PM EST

Dan Graziano of the Newark Star Ledger has some interesting updates, including J.J Putz possible availability, Mets need for pitching help if Maine’s injury is too serious and the Raul Ibanez sweepstakes continue. Catchers also seem to be in high demand today!

UPDATE 12:17 PM EST

A Wrap Up of Terry Francona’s weekly talk with Dale and Holley on WEEI in Boston. On Manny’s jog up the 1st base line last night against the Angels..”I know where you are going. Look, my job is to keep guys on the field and playing the game the right way and right now it is a challenge”. On recent inconsistent play…”we have been through this before. We have had stretches in the past where we sputtered and we were able to put stuff behind us and put things together”. Another Manny comment….”more importantly to me (than quotes in the media) is how they play, how they treat the team and how they play to win……if they are here, it is their responsibility to play to win”

Ken Rosenthal reports Raul Ibanez is on the Cubs radar. Other reports have the Cubs looking at the Phillies Jayson Werth.

UPDATE 10:56 AM EST

Dale Arnold of WEEI is saying the Phillies – Red Sox discussions are on again this time including Geoff Jenkins and AA Catcher Lou Marson. No confirmation can be found on the net yet.

UPDATE 10:07 AM EST

Bronson Arroyo likely staying put. Other Reds news as well.

Well Red Sox Fans, another contender might be on the verge of a big deal. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting Jason Bay may be on the move to Tampa.

Jose Guillen is all in it yet again.her stuff.

Ken Rosenthal’s updates on Manny, The Angels and other stuff

INITIAL POST 7:00 AM EST

The Minnesota Twins have apparent recalled Adam Everett from a “conditional AAA assignment”.

Jayson Stark keeps putting down Manny to anyone rumors. Stark also reports the LA Dodgers are hot after a shortstop since Nomar Garciaparra is hurt again…shocker!

T.J. Simers not confident the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to keep up with their So. Cal AL neighbors.

New York Newsday reports the Washburn to Yankees deal is “dead”.

Pedro Martinez pushing for the Mets to deal for Manny.

Gregg Zaun apparently wants out of Toronto.