Man Ram in Toronto

[kdizzle]

Take it for what its worth.

My buddy just saw Manny Ramirez outside the Rogers Centre as he was going to the raptors game.

My friend noticed him and mouthed 'WTF', Man Ram noticed this, smiled and continued walking. He was walking with an older gentlemen.

Again, take it for what its worth.

[evilRyu]

Whoa there!!! although this isn't the first time manny is seen at Toronto on his own terms (referring to the blog entry regarding him at the eaton centre?)

[The Flying Gent]

He's definitely been in TO for the last little while, plenty of reports for that, so this is probably legit.

Could be something here, or it could be just that he likes Toronto (we know he does) and is there for the hell of it. Who knows.

[WpgPage]

nothing can happen until Nov. 23rd anyway thats the deadline for offering arb

[Randle McMurphy]

Get 'er done. We need Manny in Toronto.

[The Flying Gent]

nothing can happen until Nov. 23rd anyway thats the deadline for offering arb

Manny ain't getting offered arbitration.

[WpgPage]

nothing can happen until Nov. 23rd anyway thats the deadline for offering arb

Manny ain't getting offered arbitration.

well thats obvious but hes still not getting signed until that date has passed

[baulderdash77]

If you sign him before then, you have to give draft picks.

We'll wait him out and I believe pick up either him or Magglio O on the 24th.

[The Flying Gent]

Yeah, i was confused about that rule. Had it wrong. My bad.

[CapeCrusader]

Maybe he's trying to make things happen for himself.

[evilRyu]

did the camera crew catch Manny at any point during the game?

[s e n s i]

He's definitely been in TO for the last little while, plenty of reports for that, so this is probably legit.

Could be something here, or it could be just that he likes Toronto (we know he does) and is there for the hell of it. Who knows.

Pls share. That's some interesting stuff.

edit* nvm, found some twitter things

and maybe the older guy was Scott Boras?

[darth_federer]

Blue Jays fans with their BlackBerry thumbs on the pulse were asking the same question this past weekend: Could it possibly be a coincidence that Manny Ramirez, the free agent slugger, was seen in Toronto on Sunday, the same day baseball’s free-agent market opened?

Ramirez, by now everyone with a Twitter jones knows, spent time after the Bills-Bears game at the glitzy sports bar across the road from the Air Canada Centre. And so the speculation followed. Wasn’t it only a couple of weeks ago that Ramirez said he’d be happy to play for the Jays? (Yes.) Doesn’t Ramirez know and like new manager John Farrell from their days together with the Red Sox? (Reportedly, indeed.)

There was just one kink in the speculative storyline. While Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays general manager, kept to his policy of refusing to comment on such matters, multiple conversations with folks of influence at Rogers Centre all pointed in the same direction. Nobody, from the highest level of the organization on down, professed to have any idea why Manny was being Manny in Toronto on Sunday.

“Are you sure it was him?” asked one Blue Jays source. (Trusted eyes have confirmed it was.)

Added Keith Pelley, the president of Rogers Media, the company that owns the club: “Manny was in town? You mean Manny Osborne-Paradis?”

Pelley, nee of the Olympic broadcast consortium, was speaking of the Canadian downhill skier, making a joke that could have been taken as a snow job. But it didn’t sound like he was shovelling it. Maybe my BS detector needs to be brought in for service, but everything coming out of Jaysland on Monday suggested that, as obvious as the optics appeared to be, Ramirez, age 38 and injury-prone and long bereft of that once-world-class bat speed, isn’t likely to be part of Toronto’s offseason plan.

Certainly Ramirez, known to be high on maintenance and low on effort, wouldn’t fit into the local heart-and-hustle ethos. That said, anything’s possible. Ramirez might have something to offer if he can be talked into a massive pay cut from last year’s $20 million (U.S.) and convinced to try hard. And as for an explanation about what he was doing in the T-Dot if not baseball business, a call to agent Scott Boras was not returned.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/ ... not-likely

Looks like he was in town for something else. Feschuk says that the team is unlikely to be interested in him.

[Avenger]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/ ... not-likely

Looks like he was in town for something else. Feschuk says that the team is unlikely to be interested in him.

and how does he come to such a conclusion? FesHACK doesn't know what the **** he's talking about, that was the worst piece of baseball "journalism" i've ever read in my life

[Randle McMurphy]

Agreed...Feschuk is basing that claim on absolutely nothing.

And I like how he said that the AL East is vulnerable right now.

[Michael Bradley]

I think it will depend on how much Manny wants and how much the Jays actually have to spend. Even by non-tendering guys like EE, Tallet, Accardo, etc, and losing Downs and Gregg, the team will still have to give sizable arbitration raises to Marcum, Escobar, Bautista, and Morrow. This could be another year where they limit the MLB budget while spending a lot on international signings and the amateur draft. Personally, I would love to have Manny on a one year deal. The Jays will never be bad enough to fight with the Royals, Pirates, etc, for a top pick, so if they are going to stay in the 85-win range, then see if adding a Manny type bat can sneak the team into contention. As long as they still put money (go overslot) in the draft, it would be the best of both worlds.

[YogiStewart]

1. how does Manny make sense line-up wise?
2. his best days are long gone
3. he doesn't address any line-up holes that would be best served with Manny's salary
4. how much would Manny want for 1 year? $10 mil??

[Avenger]

1) Provides OBP, sorely needed with this lineup
2) Doesn't mean anything, Manny is in his best days would also cost you a ton of prospects and 20 million dollars a year, today he costs you nothing in prospects. All that matters is Manny put up a 410 OBP last year despite dealing with constant injuries, Bill James has him projected for a .313/.411/.586/ (!!!) season in 2011 at age 39, that might be optimistic but he might be the best bat in the lineup behind Bautista if he reaches 80% of that projection.
3)He does address lineup holes, a lot of them actually.
4) He'll be looking for 2 years 15-20 million or 2 years 10-15 million with a ton of easy to achieve incentives.

[Hoopstarr]

OT: Bill James' projection are insane. Before 2009, he projected Chris Davis to hit .300, 40 homers, and 118 RBI.

[darth_federer]

apparently Manny spent a few days negotiating with the blue jays front office ... it looks like a deal is on the horizon

http://twitter.com/#!/robpizzola

Manny was apparently in Toronto until today when a fan took a pic on the flight to San Diego.



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