Manny Ramirez knew the Cleveland Indians wanted him back. That’s more than Alex Rodriguez could say about the Seattle Mariners.
But Ramirez spurned a more serious effort by the Indians to re-sign him, instead accepting an eight-year, $160 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. The deal was announced Tuesday night in Boston.
Most major-league executives had returned home from the winter meetings by then. Heads still were spinning from a 13-day period in which four free agents–Rodriguez, Ramirez, Mike Hampton and Mike Mussina–had signed for a combined $621.5 million. That’s more than the combined payroll of all 26 major-league teams in 1990.
With ticket prices rising and another round of labor negotiations scheduled after the 2001 season, the continuing escalation of salaries worries many baseball executives.
“I think we’re in the danger zone,” San Diego Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said.
None of this winter’s four premier free agents re-signed with their old teams. Mussina, who had gone 147-81 in 10 years with Baltimore, set the trend with his six-year deal for $88.5 million with the New York Yankees. Hampton, who recently pitched the New York Mets into the World Series, followed with an eight-year deal for $121 million with the Colorado Rockies, who play at gravity-challenged Coors Field.
But those deals were only preludes for the big ones, Ramirez with the Red Sox and Rodriguez with Texas. The Rangers gave him 10 years and $252 million to spend at least seven seasons–there is a unilateral right to free agency after 2007–with a franchise that has won one postseason game in 29 seasons.
No team tried harder to hang onto its free agent than Cleveland. Indians General Manager John Hart engaged in two days of back-and-forth bidding with agent Jeff Moorad before Ramirez jumped to the Red Sox.
The Indians, who had offered Ramirez a $119 million deal over seven years in early November, apparently were willing to raise that to a reported $136 million over eight years. But the slugger decided to sign with the Red Sox, who last year ranked 12th in the American League with 792 runs scored.
“He just felt the challenge of playing elsewhere, plus a more attractive economic package, were factors he couldn’t turn away from,” Moorad said. “[Monday] was a roller-coaster day as we evaluated offers from Boston and Cleveland. Manny had two great choices.”
Ramirez, 28, hits the ball hard enough to knock down Fenway Park’s Green Monster. But like Rodriguez, he is joining a team that lacks pitching.
The Red Sox led the AL in staff earned-run average last year but it was largely the work of Pedro Martinez. Without Martinez, their starting pitchers were 38-48 with a 5.35 ERA. The only pitcher they have added is Frank Castillo, who has won 13 games over the last three years.
Ramirez has had at least 38 homers in each of the last three seasons and drove in 122 runs while playing 118 games last year. He has 432 RBIs in 415 games since the start of the ’98 season.
Cleveland had won five consecutive AL Central titles before finishing second to the White Sox this year. Without Ramirez, the Indians will have to find lots of production elsewhere. They signed free agent Ellis Burks last month and could turn their attention to Juan Gonzalez or David Segui.
“This was expected,” Hart said of Ramirez’s departure. “We’re not losing any sleep over it. I can look at myself in the mirror and say we did the best we could to get him signed.”
According to Rodriguez, the Mariners made only a half-hearted attempt to bring him back to Seattle. The Mariners said they wanted to keep the four-time All-Star but offered him only a five-year deal worth about $94 million. The Atlanta Braves, who were the other team in the last round of bidding, may not have ever submitted a formal bid because of a disagreement about a no-trade clause.
“The Mariners were never an option,” Rodriguez said at a Tuesday news conference held at The Ballpark in Arlington. “They offered only three years guaranteed with a two-year option on their behalf. I was glad I didn’t have to make that choice. I was a little disappointed about how they handled it.”
While owner Tom Hicks spearheaded the effort to bring Rodriguez to the Rangers, Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln and club President Chuck Armstrong opted not to cancel scheduled vacations to Hawaii that conflicted with the winter meetings.
“I thought they’d be the highest bidder,” Rodriguez said. “No matter what you say, the place where you start is always special. I have a lot of friends and fans [in Seattle]. But when they came to me with a three-year offer with a two-year out, I was in disbelief. But when I knew that the owners were vacationing in Hawaii, that made it clear to me.”
