Earlier this week, 37-year-old outfielder Manny Ramirez rejected a one-year, $25 million deal to re-sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was after Ramirez and his agent Scott Boras had already passed on a two-year, $45 million deal from L.A. earlier in the off sesason. To many readers, those numbers may seem ridiculous, even for one of the game's best hitters. But to me, the reason why Ramirez is not deserving of this salary lies not in his current skill set, but in his poor behavior and lack of professionalism over the past year.
Before the Boston Red Sox traded Ramirez away in late July, the slugger was a part of a few events that demonstrated his consistently selfish attitude - which has portrayed Ramirez as a major problem in the clubhouse. In July, Ramirez was upset with a Red Sox traveling secretary for not meeting his request for extra tickets to a game in Houston and reportedly threw him to the ground. The Red Sox later fined Ramirez for his actions.
The end of Ramirez's tenure with Boston became even more of a pressing issue in a late July contest against the Seattle Mariners. Instead of confronting manager Terry Francona about his playing status, Ramirez informed Francona through a bench coach that he would not be playing in the game. When Ramirez returned to action, he repeatedly put in less effort and did not run out ground balls. This resulted in Boston's decision to trade Ramirez to the Dodgers.
The story of Ramirez's success with the Dodgers is a positive one. He immediately transformed L.A. into a World Series contender, carried their offense and provided plenty of entertaining moments in the process. Ramirez boosted the Dodgers into the postseason and all the way to the National League Championship Series, where they fell to the eventual World Series Champion Phillies. After Ramirez was dealt to the Dodgers at the trade deadline, he hit .396 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI.
These numbers are phenomenal, but to me it seems almost disturbing that Ramirez would put up such staggering stats after his move to L.A. It proved that Ramirez would have been capable of similar results in Boston had he put in the same level of effort. Instead, Ramirez chose not to simply because he was displeased with his contract and the Red Sox organization.
There seems to be little debate that when Ramirez's career is over, he will be known as one of the greatest hitters not only of his time, but in the history of baseball. In 2008, Ramirez became just one of 24 members to join the 500-home run club, played in his twelfth all-star game and finished the season with 28 career postseason home runs and 74 RBI, the most by any player all-time.
No matter how legendary his skills may be, this does not excuse his recent behavior or entitle him to act in such an outwardly selfish manner. At the end of his tenure in Boston, Ramirez accepted very little responsibility for his actions and rarely put his team first, a standard that we should hold every professional athlete accountable for.
If I were a general manager, I would be extremely concerned with Ramirez's performance next year if he is not given the monstrous contract he feels he deserves. Currently, only the Dodgers and Giants seem actively interested in signing Ramirez, and the beginning of 2009 season is less than two months away.
There's no doubt that any team looking for offense would love to acquire a player of Ramirez's caliber. But Ramirez has failed to realize that his recent selfishness and poor decision-making has made general managers think twice about pursuing a player whose primary focus is not their organization, but Manny being Manny.""
What do you think Ramirez's salary should be? Let Matt know by e-mailing him at mfox2@wisc.edu.
