Manny Ramirez To Remain With Los Angeles Dodgers In 2010

Sports News - November 7th, 2009 - Written by Jimmy

Just like that, Manny Ramirez has decided to remain with the Dodgers in 2010, without all the hoopla that surrounded his signing this past MLB Season.

On Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers informed the media and their fans that Manny Ramirez would return to the team for the 2010 season. MLB super agent Scott Boras notified Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti that Ramirez would exercise the option for a second season worth $20 million. Ramirez could have opted out of the contract and become a free agent.

In the 2008 season, Ramirez was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers and led them to the NLCS in less than half a season. Coming into 2009, the Dodgers struggled to reach a deal with Ramirez and Boras with negotiations dragging on into spring training. News of Ramirez's return should put Dodgers' fans at ease.

While Ramirez played great in 2008, and had a solid 2009 season, all was not rosy for Manny Ramirez. Only 27 games into the 2009 season, Ramirez failed a MLB drug test and was suspended for 50 games. In the 27 games before his suspension, Ramirez hit 6 homeruns and had 20 RBI, but in the 77 games following, Ramirez hit 13 homeruns and had 43 RBI according to the Los Angeles Times.

"In the second half, to say someone else's confidence isn't the same is really unfair," said Colletti, "but I didn't see the same confidence in his approach when he returned that I saw the last two months of last year and the first five weeks of this year. It's understandable. The hope is that the more time away from that we get, the more it becomes in the past instead of lingering day to day."

Though his numbers were down, Scott Boras blames the mid-season suspension on Manny's slump. "That's an unusual circumstance, that's something he's never dealt with, mentally or physically." said Boras to the L.A. Times.

Staying with Los Angeles was the best option for Ramirez for many reasons according to Scott Boras. Boras feels as though the suspension would have hurt Ramirez's market value had he decided to opt out. In addition, Boras stated that Manny was happy in L.A., and neither Ramirez nor Boras wanted to compromise the level of comfort that Ramirez has with the Dodgers. "Obviously, he enjoys L.A.," Boras said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "If he went into the marketplace, the real negative was that he could end up playing in a place he wasn't comfortable playing."

Ramirez still has the support of the club according to comments made by Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti. "We still feel that he's a very good hitter and maybe with a winter off and a chance to regroup, he can come back with a better frame of mind and his confidence rebuilt." said Colletti.

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