Manny Being A Giant?
(01-02) 16:19 PST -- Manny Ramirez to the Giants? It could happen, but nothing appears to be close.
The Chronicle has confirmed that the Giants have had conversations with agent Scott Boras regarding the 36-year-old left fielder, but industry sources say a report that the Giants have extended a formal offer to Ramirez for a deal of up to four years was inaccurate.
No deal seems imminent between any team and Ramirez, who has 527 career home runs and guided the Dodgers to a National League West title last season after his July-deadline acquisition from the Red Sox.
If the Giants seriously engage Ramirez, Boras surely will get the Dodgers involved in trying to re-sign him, and Boras and Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti have not spoken about Ramirez for weeks, save for a recent game of voice-mail tag.
As one major-league source familiar with Ramirez's situation said, "This is in the early innings, not the later innings."
The Denver Post first reported Thursday that the Giants were "aggressively pursuing" Ramirez. Then, KPIX (Channel 5) reported the Giants had offered Ramirez what looks like a two-year contract with a third-year vesting option and a fourth-year team option.
The Giants are not expected to propose a contract that lengthy to Ramirez. However, that they even are discussing a deal with Ramirez speaks to the state of the division in which they play and how tilted the free-agent market is toward buyers.