NEW YORK – The Mets have landed several big-name players this winter, but they apparently won’t be getting Manny Ramirez, the slugger Mets GM Omar Minaya covets the most. Nor will any other interested suitor.
Ramirez, the enigmatic Red Sox outfielder who asked for a trade earlier this winter, seemingly came off his demand on Thursday in an interview with ESPNdeportes.com, saying, “There will be no trade, I’m staying in Boston, where I’m familiar with the system and where I have a lot of friends, especially David Ortiz.”
Minaya has pursued Ramirez the last two winters, but any deal was complicated by Ramirez’s hefty price tag – he is owed $57 million over the final three years of an eight-year, $160 million deal – and his incredible talent. Ramirez, 33, hit .292 with 45 homers and 140 RBI last season, making it nearly impossible for Boston to get equal value for him.
There seemed to be a chance earlier this offseason when Baltimore’s Miguel Tejada made a trade demand of his own, but the Orioles and Red Sox couldn’t come to a deal, even with the option of getting other clubs involved in a three- or four-way blockbuster. The Mets were eager to jump in, but one Met exec said the the team would not part with top prospect Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman in a trade. Those two likely would’ve been Boston’s starting point.
Ramirez himself probably hurt any chance of a swap between the Sox and O’s by reportedly demanding that his two one-year options at $20 million apiece be picked up.
Ramirez told ESPNdeportes.com that he still thought the Sox might try to deal him. But he has the right to decline a trade.
“I know the American League system. That’s one reason I don’t want to go to the National League,” Ramirez said. “I also want to play for a contender and I think with Boston I’m assured of that.”
Ramirez had said he wanted to be traded because the city of Boston offers no privacy.
But he has also said in his career that he wanted to play for the Yankees, regardless of the spotlight they attract.
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