Manny Being Natty

Nats said to be "monitoring" Ramirez negotiations

In an otherwise humdrum story about Manny Ramirez rejecting the Dodgers' latest overture, Nationals Enquirer uncovered the key sentence: "The New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals are known to be monitoring the situation" (or more than a wooden nickle, in all probability).

While it seems pretty crazy, Buster Olney reports that the Dodgers' plan B is the same plan B the Nats seemed to have had when they lost out on Mark Teixeira: Adam Dunn and Orlando Hudson.

Is the Dodgers interest real?  Or is it just a negotiating ploy?

Could be, but what if it's not? 

There have been reports that Dunn is interested in the Dodgers, especially because they represent a chance for him to win -- something he's never done in his career, and something the Nats can't necessarily offer.  Dunn can't wham them like ManRam can, but Dunn probably doesn't clog toilets with dirty hand towels either.

So if the Dodgers do tell Manny's agent, the evil Scott Boras, to kiss off, would the Nats work? 

They did show a willingness to spend money with their offers to Tex.

Manny would certainly draw a crowd.  Thanks to the over-saturation of Sox coverage, even the casual fan knows Manny where not many know Dunn.

If the deal were short, the Nats could let him walk for draft picks at the end of it, or flip him to a contender at the deadline.  Remember, the Sox got a legitimate bat, Jason Bay, out of trading him last season.

Let's not forget: Manny is baseball's biggest winner.

Picture his big bat cranking out extra bases.  Picture his indifferent defense leading to spectacular sliding catches of routine fly balls.  Imagine the incoherent press conferences and the stories that'd come out of what's otherwise a very wonderbreadesque team.

While "monitoring" probably means watching with binoculars from afar ... if it doesn't, imagine the possibilities!

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