Dodgers Payroll and Manny

In looking for bad contracts on the Dodgers' payroll, I came to an interesting realization. If it wasn't for bad contracts, the Dodgers would be considered the best-run team in baseball.

Consider if the Dodgers were able to run in an NFL-like world where contracts are not guaranteed. (Aside: isn't the term non-guaranteed contract an oxymoron?) In that alternative reality, the Dodgers would not have Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt or Juan Pierre on the roster. Their current payroll would be at $32 million (plus Schmidt's signing bonus for 2009). Only Hiroki Kuroda ($10M), Rafael Furcal ($6.5M), Casey Blake ($5M), Andruw Jones ($2.1M of signing bonus paid in 2009), Mark Loretta ($1.25M), Jonathan Broxton (arbitration), and Jason Schmidt (2009 portion of signing bonus) would be making over $1 million. In addition, they'd be sitting in the exact same seat. They'd still need a starting left fielder, a starting pitcher, and bullpen help. Plus, they'd have an extra $30+ million to spend.

Speaking of the Dodgers, the Dodgers needed to pursue a new contract with Manny Ramirez to avoid a PR hit at the beginning of the offseason. Now that they've reached an impasse and not moved (for a while), why haven't they moved past Manny to the other all-hit, no-field outfielders? If they signed a replacement, they could easily pin the loss of Manny to player and agent greed without losing respect from their fan base. Instead of simply putting the Manny negotiations on hold, they should be taking advantage of the situation to sign a younger replacement because this team is ready to contend beyond Manny's remaining baseball years. Their team is setup that well, and after 2009, their payroll will be as well.

(This post was made possible thanks to the outstanding Cot's Baseball Contracts website.)