Quick Thought

All three think Manny will be back, but all we know is that Manny will be Manny.

There has been an awful lot of bad press aimed towards Doug Melvin and Ned Coletti over the past week for making offers to their star players, CC Sabathia and Manny Ramirez. People don't seem to think they are making serious bids for them, and they are just trying to pacify their fan base. That's all perfectly reasonable and plausible, but isn't it just as plausible that they are in fact making serious bids? Don't you have to have a starting point? It's not as if either player was going to sign before the free-agent market started. I thought there was always a starting point. The team is obviously trying to bid low, while the player bids high, and then, they gradually meet somewhere in the middle. As for Manny (has Manny reached the same status as Madonna where he doesn't need a last name), Coletti shouldn't offer him a five-year deal. Besides being a dumb idea, no one is even sure anyone will give him four years. As for CC, five years and $100M is a lot for a pitcher. Yes, the Yankees will offer more, but it's not like the Brewers can't put in another bid. Again, it's perfectly reasonable to think these are just superficial offers, but I'm a little surprised the GM's are being bashed for using fundamental haggling skills. Then again, I'm not all that surprised.