The Manny Ramirez camp is waiting for the Giants to up the ante.
By most accounts, the Giants aren't going overboard trying to sign the free agent left fielder, preferring to let him fall in their laps if he so desires. His agent, Scott Boras, appeared on the Giants' flagship station (KNBR 680-AM in San Francisco) and virtually campaigned for the team to push harder for Ramirez. "There is a potential there to, if he were on that team, make it a winner," Boras said. "When we were looking for potential suitors, it was clear Manny felt that the Giants were a team that had a chance to go somewhere."
The Giants have gone nowhere recently. Four straight years, they've had losing records. Five straight years, they've missed the playoffs.
In 2008, they lost 90 games and finished fourth in a mediocre NL West. Since then, they added shortstop Edgar Renteria, starter Randy Johnson and relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry.
That didn't make them overwhelming division favorites. But with Ramirez, they'd likely be. To get him, they may have to offer a longer contract than they initially had considered.
"The Giants are a team that has just an extraordinarily young nucleus of pitching," Boras said. "They remind me a great deal of the 2003 Florida Marlins."
