Did I Say $45 Million? Sorry, I Meant $55 Million

If this imbroglio were only about deferred money, writes Tony Jackson:

At the end of Wednesday's meeting at Dodger Stadium, it was made clear to Boras that while there was no firm deadline, club officials expected to hear back from him in response to their two-year, $45 million offer, and that they only wanted to hear one of two possible answers: yes or no. Instead, Boras came back to them with a counter proposal of increasing the offer to two years and $55 million, a deal that would carry an average annual value of $27.5 million -- the exact same AAV carried by the 10-year, $275 million contract of Alex Rodriguez, another Boras client. Given that the Dodgers already believed they were offering $45 million MORE THAN ANY OTHER TEAM HAD OFFERED RAMIREZ, there was no way they were going to increase their offer by another $10 million. So the Dodgers pulled their offer, and there is presently NO OFFER ON THE TABLE. And the perception that the two sides have now agreed on the value of the deal, two years and $45 million, and are now only haggling on the amount of deferred money, is totally false, according to these sources. The negotiations are presently at square one: meaning no offer on the table. Dodgers are still interested in signing the player and still interested in negotiating. But it doesn't look like this is headed for a quick resolution.

Scott Boras: brass balls or just stupid? Is there a chance Dodger fans will boo Manny in a Dodger uniform? Because Boras just might make that happen.