Adios

Manny is out, Dodger fans. He’s not coming back, it’s not going to happen. At this point the man has two options—either a) take less money to play elsewhere or b) retire. I don’t see any other way, do you? No team has a bigger chunk of money burning a hole in their collective pockets than the Dodgers so where does Manny land? Here’s my list, in order of most to lease likely:

1. San Francisco—A perfect fit. One big bat can make a difference in the NL West and few bats are bigger than Manny’s. At this point it would make sense for Manny to take an offer similar to the one he turned down from the Dodgers just so he can napalm that bridge. And you know what? I’d love it. The Dodger/Giant rivalry hasn’t been fully frothed since Bonds left the game and what better way to edge into Yankee/Red Sox territory than a subplot like this? I’d actually rather see him sign with SF than LA at this point.
2. Saint Louis—Pujols and Manny:the best 3-4 combo since, well since Big Papi and Manny I guess.
3. New York Mets—This is predicated on Bernie Madoff’s ponzi’d money magically re-appearing in the Wilpons coffers. Do you really want to go to war against the Phillies with a hodgepodge of corner outfielders like Ryan Church, Fernando Tatis and Duck Duckerson?
4. Washington—Nobody cares about this team, they’ve got a new stadium and a bunch of stiffs that play inside of it:they wouldn’t win even if they signed Manny but at least they’d sell some tickets which is probably more important at this point for the franchise anyway.
5. Some Random Team in the Caribbean—Why not? Say Manny doesn’t care about piling on some stats and finishing as a Top 5 right handed hitter of all time? Maybe this is his chance to play David Beckham and live like a king in Antigua

With Abreu, Dunn and Orlando Hudson still available on the market there’s plenty of Option Bs available, even though I think I might rather just roll with Blake DeWitt instead of the O-Dog but I won’t quibble either way. In any event, take care, Manny. It’s been real.