Dodgers withdraw offer to Manny ... for now
Doesn't mean it's gone forever, but it's gone for the moment.
``The offer expired,'' Ned Colletti said.
I then asked where the Dodgers go from here.
``We'll see,'' he said. ``It doesn't preclude us from more conversations, but every offer yo make has a deadline to it so that it doesn't stand out there forever. That offer expired and is off the table, and hopefully, we'll have more conversations and see where they take us.''
Colletti said the Dodgers have yet to make a formal offer to any of their 13 other free agents, but that he has had conversations with the agents for Casey Blake (Jim McDowell) and Rafael Furcal (Paul Kinzer). Furcal remains at the top of the Dodgers' wish list at shortstop as opposed to signing another free agent or making a trade.
``(Blake and Furcal) want to see what else is out there,'' Colletti said. ``They know we have strong interest and that we want them back. We'll continue to stay in touch.''
Here we go! The offer was fair, but one-sided anyway. "Do you wanna be a Dodger next year or are you gonna test?"
Next time the two parties meet, there won't be an offer; they will begin a "negotiation" where Mr Colletti will "low-ball" Mr Boras and Mr Boras will "shoot the moon". They will eventually meet somewhere in the middle.