UPDATE: ALL WRONG ... ALL WRONG ... Story just broke that the Cubs got him - for 5/70 ... deal was cut just before midnight ... link to Kenny Rosenthal in the comments...
The Cubs failed to sign Aramis Ramirez during their exclusive-negotiating window, according to ESPN. He reportedly turned down 5 years/$14m (70).
A-Ram is 28 and slow, tell me he wants 6 years? At Vlad money? Of course, Vlad may be a poor indicator (salary-wise) as he was signed during a very poor fiscal moment for baseball - relative to the current climate - which is much more reminiscent of the Manny-Moment/A-Rod-Certainty that was the 2000 offseason.
So $15 million for a 34-36 year old 3Bman who will be Bengie Molina speed in the last two seasons of the deal... Dallas McPherson is sounding just a little bit better all the while.
In this market, Troy Glaus may deeply regret taking a four year deal two years ago.
Suddenly Manny Ramirez not only makes offensive sense - he almost makes FISCAL sense!