Manny Ramirez re-signs with Dodgers for $45 million

Manny Ramirez will be back in Dodger Blue this season. The enormously talented slugger signed a two-year contract not as enormous as he wanted. But KPCC’s Nick Roman says in tough times, everyone has to make do.

Nick Roman: The two-year deal pays Ramirez $25 million this year, and guarantees him $20 million next year. But that doesn’t mean the Dodgers will pay next year’s $20 million. The deal allows Ramirez to leave L.A. after the season.

His agent, Scott Boras, negotiated a contract like that for former Dodger JD Drew four years ago. Drew was hurt the first year, but he came back to be the top hitter on the Dodgers’ 2006 playoff team. Then he surprised the Dodgers by exercising his contract’s opt-out clause and signing with Boston for a lot more money.

Maybe Ramirez signs elsewhere for more money next season. He and Boras thought that would happen this winter, but what Manny’s accepted is pretty much what the Dodgers offered in November. Still, he got a raise in a bad economy, and the Dodgers got a cracker-jack ballplayer who’ll sell tickets in a bad economy. Play ball! And after four months of contract stubbornness, both sides did.

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