DANA POINT, Calif. — The Dodgers want to keep Manny Ramirez in Los Angeles, and they made an offer that proves just how much.
General manager Ned Colletti said Wednesday the Dodgers’ pitch to the free- agent slugger would give him the second-highest average salary in the sport behind Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
“If you saw the bid, it’s nothing that we’re embarrassed by,” Colletti said at the GM meetings. “Manny was close to that number anyway — closer to that area than the last place he’s been.”
Rodriguez has the top average at $27.5 million under the 10-year deal he agreed to before last season. Mets pitcher Johan Santana is second at $22.9 million under the six-season deal he agreed to this year.
Ramirez, acquired from Boston on July 31, is coming off a $160 million, eight-year contract he signed with the Red Sox before the 2001 season.
“We said: ‘Think about it for a while. It’s not going to be there forever,’ ” Colletti said. “Things are always subject to change, and it depends on what else we do, to some extent.”
Also Wednesday, the team declined Brad Penny’s $9.25 million option, making the 30-year-old right-hander eligible to become a free agent.
Penny, who receives a $2 million buyout, was 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA in 17 starts and two relief appearances last season.
Yankees want Pettitte back.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman wants pitcher Andy Pettitte to stay with the team for the 2009 season.
The 36-year-old left-hander said near the end of the season he would likely want to remain with the Yankees, and he confirmed that decision in an interview with KRIV television in Houston.
“It’s great to hear,” Cashman said. “Obviously, Andy is a guy you’d like to have back.”
With Pettitte’s status uncertain and Mike Mussina leaning toward retirement, Cashman’s priority is starting pitching. Pettitte likely would have to agree to a cut from his $16 million salary last season, when he went 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA.
The Associated Press
