Mellowed Manny now wants much longer stay in Boston
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Remember all those times Manny Ramirez wanted out of Boston?
Now, forget them.
For the first time this spring, Sir Manny spoke -- an event as dramatic in these parts as a Space Shuttle liftoff elsewhere -- and what he said Thursday morning outside the ratty old batting cages here is that he's happy and wants to retire as a Red Sock.
"I want to finish my career here, but it's up to them," said Ramirez, coming off a semi-down season (for him) in which he hit 20 homers with 88 RBI, his lowest total since 1997. "If that doesn't happen ... I'm not the one who writes the checks."
Those who do write the checks and make those decisions for Boston are especially important this year because, though the eight-year, $168 million deal Ramirez signed before the 2001 season is up this year, the club holds two one-year options for 2009 and 2010 at $20 million each.
The deadline for the club to pick up next year's option is Nov. 10.
Coming off of a winter in which he trained at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Phoenix, a venue that specializes in training elite athletes, Ramirez, 35, said he's having fun and invoked Julio Franco as a role model. Like Franco, who played well into his 40s, Ramirez said he would like to play forever -- or something like that.
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| It took a long time, but Manny now concedes: 'Yeah, I'm happy here.' (US Presswire) |
In typical Manny fashion, he said he doesn't feel any pressure to post huge numbers this season to, in a sense, force the Red Sox to consider doing more than just picking up his '09 option.
"No," he said. "They know I can play. I'm going to try to be Manny and go out and do my thing."
And he said he isn't laying out any parameters. Manny's timetable for further contract talks with the Red Sox appears to be the same timetable for everything else he does. It'll all happen on Manny time.
"I'm not going to ask anybody for an extension," he said. "I'm going to go play the game and that's it. Let them make the decisions. ...
"I'm not going to demand a four-year deal or whatever. I'm going to play the game and if they want me back, they want me back."
