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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 5, 2009

Dodgers get Ramirez for 2 years, $45 million

By Beth Harris
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Manny Ramirez

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LOS ANGELES — The winter of discontent in Mannywood is over.

Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers officially agreed yesterday on a $45 million, two-year contract that keeps him with the NL West champions. The slugger can void the second season of the deal and again become a free agent.

The stalemate was broken during a 6 a.m. meeting that brought the sides face-to-face at owner Frank McCourt's Malibu home. The gathering came after weeks of protracted negotiations that led to starts, stops, offers and subsequent rejections.

At times, McCourt's frustration with Ramirez's agent Scott Boras surfaced, with the owner describing the agent as "challenging to work with."

All that was forgotten on a rainy morning when Ramirez surfaced in the Malibu mist to rejoin the team and city that embraced him after he left Boston at the July 31 trade deadline.

"We got a great meeting," Ramirez told KCAL-TV as he emerged from a mandatory physical in suburban Inglewood. "I'm happy to be here. We got some unfinished business, and that's why I'm here."

The Dodgers confirmed the deal shortly after Ramirez passed the physical. He is set to meet with the media this morning in Phoenix.

Ramirez gets $10 million this year, and $15 million in deferred money with no interest, payable in $5 million installments each Jan. 15 from 2010 through 2012. If it winds up as a two-year deal, he gets $10 million each season, with three payments of $8,333,333 each Jan. 15 from 2011-13.

Ramirez has until November to decide whether to void the second season.

Los Angeles' original offer was for $45 million in guaranteed money, including a $4 million buyout of a 2011 option, and gave the Dodgers the ability to maintain control of Ramirez over three years. It also did not include the no-trade provision.

Ramirez will make a $1 million commitment to the Dodgers Dream Foundation as part of the deal.

"We are thrilled that Manny wants to be a Dodger and that he has made such a tremendous commitment to the Los Angeles community," McCourt said in a statement. "We witnessed something very special last year in the way that our fans connected with him and the manner in which the team came together. Now, we focus our complete and undivided attention on our primary goal, winning a world championship."