SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The San Francisco Giants are closely monitoring the Manny Ramirez situation, although managing partner Bill Neukom said there have been no new conversations with agent Scott Boras.

Neukom also said Friday that no parallels should be drawn between the Giants pursuit of Ramirez this spring and that of slugger Barry Bonds 16 years ago under former owner Peter Magowan.

"Peter Magowan made a very bold move his first year when he signed Barry Bonds to the biggest deal in baseball," said Neukom, who took over from Magowan after last season. "That was a brilliant decision.

"It's not a comparable situation. Barry Bonds in 1992 was a five-skill player at the top of every skill. It made absolute perfect sense for the Giants. This one's more complicated."

Bonds was 28 when he signed a free-agent contract with the Giants before the 1993 season, bringing power, speed and Gold Glove fielding to San Francisco. Ramirez is 36 and a more one-dimensional player who can be a liability in the field.

But he is dominant at the plate. He hit .332 with 37 homers and 121 RBIs last season, including a .396 mark in two months with Los Angeles to help carry the Dodgers into the playoffs.

The Giants didn't have a single player hit more than 16 home runs all last season and had just 94 for the season. That was the fewest homers for a team in non-strike season since the expansion Florida Marlins also hit 94 in 1993.

"He's a force of nature in the batter's box," Neukom said. "We have a big left field. We have a team that needs speed. You have to run the bases this year. You have to catch the ball. It's a challenging position for him. That being said, he puts a lot of runs across. It's a trade-off."

Ramirez turned down the Dodgers most recent contract offer, a $45 million, two-year deal. The Los Angeles Times, however, reported much of the money was to be deferred.

"We can't control what is going on, but we are watching it closely," Neukom said. "Nobody knows how it's going to play out. It's mostly up to the player and his agent at this point."

The Giants take issue with one of Boras' talking points, that the addition of Ramirez will generate more revenue for the team he joins.

"In normal years, that would be an interesting analysis. In these economic times, it is virtually impossible to do that with any confidence," Neukom said.

"In this economy, you have to be prudent. You want to try to stay in front of that. In a bad economy, how can you predict if people are going to give up their very scarce discretionary dollars for baseball?"