So back to the price of gas. Not that Manny would've known, but it was already on the way down. According to GasBuddy.com, the national average for a gallon was $3.11 on October 14, down from $3.49 when the playoffs began and $3.87 on July 31, the day the Red Sox practically paid the Dodgers to take him off their hands.

Ramirez's ignorance — attributable to that condition known as "Manny being Manny" — was understandable. But his agent's failure to recognize the consequences of an economic meltdown already in full effect, was not. Scott Boras is the best and most resourceful agent in baseball, actually, probably, in all of sports. I have long rooted for him to get everything he could from these lazy, scoundrel owners. Like Manny, I believe devoutly in the free market. But this market turned bad, and Boras is culpable for not discerning that sooner.

The couple who own the Dodgers are no bargain, either. In November, Jamie McCourt warned that signing Manny could — get this — imperil the franchise's effort to refurbish public parks. Then, a few days ago, following a flurry of silly press releases, Frank McCourt swore up and down that the negotiations would now have to "start from scratch."

Yes, the McCourts revealed themselves as rank amateurs. But guess what? They still beat Boras.

The identity of the highest bidder was known to Ramirez back in the first week of November. It was the Dodgers, who offered two years at $45 million with a good bit of the money deferred.

Boras issued his response a week or so later: "On behalf of Manny Ramirez, we will, for the first time, begin accepting serious financial offers on Friday."

He wanted six years. He wanted $20-25 million per. He wanted a lot of things. But here it is, March 4, and the deal with the Dodgers is two years, $45 million, with a lot of the money deferred.

Except it's not really $45 million; it's less than that. Depending on whom you believe, the present-day value of this contract (present value being the hot new stat for baseball geeks) is worth between $42 million and $43.5 million.

A year ago, Boras got Alex Rodriguez, fresh from another disastrous October, a raise. But in 2009, his client has, in effect, given Frank and Jamie McCourt an interest-free loan.

Manny Ramirez misbehaved and dogged his way out of Boston, where the club had two $20 million options on his services for 2009 and 2010. Boras told Manny he could do better. There was $100 million out there for Ramirez. Isn't that what everybody wrote?

Now Ramirez can take that present-day value and subtract his agent's fees.

I can't wait for the press conference. Someone will ask Ramirez if it was all worth it. And he'll say something like, it's all good.

Everyone will laugh, and pretend it is. And you still wonder why sports engenders such cynicism?

By the way, it's March 4, 2009, and the average price for a gallon of gas is $1.92.

Welcome to the recession, Manny.

Philadelphia Phillies News News » How did McCourts beat the mighty Boras?
How did McCourts beat the mighty Boras?
As it began, the longest and most needlessly cantankerous negotiation in baseball history, Manny Ramirez sought to put his plight in a macroeconomic context, citing the price of petrol. "Gas is up," he said. "And so am I." My reaction, now as then: God bless him. What a shmuck.