Is Manny the right gift for Christmas this year in Yankee land?

I have a real feeling the Yankees are going to end up signing Manny Ramirez. It seems like it is all playing out that way, doesn't it?

Texeira is not coming to the Yankees, case closed. Yes, we would all LOVE to see it happen, and it would make the most sense from the Yankees' point of view, but by all accounts Boras has a couple of $180 million deals on the table. The Yanks just handed out a $161 million for Sabathia and a $82 million for AJ Burnett. Are they really going to above that $180 million number in order to outbid everyone else for Texeira's service? Personally, I doubt it, I really do.

But the Manny situation is less complicated. First, Manny is the best bat on the market, period. Texeira is going to get more money and more interest because he brings more to the table (great defense, younger, switch hitter) but, pound for pound, Manny is one of the all time best right handed hitters in the history of the game. His age is a concern, certainly, but his stint with LA last year certainly seemed to suggest he has a lot more left in the tank. Besides, some guys just don't lose it. Mariano seems to be doing pretty well despite turning 40, Mike Mussina won 20 games at that age, and countless players have continued to perform at a high level even at 36 or 37 year's old.

Second, the Dodgers are a notoriously cheap team, and they just gave Rafael Furcal a brand new $10 million per year deal for three years, and there are reports they might like the idea of bringing in Bobby Abreu. If the Dodgers take themselves out of the competition for Manny, that severly limits the amount of teams that would be interested in his services.

Third, while Manny and Boras may have had images of the slugger getting a 5 year deal, it appears obvious now that he will receive either a two or three year contract. That, for the Yanks, would allow them to committ money but not extraordinary years to an older player, limiting the amount of risk in the deal (you could probably assume that Manny, in a three-year deal, would give a team AT LEAST one top, top performance year, with a good chance he would anti up for two).

Fourth, Manny coming to the Yankees would do two things. It would tweak the Red Sox to no end, and ratchet up the intensity on what is already the best rivalry in sports, and it would give the Yanks a player who, you just know, would KILL their arch rival in big spots. Manny LOVED facing the Yankees because of the intensity of the games, the fact that he was a NY guy, and the fact that both teams really didn't like one another. You think Manny might be somewhat amped up to play against his old team?

And that brings me to the fifth and final point. Let's say the Dodgers are out of the bidding, or they have decided to put a cap on what they are willing to offer. That means the contract offers are going to more than likely come from the Yankees and whoever loses out on Tex. The Angels just signed Juan Rivera, meaning they might not enter the Manny sweepstakes even if they lose Tex, and we KNOW the Red Sox are not going to be in the hunt. That would severly limit the amount of teams Manny could entice to sign him.

Manny isn't retiring so, the question would be, would Manny honestly go to the Nationals or the Orioles or some lesser team for the final few years of his career? I know this is Manny, and I know this is Boras, but if the Yanks are in the ballpark in terms of cash, wouldn't it make sense that Manny would choose to finish his career in a place where meaningful baseball is played?

Now, I absolutely believe that the Yanks are split on this decision, but how much of a fight will a guy like Brian Cashman put up when the Yanks will not be required to invest a large amount of years in a player would could conceivably help them win a championship next year? Unlike the Johan Santana divide last off season, when Cashman held firm against the idea of giving up his best prospects for a player that would require a HUGE contract both in terms of money and years, this time around Cashman would be asked to tolerate a move he might not be 100% in favor of for two or three years at the most.

You can despise the idea of Manny Ramirez on the Yankees, but you cannot argue with the potency of this lineup: Damon, Jeter, A-Rod, Manny, Cano, Swisher, Posada, Nady, Gardner.

So it is a slam dunk that, not only will the Yanks have the chance to get Manny but that they SHOULD get Manny, right?

Not so fast.

Let's look at the arguement against Manny being Manny in the Bronx:

First, Manny is 36 and will be 37 before the end of the season next year. Yes, as I stated before, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, but at this age he is eventually going to inform his employer that he can't play because of an injury and that injury isn't going to be a fake. You can't scare yourself stupid by the threat of injuries, but Manny is at an age where that MUST be taken in to account. The righty is eventually going to have a year where he gets dinged up. Maybe he doesn't go on the DL for three months, but maybe those dings and bruises make him simply an average player rather than an exceptional one.

Second, the Yankees made it clear they wanted to get younger and more athletic when it came to the future. They looked at teams like the Rays, and even the Red Sox, and saw younger players that were more dynamic than the older guys who made up their roster and they pledged to change that. Unless my math is a little fuzzy, bringing a 36-year-old guy who isn't fleet of foot and would never be mistaken for being "athletic" wouldn't seem to fit that new company policy, would it?

Third, with the Yankees spending so much money on pitching this year, you would naturally assume they would want to also address their defense. Bringing on Manny would put their defense in question once again. Think about it; with Manny on the team, unless there was a subsequent trade, you would have to play him in left and Damon in center, with Nady securing right. That would give you two sub-standard defensive players in left and center. And, if the Yanks ever decided to trade Nady in order to clear some money for Manny, who, exactly, would become the Yanks new right fielder? Nick Swisher? Melky Cabrera?

None of those options, not ONE of them, spells good things for the Yankee outfield defense.

Fourth, one would assume that Manny would be highly motivated to play with the Yanks and against the Red Sox next year, but the slugger's mentality and personality have to be taken in to account here. How will he get along, for an entire season, with Joe Girardi, who took the candy machine out of the Yankee clubhouse last year to instill more of a disciplinarian mentality? You know, over the course of 162 games, Manny is going to do a WHOLE HOST of things that wouldn't be classified as "good fundamental baseball" (not running out grounders, making the wrong throw to the wrong bag, letting a ball get by him in the outfield, not legging out a double, etc...). How about Manny's influence on a guy like Robinson Cano? The team has already been disappointed by Cano's tendency to play a lacklust, uninspired style of baseball at times. How would bringing Manny in help that cause? One could imagine Cano, hitting the ball better at the start of the season, watching Manny put up big numbers while seemingly playing at half speed a lot of the time, and think "hey man, what is wrong with that?" That could be devastating for a player the Yanks hope will be a MAJOR run producer for them for years and years to come.

And my fifth and finals point - this is Manny Ramirez.

I understand the Yanks AND the Sox have seens former hated players come on board, especially at the end of their careers, but this seems to just be different. Manny represents a style of baseball that flies in the face of what the Yankees have been all about. His three-hour poses at the plate when he hits a homers, his lack of concern for blatantly showing the other team up, his half-speed style is against everything guys like Jeter and Posada and Rivera and Pettitte have stood for in the past, isn't it?

And after SOOO many years of watching this guy beat the Yankees up, how could I, as a Yankee fan, really, truly cheer him on?

I know winning is number 1, and if Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter were available right now, the Sox would do whatever they could to attract them to Fenway. But still, baseball loyalties don't change that quickly for me. I have to be honest, I would have a hard time with Manny in pinstripes, I really would.

So the verdict?

I have to say, I honestly believe that Manny will end up with the Yankees, but I would rather not see it.

Go use a pitching prospect, put a package of players together, and go get a younger player who can become a part of the fabric of this team.

I am not going to argue Manny's ability to hit, but isn't this just a more dressed-up version of what we have seen the Yanks do in the past? How many times are they going to pay someone for all the great years they had with someone else?

Manny's best years are behind him. Yes, he can still be potent and help the team offensively, but he is never going to be as good as he already has been. I would much rather go get a guy like Rick Ankiel or Andre Ethier and hopefully bring in guys who have their best AHEAD of them. That, to me, is how you beat out the Sox and the Rays next year and the years following.