Buster Olney of ESPN.com has some interesting information on the latest Manny Ramirez suitors. He writes:
Lo and behold, the Giants have emerged as a player in this bidding. But it remains to be seen whether they are going to be shoving big chips at Ramirez, or if they're just hanging in the thing to position themselves in the event Ramirez gets so frustrated with the Dodgers that he'll walk away from L.A., at any price......Executives with other teams do not believe the Giants are serious players in the Manny bidding. They think San Francisco's real intent is to keep the Dodgers honest, to force them to give Ramirez at least a two-year deal. And if somehow Ramirez gets angered by the Dodgers' level of interest and decides to deliver himself to their division rival, well, all the better for the Giants...
...A problem for Ramirez and Boras is that the Dodgers simply won't be pushed too far because market forces completely undercut Team Manny: The Dodgers can operate with the knowledge that if they don't get Ramirez, they could conceivably sign two really good players for the price of what they have offered Ramirez ...