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Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager, J.P. Ricciardi recently announced that, contrary to the rumors, free agent slugger, Manny Ramirez is not on the Blue Jays shopping list.
Even though fans are hoping that the Jays signs a slugger who will improve the offense, Ricciardi said that the number one off-season priority is to re-sign starting pitcher, A.J. Burnett.
“Manny is not priority number one” said Ricciardi about the slugger, who hit 37 homeruns and 121 RBI’s this past season. “It would really be a long shot for us to bring him to Toronto. I don’t see us getting involved in unbelievable, astronomical numbers.We would not go down that path.”
Even though this veteran would be a welcome addition for a team, that finished with the 24th most homeruns, and only had one with more than 20 (Vernon Wells), Ricciardi knows that the 36 year-old wants a six year contract, worth at least 25 million dollars.
Ricciardi is currently in negotiations with Burnett’s agent, who after finishing with 18 wins and 231 strikeouts, will be seeking at least 15 million as a free agent.
If Burnett leaves this off-season, then the Jays will be putting their efforts in signing high regarded starters ,such as CC Sabathia (17 wins), Ben Sheets (13 wins) and Derek Lowe (14 wins).
There is the feeling around baseball that a lot of teams will be staying away from Ramirez, who at age 36, will have trouble getting a six-year contract with the amount of money he is asking for.
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