Sox closed Manny courtship at 2000 Meetings

Boston reshaped future of franchise with historic signing

December 7th, 2017

During baseball's wild Winter Meetings of 2000, when Twitter didn't exist and technology wasn't close to being what it is now, agent Jeff Moorad and Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette felt like pioneers as they worked out the details of the mega free-agent deal over e-mail that would send Manny Ramirez to the Red Sox.
Blockbuster transactions in countless industries take place electronically all the time now, especially in baseball, where nearly every big deal is first reported on social media.
But 17 years ago, things were much different.
"Moorad said that it was the first deal that was ever made over the computer," said Red Sox historian Gordon Edes, who covered the 2000 Winter Meetings as a reporter for The Boston Globe. "He had e-mailed the details going back and forth with Duquette, including all the details of the contract. It kind of shocked me to hear that and be reminded of that recently because it just kind of feels like it has been there forever."
For many reasons beyond technology, the signing of Ramirez probably marks the most memorable Winter Meetings moment in the Red Sox history, though last year's blockbuster trade for ace Chris Sale is right up there also.
• 2017 Winter Meetings preview: Big bat in Red Sox's sights
Ramirez's contract was for eight years at $160 million, and it was consummated less than 24 hours after Alex Rodriguez and the Rangers had agreed on a history-making 10-year, $252 million deal with the Rangers.
Before the Rodriguez and Ramirez signings, baseball had never had a $20 million per year player. Suddenly, there were two.
It serves as a reminder heading into next week's Winter Meetings in Orlando that you never know what might happen.
Back in 2000, there was a certifiable buzz in the air when word filtered through the hotel lobby at the Winter Meetings in Dallas that Ramirez had chosen the Red Sox over the team he had spent his entire career with up to that point -- the Indians. The final offer from Cleveland was for eight years at $136 million.
Heading into that 2000-01 offseason, the Red Sox decided to put the team up for sale, and John Harrington, who ran the team for the Yawkey Trust, instructed Duquette that the team needed to sign a marquee player to increase the value of the team to a potential new owner.
"It was important for us to get a player like that, and for us to have really good, identifiable players from a competitive basis," said Duquette, who is currently executive vice president of baseball operations for the Orioles. "We thought that Manny would be a long-time fixture and fit in with the tradition of great Red Sox sluggers in left field."

After striking out in his pursuit of Mike Mussina, who went to the Yankees, Duquette went all in on Manny, flying to Miami to visit the slugger, then going to Moorad's offices in Southern California and racing to the Winter Meetings in Dallas. He was in three different time zones in the span of a few days, determined to get his Manny.
Duquette also set up recruiting calls to Ramirez from Pedro Martinez and Nomar Garciaparra, Boston's two superstars at the time.
Duquette was so focused on landing his prize that the normally reserved executive didn't even object to Moorad allowing ESPN unprecedented access to during the negotiations.
After Ramirez officially signed, ESPN aired an "Outside the Lines" special that had phone calls between Moorad and several of Ramirez's pursuing teams, and virtually every detail that transpired during the courtship. The program included the phone call of Duquette welcoming Ramirez to the Red Sox, finishing the conversation by saying, "Good news, you don't have to hit against Pedro anymore."
And it was in that special that the most humorous nugget of all became known to the public.
Ramirez had told the Red Sox that he would only sign with them if they would hire Indians clubhouse attendant Frank Mancini.
"He was a clubhouse guy, he was 37 years old at the time," said Edes. "I ended up writing a big story about it. Mancini was like a confidant for Manny. He'd throw soft toss to him and get him his sushi and he took care of him. ... [Ramirez] actually talked to Mancini on the day of his decision and Frank told him he didn't want to go for family reasons."
Ramirez ultimately said goodbye to Mancini and came to the Red Sox. Incidentally, Mancini must have been some sort of whisperer for mercurial sluggers. Albert Belle had once offered him a $300,000 deal over five years to leave Cleveland and join him after he signed with the White Sox.
Clearly something that was not incidental was the impact Ramirez made with the Red Sox. Though he would seem to have a dramatic period of time each season when he would lose interest or say he would want to be traded, the right-handed hitter raked in Boston (.999 OPS, 274 homers, .312 average), and helped the team to World Series championships in 2004 and '07. In fact, Ramirez was the MVP of that '04 World Series, when the Red Sox won it all for the first time since 1918.
Duquette only got to enjoy one of Ramirez's eight seasons in Boston. He was let go after the transfer of ownership in 2002. But he enjoyed seeing the way the memorable signing panned out.
"Mr. Harrington was able to sell the club. Mr. Henry was able to leverage the performance of Manny Ramirez, so it worked out well for both the owners and the player," Duquette said. "[Ramirez] had a nice career there. He was a very entertaining player. He was captivating and always interesting."

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com