Ramirez, Dodgers hammer out 2-year deal

After months of negotiations, Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed in principle to a two-year, $45-million-US contract. 

The deal with the left-fielder, who can void the second season of the deal and again become a free agent, was reached at a meeting at the home of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

Both sides indicated Tuesday that the deal, pending a physical, wouldn't be set in stone until all parties meet in L.A. on Wednesday, according to a story posted on the Dodgers' website.

At times, McCourt's frustration with Ramirez agent Scott Boras surfaced, with the owner describing the agent as "challenging to work with."

"We got a great meeting," Ramirez told KCAL-TV as he emerged from a mandatory physical in suburban Inglewood. "I'm happy to be here. We got some unfinished business, and that's why I'm here."

Dodgers manager Torre described Ramirez as "chomping at the bit" to rejoin the Dodgers.

'A very important member'

"We're trying to build a team here that fights together and sticks together and so it was imperative that we sit down with who would obviously be a very important member of the team," said Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti.

The team confirmed the deal shortly after Ramirez passed the physical. He is set to meet with the media Thursday morning in Phoenix.

Torre returned to L.A. Tuesday with Colletti for the final negotiations with Ramirez. This ends four and a half months of the Dodgers' attempts to get the free agent to return to the club. 

Ramirez gets $10 million this year, and $15 million in deferred money with no interest, payable in $5 million instalments each Jan. 15 from 2010 through 2012.

If it winds up as a two-year deal, he gets $10 million each season, with three payments of $8,333,333 each Jan. 15 from 2011 to 2013.

Los Angeles' original offer was for $45 million in guaranteed money, including a $4-million buyout of a 2011 option, and gave the Dodgers the ability to maintain control of Ramirez over three years. It also did not include the no-trade provision..

Ramirez, who turns 37 in May, was looking for a longer contract closer to the amount Alex Rodriguez pulls in, at $27.5 million US a year.

Ramirez will make a $1-million commitment to the Dodgers Dream Foundation charity as part of the deal.

"We are thrilled that Manny wants to be a Dodger and that he has made such a tremendous commitment to the Los Angeles community," McCourt said in a statement.

"We witnessed something very special last year in the way that our fans connected with him and the manner in which the team came together. Now, we focus our complete and undivided attention on our primary goal, winning a world championship."

Excelled for Dodgers

Following a midseason trade from Boston, Ramirez helped Los Angeles win the National League West Division by hitting .396 in 53 regular-season games with 17 homers and 53 runs batted in.

In the playoffs, he batted .520 with four homers, 10 RBI, nine runs and 11 walks in eight games.

"We all wanted the same thing and that's what was apparent to me," said Torre. "After last year and the time he spent with us, we knew we wanted him back. It was just a matter of finding that common ground."

Ramirez was named the most valuable player of the 2004 World Series —the Red Sox's first championship since 1918 — and helped Boston to another title in 2007.

But he often failed to run hard to first base on grounders and repeatedly said he didn't want to play for Boston, which lured him from Cleveland after the 2000 season with a $160-million, eight-year contract.