In the hour after the Dodgers' exciting season had come to a sad conclusion, Frank McCourt worked the clubhouse, shaking hands with the players and thanking them for their efforts. The Dodgers' owner then held court with the media, and all the questions revolved around one player.
Are you going to bring back Manny Ramirez?
"It takes two to tango," McCourt said. "Of course we want him back."
And so began what could be the most fascinating winter dance in Dodgers history, a tango between a player who captured the imagination of Los Angeles as he carried the team to its best season in 20 years and an owner who has struggled to persuade fans that a World Series championship is his first priority.
Ramirez offered no encouragement to the fans, many of whom wore T-shirts and jerseys with his name and a dreadlock wig to imitate his signature hairstyle as they chanted "Stay Manny Stay!"
Said Ramirez: "I want to see who is the highest bidder."
That bidding could approach, or exceed, $100 million. If the Dodgers do not win the bidding, or drop out at what might well be a justifiable point, it is not the player with the openly mercenary attitude who would be left in Los Angeles to dodge the criticism.
It would be McCourt, and the Dodgers.
"They're in a tough spot," said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute. "That could be a prudent decision based on what's going on in the marketplace, and yet they'll still get skewered for allowing him to leave.
"I don't see any middle ground. If they let him go, it will reinforce the perception they're not committed to winning. If they sign him, it will materially move the needle in their favor, and the fans will rally around him."
Ramirez arrived as a gift, literally, a superstar who had so worn out his welcome in Boston that the Red Sox paid the $7 million remaining on his contract so the Dodgers would take him off their hands.
He powered the Dodgers into the playoffs, during which McCourt shared the owner's box with such luminaries as Tiger Woods and Barbra Streisand.
Ramirez energized his teammates and the fans, triggering an attendance and merchandising surge that generated $10 million to $15 million in gross revenue for the Dodgers, according to sources in the organization who were not authorized to discuss club finances.
He drove in one run for every game he played.
