Manny Ramirez's lesson in leverage

Hurray for Mannywood.

Concluding a four-month run that was part slapstick, part soap opera, and completely surreal, the drama between the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez is finally over.

The guy with the dreadlocks, pajama pants and 450-foot home runs is back.

So, too, is the buzz that turned Dodger Stadium into a Manny splendored thing.

The Dodgers won a huge victory Wednesday, signing their best hitter and most popular player to a deal that is long on money and short on leash, a two-year, $45-million contract.

Ramirez also won, with a no-trade clause and an option that gives him the right to void the contract after one season if he thinks he can make more money elsewhere.

Dodgers fans won as well, gaining more face time with a slugger who, in two jaw-dropping months last season, led their ordinary team to within three wins of their first World Series appearance in 20 years.

The only thing that lost was common sense.

Ramirez didn't sign on a dotted line, but a crooked one, as he and agent Scott Boras led these negotiations through four months, four offers and huge pouts, most of it unnecessary and all of it ending in some sobering realities.

This deal was worth virtually no more money for two years than the deal that the Dodgers first offered him back in November.

This deal was almost identical to the one the Dodgers offered last week.

And, oh yeah, this deal came within days of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's angry promise to take all deals off the table.

By then, worried about his attitude and their wallets, every other major league team essentially passed on Ramirez. Teams issued statements saying they didn't want him. Even the Washington Nationals turned him down.

He had no leverage, yet was playing it like he had all the leverage, and only when McCourt threatened to take his checkbook and walk away was the stalemate broken.

Finally, when Boras phoned McCourt on Monday night and essentially agreed to the earlier offer, the owner relented.

The rivals then met at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Tuesday to finalize the details.

"What matters is how the process is finalized," McCourt said in a phone interview Wednesday night. "This was finalized on a high note. We're happy, and Manny seems happy, and now we can focus on winning a World Series."

Their path to October, however, is not guaranteed, not even with a future Hall of Famer coming off two of the best months of his career.